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My denied cancer treatment becomes more sinister
by Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson
A recap of my denied treatment
As those who have been following my situation of denied cancer treatment know, Virginia prison officials have known from blood tests taken over a year ago that I have had prostate cancer at least since October 2021. But they have systematically delayed and denied me any treatment to allow the cancer to spread and eliminate any possibility of curing it, which would ensure that it becomes fatal. The intent to murder me by medical neglect is more than obvious.
Only because of ongoing public protests (for which I am humbled and grateful) have officials made gestures TOWARDS providing me treatment, although no actual treatment has yet been provided AT ALL.
Doctors concerned that the cancer has spread
After several months of repeatedly missed and rescheduled consultations with radiologists to determine my treatment options, I finally saw a couple of radiologists, Drs. Alfredo Urdaneta and Navid Fallahi on Oct. 4, 2022, at the Medical College of Virginia hospital (MCV).
Based on symptoms that I have recently developed due to the continued passage of time without treatment, the doctors were concerned that the cancer has now spread or metastasized beyond my prostate gland, which would mean that curing it would no longer be an option and I will almost certainly die from the cancer. They therefore ordered a PET scan to determine if and to what extent it may have spread and a follow-up visit with them to go over the results with me.
On Oct. 31, I was transported to MCV for the PET scan by two guards, Vareen and Smith. Upon reaching the hospital, the guards went inside for a few minutes then returned to tell me the appointment had been rescheduled and we were returning to the prison. I asked why the appointment was put off, since this would be the FOURTH time a hospital appointment related to my cancer had been “rescheduled.” Vareen stated he did not know why.
Medical professionals join in spinning a web of lies to deny treatment
Back at the prison, I was taken to the medical department for a vital sign check, which is routine procedure anytime a prisoner returns from a hospital visit. At that time I was able to speak with the prison’s Nurse Practitioner C. Riner and Assistant Health Administrator H. Holloway. Both claimed to not know why the PET scan was not performed that day but assured me that it had been rescheduled for the very near future.
On Nov. 4, I was taken to MCV by Vareen and another guard, Lewis. This was for the follow-up radiologist visit to discuss the PET scan results. When the radiologist Dr. Fallahi looked at my hospital records, he asked why the PET scan wasn’t performed on Oct. 31. I told him I didn’t know but that I was told it was rescheduled. He said it had NOT been rescheduled and there was no indication why it hadn’t been done. I then asked the guard Vareen, who had brought me to MCV that day, why he was told the PET scan wasn’t done. Again he claimed no one explained it to him but that he was told it had been rescheduled.
Dr. Fallahi expressed that the scan needed to be done and he was immediately rescheduling it, but that he was worried that I might be mysteriously turned away again.
On returning to the prison, I was taken to the medical department for the routine vital sign check. As I entered the medical department, I passed an office where I saw Nurse Practitioner Riner sitting at a computer. A new nurse named Fenner took my vitals. I asked her if I could speak with Riner and the health administrator to determine why my PET scan wasn’t done on Oct. 31 and why they’d misinformed me on that date that it had been rescheduled when it hadn’t. Fenner then unwittingly spilled the beans.
The pattern of denied and delayed cancer care by prison officials is clear, as is their sinister intention to cause me death from this cancer.
She revealed that the PET scan wasn’t done on Oct. 31 because the guards got me to MCV too late and missed my appointment; which made the second time this has happened. She explained that she’d read it in the records sent back with me from the hospital that day, as had Riner and nurse Holloway. So everyone, including Riner, Holloway and the guards who took me to the hospital on Oct. 31, had lied about not knowing why the PET scan wasn’t done and claiming that it had been rescheduled.
I again asked Fenner to tell Riner I needed to speak with her about all this. Fenner left to give Riner my message, then returned a few minutes later to tell me Riner couldn’t see me because she was seeing another patient. Moments later I was escorted by the transport guards from the medical department and passed the office where Riner was still sitting alone at a computer.
I then asked the guard Vareen why he’d lied claiming he didn’t know why my PET scan wasn’t done when actually he was the cause of my late arrival and missed appointment on Oct. 31, and everyone including medical staff had obviously conspired to close ranks around this lie. He would not answer and gave only a nervous chuckle.
I’ve known Vareen from my prior confinement at Sussex 1 State Prison in 2018. He worked on death row, where I was illegally held in solitary confinement for four months until I was transferred to the Indiana prison system. During that time I observed that he is a closed-lipped and loyal “Blue Line” pig who will quietly go along with and cover up any dirt that his peers engage in or orchestrate, especially administrators. I believe my late arrival and missed hospital appointment on Oct. 31 was deliberate and that Vareen was directed to do this.
In any case, the pattern of denied and delayed cancer care by prison officials is clear, as is their sinister intention to cause me death from this cancer. They know that prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death in men, and can only be cured if caught AND TREATED before it spreads beyond the prostate. My prolonged delay of care ensures its spread and fatal outcome.
That medical professionals are party to this, and lying to inflict this deadly harm is particularly egregious. As I’ve expressed before, in the context of prison medical care, their Hippocratic oath of “First do not harm” is inverted into one of “First do no good,” especially in the case of political and politicized prisoners.
Dare to Struggle Dare to Win!
All Power to the People!
Send our brother some love and light: Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, 1007485, Sussex I, 24414 Musselwhite Dr., Waverly VA 23891.
Fundraiser for an attorney to represent Rashid’s struggle for medical care
Here is the new donation link for Rashid’s legal fund: https://fundrazr.com/025tu2?ref=ab_6BrbV1
Please be as generous as you can.
