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Man dies in Oregon federal prison; conditions questioned

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The Federal Correctional Institution in Oregon is dealing with the suspicious death of one of its inmates.

When Ikaika Ryan Chung was hospitalized on Aug. 12, he had low blood pressure and a high heart rate. He “was pronounced dead there,” officials said in a statement.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that the death of Chung has raised concerns about other prisoners who are notably less healthy than he is.

“Mentally and physically, inmates are suffering,” Oregon’s federal public defender Lisa Hay wrote in a document she filed in federal court Friday, the day after Chung’s death. “Some have died.”

It has not been confirmed yet if a death in an Oregon federal prison is suspicious. “does not comment on pending litigation or matters subject to legal proceedings.”

This month, her office has received a number of disturbing accounts from people “begging for help, for themselves and others.”

On the morning of Aug. 12, Oregon’s federal public defender’s office received an email from someone incarcerated at Sheridan.

The person’s identity was redacted in the court filing described in a news article cited by OPB

“inmate (redacted) has a medical problem where he is delirious, cant walk cuz his legs are swollen beyond the scope of ‘normal edema’, he has spoke to multiple staff… and they are refusing to do ANYTHING to change his current medical status. he NEEDS HELP,” the email to Hay’s office said.

Chung arrived at the medium security facility on December 16th after pleading guilty to a drug conspiracy case and was sentenced 10 years.

Chung, who was in the Folsom prison in California for a drug crime, developed carbon monoxide poisoning that went undiagnosed for two weeks.

He started exhibiting symptoms like headaches and seizures on Dec 29th, followed by hallucinations and convulsions. By one week later he had fallen into a coma. After being put back onto

To date, Sheridan has diagnosed 30 inmates with COVID-19. This is the second largest outbreak in the country — topped only by a facility in Florida.

Hay believes this suspicious death is the result of staff negligence.

Hay has asked a federal judge to inspect Sheridan and order regular updates about vaccination rates, time inmates spend in isolation as well as hiring an interpreter to assist staff with communication with inmates.

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