PRESCRIPTION DENIED TO JAIL

The day before Gregory Kokolakis took his own life, he called his
mother from the Lee County Stockade in agony.

"He called me crying," said his mother, Adrienne Croom. "He said, "I
am in so much pain. I can't stand it.' "

Kokolakis, 21, wasn't allowed access to his methadone, an opiate used
by doctors to help addicts off painkillers.

"He said 'Mom, my medication is in my property, and they won't give it
to me,' " Croom recalled Wednesday.

On Sept. 7, Kokolakis wrapped a sheet around his neck, tied it to an
air vent in the stockade barracks and attempted to hang himself. He
died five days later. Kokolakis was the third inmate to commit suicide
since July.

"He was not himself when it happened," she said. "The pain from the
withdrawal drove him to it."

The Lee County Jail has a contract with Tennessee-based Prison Health
Services Inc. to provide medical treatment, including treating
inmates' withdrawal from narcotics.

When inmates are booked, they are screened for health problems and
asked if they are on any medications, according to jail documents.

"You can believe that he told them that he was on methadone," Croom
said.

Dr. Carl Keldie, PHS corporate medical director, said the staff treats
methadone like any other opiate.

They check in at least once a day with inmates who say they are on
methadone. They treat the withdrawal symptoms, such as vomiting,
stomach cramps and diarrhea.

If the symptoms become severe, they move the inmates to the infirmary
where they are treated by a doctor.

Kokolakis told his mother that he asked a nurse for help. "They said
they couldn't do nothing for him," Croom said. "Why didn't they do
something?"

PHS officials said they could not comment on Kokolakis' case because
of patient confidentiality laws.

Lee County Sheriff's Cpl. Larry King said Kokolakis was housed in a
barracks with the general population. Because his death is under
investigation, King said he could not say whether Kokolakis was being
treated for withdrawal symptoms.

"I'm aware there are questions that need to be addressed, but I
anticipate they will be covered in the death investigation," King said.

Before the holiday weekend, Kokolakis picked up enough methadone at
Operation PAR Narcotics Addiction Center in Fort Myers to carry him
through Labor Day. He had earned the right to get take-home doses
because he had stayed sober on the program, his mother said. He
started taking methadone almost two years ago when he wanted to go off
OxyContin, which had been prescribed for back pain after a car accident.

He took a dose Saturday before he was arrested for failing to appear
in court on a driving without a license charge. He had his other doses
with him when he was booked.

Eileen Ball, the Operation PAR's director, couldn't comment on
Kokolakis because of confidentiality laws.

"Our clinic is run by doctors. The medication is prescribed by
doctors. They shouldn't deny them prescription medicine," she said.