Hi Brian,

I have attached a letter at the bottom of this regarding a Medical Negligence Case that took place with my husband at the Douglas County Detention Center while serving a sentence for Driving under Revokation. His name is Jose Hernandez. This is the letter I sent to the Medical Supervisor and Correctional Healthcare Management. Of course, I never received a reply from either of them.

He has been suffering from a severe hernia since NOV, 2009.

Dr. Singh, who is the Facility Doctor, refused to help him during his stay for the entire 6 month period. Jose made numerous attempts to seek help. This letter will describe everything in full length detail.

As of yesterday, we went to Founders Family Medicine here is Castle Rock where we live. The doctor we visited; (Dr. Campbell), indicated this is the worst hernia he has ever seen. He idicated that if this were to go untreated for another two weeks, it would have become "Strangulated", and could have very easily killed him. He is scheduled for surgery this week.

We are hopeful you can help us. Please repsond as soon as you are able. You can also call us at 720.276.8363.

We look forward to your reply and we would be more than happy to come in and meet with you.

We are hopeful we can open a law suit against this doctor. He should not be practicing medicine and could be to blame for several untreated medical cases.

Here is is:


To Whom it May Concern:

I have attached a letter at the bottom of this regarding a Medical Negligence Case that took place with my husband at the Douglas County Detention Center while serving a sentence for Driving under Revokation. His name is Jose Hernandez. This is the letter I sent to the Medical Supervisor and Correctional Healthcare Management. Of course, I never received a reply from either of them.

He has been suffering from a severe hernia since NOV, 2009.

Dr. Singh, who is the Facility Doctor, refused to help him during his stay for the entire 6 month period. Jose made numerous attempts to seek help. This letter will describe everything in full length detail.

As of yesterday, we went to Founders Family Medicine here is Castle Rock where we live. The doctor we visited; (Dr. Campbell), indicated this is the worst hernia he has ever seen. He idicated that if this were to go untreated for another two weeks, it would have become "Strangulated", and could have very easily killed him. He is scheduled for surgery this week.

We are hopeful you can help us. Please repsond as soon as you are able. You can also call us at 720.276.8363.

We look forward to your reply and we would be more than happy to come in and meet with you.

We are hopeful we can open a law suit against this doctor. He should not be practicing medicine and could be to blame for several untreated medical cases.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010


Jose Antonio Hernandez
200900005024
12/20/1972
A-1 #5


RE: Medical Negligence on behalf of Dr. Singh


To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this letter on behalf of Dr. Singh. I have been seeing Dr. Singh since Dec 5, 2009 regarding my injury which occurred while I was working as a Trustee in the kitchen. This injury took place in November, 2009, approximately one month after my arrival here at the Douglas County Jail. During my time in the kitchen, many times we were short staffed which resulted in me having to work longer hours which also included a lot of heavy lifting. Initially I thought it could possibly be a pulled muscle or even a hernia simply from knowing people who have had hernias in the past. The symptoms lead me to believe that something was definitely wrong. . I have had Pulled Muscles in the past so I am familiar with the signs of one. I was a fitness manager at Bally Total Fitness for 8 years.

As I began to feel a lot of pain and an over sized lump in my groin area, I decided it would be wise to seek the opinion of a medical doctor rather than trying to diagnose this on my own. During the 1st initial visit with Dr. Singh he swore this was a pulled muscle and told me that in two weeks it would go away with the assistance of Motrin and Flexoril Muscle Relaxers. During this time period, I continued to work in the kitchen and gradually my symptoms worsened. The lump began increasing, the pain became much more difficult to handle, and I began having shooting pain down my legs and in to my testicle area. I was also suffering from numbness in my fingers and toes. In the 1st visit with Dr. Singh he gave me those medications and asked that I come back to see him in two weeks. When I asked him when my appt was he said he would not offer and appt to me and that I would need to write a Kite for that request.

During my 2nd visit with Dr. Singh he saw that my lump was getting much larger and blamed it on the fact that I was gaining weight and had no desire to look in to it further. At this visit, he took me out of work and once again, gave me Motrin and Muscle Relaxers that did absolutely NOTHING for my symptoms and pain. After the lazy explanation on his end, I requested that I see a 2nd doctor for another opinion on what was going on with me. He neglected that request and indicated that Motrin and Muscle Relaxers would most definitely take this lump, shooting pain in my legs, numbness in my fingers and toes, and pain in my testicles to go away. Well he was wrong. This did not help me whatsoever. After the second visit with Dr. Singh, I decided to file a Grievance within the jail and my fiancée also assisted me with this on the outside as well. She is a resident of Castle Rock. After these steps were taken, I was confronted by a Lieutenant and indicated to me that due to the lack of medical assistance, there would be an investigation that would take place on behalf of my injury. Weeks went by and I never heard anything back from that gentleman regarding the investigation.

With no help from anyone, I decided to go back and see if Dr. Singh could offer me any help the 3rd time around. When I went in for my 3rd visit, Dr. Singh could not have been more unprofessional and more critical about my situation. He laughed in my face and said nice try but Sergeants, Lieutenants, and filed Grievances will do nothing to him and that all they do when I file a Grievance is simply hand it to him and he does nothing with it. After the disrespectful comments he made to me, I began to explain to him that when I cough, sneeze, laugh, or walk it causes me severe pain that is almost unbearable. I also mentioned to him that when I lay down the large lump I have pops out of my groin area and I have to manually put it back in to place. Once I explained to him what was happening, he once again, laughed in my face and told me this was impossible. Apparently he knows nothing about Hernias, surprisingly, he is a doctor. Unreal. After my statement of what was happening, he still, told me that it was simply a pulled muscle. During this visit I provided him with some paperwork regarding hernias which I had my fiancée pull up online at her office which was mailed to me here. All the symptoms I have been telling him I have are right there in black and white. After I showed him that, he was speechless and had nothing he could say after I proved to him that he was WRONG. Additionally, upon him reading the paperwork he still said “There is no way you can push that lump back in.” He requested that if it was true that I must show him and lie down on the bed and let him see how it is done. I took his hand and pushed the lump back in to place and his face completely dropped in complete disbelief. After that, he decided to a call a nurse and had her stand by the door while he went to print some info off of the internet. When he came back he brings pictures of enlarged testicles. He says, “Your testicles do not look like these.” “If and when your testicles begin to look like this then, maybe we can talk about this further.” Even after all of what he said and saw and read, he still will not admit to me that it is a Hernia when he KNOWS that is what it is. So I said to him, “What are you suggesting this is then being that this lump is so large and pops itself back in to place?” After the nurse spoke with him, he came back and said he was going to give me a Hernia Belt to help this large lump stay in place, although, still will not admit that it is a Hernia. He makes no sense. Mind you, the idea for the belt was not his idea, but the nurse’s idea.

At this stage I felt like I had given up on Dr. Singh. It was clear to me that he did not respect me or care enough to help me when he could visibly see that there is a serious problem which would not be treated by Motrin, Muscle Relaxers, or a Hernia Belt. His unreasonable thought that this is a Pulled Muscle could not be more far from what it actually is. All he could say to me was that I am too fat, those exact words, and that I need to start exercising, walking, and ab crunches because I am too heavy. I am a 6”2 gentleman and weigh right around 210. I am not overweight nearly enough for this to be the cause. He said that if I don’t do these things then it will turn in to a hernia. It already is a hernia! This man lost his mind! I tried to do some walking among other strenuous activities and that was the worst thing I could have done. The pain was so excruciating that I had no choice but to stop doing the things he recommended I do. It was impossible for me due to the pain level it was causing me. None of these things worked, including the abdominal crunches. When I have to push this lump back in to place it is so painful that it genuinely brings tears to my eyes; I can’t take it. I have never felt pain like I have with this.

Shortly thereafter, I was brought to Larimer County on behalf of a Writ Appearance. During my stay there I was continually in pain. I saw a nurse there who asked that I show here what was causing me so much pain. I showed her, and immediately she says it is a Hernia with no question. I told her Dr. Singh would only admit this to be a Pulled Muscle. She was shocked when I told her that because even at first glance, she knew what this was. A hernia. Upon my return from Larimer County I began to feel worse. I noticed that part of the lump which was once only in my groin area, had now traveled to my testicles. Once again, I had to fill out another Kite in order to see the doctor, which also meant I was being charged yet another $5.00 in order to see him again. For on ongoing issue like this, it seems completely unfair to have to pay $5.00 each time I go to see a Dr. who has no idea in the world what he is talking about. He is a complete joke of a doctor.

During my 4th visit with him I explained to him the information which I had received from the nurse at Larimer County and also told him that this had now traveled down to my testicles. Instead of him being concerned as far as the new location of the hernia, his only concern was why I had someone look at it in Larimer County. I assume he is concerned because he knows that he is being completely neglectful on behalf of my health issues. During this visit he told me to pull my pants down leaving the doors wide open so that everyone including the nurses could see my private parts. How incredibly unprofessional and embarrassing! I could not believe how unprofessional he has been in each of my visits. Once again, he refuses to admit anything and says “Oh its fine”. How could it be fine!? At this point I began to get very worried. I asked him if he thought this was something that I could withstand for the next 30 days until my release. His statement to that was “I could send you to Denver Health, but you will be treated by a bunch of rookies who are simply there for practice.” He also mentioned “More than likely if I send you, you will lose a testicle or just die.” When we began to discuss the pictures which he showed me, I expressed to him that I was scared to death and wanted to know if I would be okay. A hernia that goes untreated becomes “strangulated”, which cuts of the blood supply to the intestines and in many cases CAN cause fatality. I don’t want to die in here because of a doctor who refuses to give me the medical treatment I deserve as an American Citizen. Finally, I get a reply from him. He says to me that he has never seen a hernia travel this far this quickly. Wow, did he actually finally admit that this is a Hernia after months!? He decided to call the nurses in. Thankfully my pants were not around my knees this time. Once the nurses arrive, he then begins expressing a sense of urgency. Why after months and months did he finally admit this? He should have known all along what this was. I just can’t believe that after all the visits and all the attempts with the Motrin, etc, when it is clear it hasn’t worked, that he has not offered for me to maybe seek advice from another doctor to try and determine what is happening to me. He says I should go to Denver Health right away, even after he says they are all rookies, and that I will lose a testicle or die. Why would a doctor who is supposed to take passion in their career to help people say that I should go there when he already expressed to me what to expect if I went there. How incredibly unprofessional. When I told him I didn’t want to go after the horrific stories he told me, he got extremely angry and demanded I sign a refusal to go to Denver Health. I told him “I am not signing anything”! “You should sign a refusal for not allowing me my rights to receive a 2nd opinion!” I had been asking for a second opinion since the very first time I met with him. He was mad and simply walked out of the room with no care or concern for me whatsoever. I was horrified at the way he treated me. It sickens me to see a doctor who could truly not even care about people and their health. It really is sad. I am demanding a second opinion and want you to be aware of the incredible Medical Negligence on behalf of Dr. Singh.

Can someone please help me? This is a genuine cry for help. I spend more time lying down in my bed due to the incredible amount of pain and the fear of my testicles turning in to a balloon. May I please have another mattress so that I can have some sort of comfort during my last 20 days here?

Please help me.


Respectfully,


Jose Antonio Hernandez