Inmate Given Expired Medication

At the «Kosh» Penitentiary, an inmate has been administered expired medication, with a significant quantity and variety of expired drugs discovered, as well as poorly filled and redacted records.

On October 25, the staff of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia received information regarding the provision of expired medication to an inmate at the Ministry of Justice's «Kosh» Correctional Facility. According to the report, this led to the inmate experiencing a rash in the abdominal area and a sense of stomach irritation.

Based on the report, upon instruction from Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan, the national preventive mechanism unit of the Defender’s office conducted an unannounced inspection of the «Kosh» Penitentiary. During the visit, a large amount of expired medications was found in the «Kosh» unit of the Penitentiary Medical Center, including «Amlodipine», «Verapamil», «Dicinon», «Activated charcoal», «Korsiz», «Reopoliglyukin», and «Poliglyukin». Furthermore, representatives of the Defender noted in their investigation of the “Outpatient Medical Assistance to Inmates” record book that the inmate received various medications for health complaints without appropriate orders from a doctor.

Specifically, over the last month, the inmate received medications including «Mezim», «Spazmalgon», «Glucose», «No-shpa», «Paracetamol», «Validol», «Ascofen», «Analgin», and «Dimidrol», none of which were prescribed for him. The investigation revealed that on October 11 and 12, the individual deprived of liberty was given 10 tablets of «Kreion». On October 20, he received 1 tablet of «Kreion» for severe stomach pain, and again on October 22, he received another 10 tablets of «Kreion». All these medications were also unprescribed. Moreover, at the time of the visit, a supply of «Kreion» was present with the inmate, which was also expired.

It should also be noted that an examination of the inmate's medical card revealed that he underwent a medical examination on October 14, 2021, where he was diagnosed with «chronic total colitis». Medications «UlkaVis», «Doxycycline», and «Linex» were prescribed; however, only 1 tablet of «Linex» was provided. According to the outpatient medical card, the previous medical examination occurred on May 19, 2021, which did not involve any long-term treatment recommendations.

Additionally, during the visit to the «Kosh» Penitentiary, it was reported that the working conditions of the medical department were extremely unsanitary and disheveled. The medication records were poorly maintained with deletions and inaccuracies. The Human Rights Defender's office suspects that these deletions were made to artificially alter the counts of medications.

The Human Rights Defender's office's department for the prevention of torture and ill-treatment will continue monitoring and investigations concerning medical care and service issues within the Ministry of Justice’s penitentiary institutions, including the issue of expired medications. The illegal actions of employees of the Ministry of Justice's «Penitentiary Medical Center», namely the failure to properly destroy expired medications, retaining large amounts of expired medications, violations of the medication disposal procedures, and prescribing expired medicines to individuals deprived of their liberty demonstrate gross violations. These incidents are a blatant manifestation of ill-treatment of individuals deprived of their liberty.

This practice must be immediately halted universally, considering that investigations by the Human Rights Defender's office in penitentiaries have also recorded cases of expired medications, poorly maintained records, and unacceptable sanitary conditions. Not all expired medications discovered through this statement are being published; the rest will be sent officially to the Ministry of Justice via a letter.