HELENA – Members of the legislative Law and Justice Interim Committee said Friday there was little or nothing they could do to help an inmate seeking medical attention for hernias described as the size of “cantaloupes,” noting there were conflicting opinions between doctors over the proper treatment.
Sen. Terry Murphy, R-Cardwell, said he and Sen. James Shockley, R-Victor, recently visited Ronney Harriman, formerly of Kalispell, at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge to discuss the large hernias which protrude from his waist.
Murphy said they were “shocking to see” and several of the panel members winced when looking at photographs of Harriman that were passed around.
“I understand totally his despair and distress over the situation he is in,” Murphy said, but added it was his opinion the committee was not in a position to make any recommendations on what would be considered a medical decision.
It was suggested the Department of Corrections bring in an outside doctor to determine the best course of action.
Murphy said Harriman has had two surgeries for the hernias that did not solve the problem. “So the question is: will a third surgery work when the first didn’t?”
It was suggested the Department of Corrections bring in an outside doctor to determine the best course of action.
No one from the DOC addressed the committee during the Harriman discussion.
But in an earlier interview with Montana Watchdog, a spokeswoman for Montana State Prison said officials took inmate care seriously and all inmates received excellent care.
Harriman came to the attention of the committee in December, prompting DOC Director Mike Ferriter to say he could not imagine doctors not giving medical treatment to a person with that level of need. Earlier in the day he told the board members that the DOC spent $12 million on medical costs last year and complimented the doctors who looked after the inmates.
Harriman, who is in prison after several driving under the influence convictions, told Montana Watchdog in December that his medical problems began in 2006 when he was working construction. He was hit below the navel with a pickaxe and blood vessels were severed. He said he stomach grew 10 times its normal size and he had to get emergency surgery. Once incarcerated he said he noticed a pencil-tipped bubble about the size of a pinky finger protruding from his stomach.
He said the state tried to fix the problem but it never held. Harriman said he now wears a “binder,” which he described as being like a corset, 85 percent of the time.
Harriman sued to get treatment and in 2009 lost his case in Montana 3rd Judicial District Court in Powell County. The state told him they were monitoring his condition and surgery was not necessary.