http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/19/2279174.htm
Call for review of prison medication
Mental Health advocates say there has to be a review of the way medicines are distributed in prisons.
A coronial inquest has found that found a lack of anti-depressant medication contributed in part to serial killer David Birnie’s decision to take his own life.
Birnie hanged himself inside his cell at Casuarina Prison in October 2005. He had not received his antidepressant medication for three days before his death.
Anne White from the WA Association for Mental Health says an urgent review is needed.
“One would hope that the prison system would take on board the findings of the coroner and act on it with a great deal of urgency because who knows who else is in the system who may in fact be in a similar situation,” she said.
The current policy requires prisoners to have both a valid prescription and authorisation from the Director of Health Services to receive medication.
