DOCTORS IGNORED MCDOUGAL, REPORTS SAYS

FORT WORTH -- Hours before he died in a Fort Worth prison cell, Whitewater
witness James McDougal complained of dizziness and became ill, but he was
never seen by a doctor, according to a federal government report.

McDougal, a felon and one of the first to withdraw his allegiance from his
pal, President Clinton, was also separated from his heart medication when he
was placed in an isolated cell, known as "The Hole," at the Federal Medical
Center prison in south Fort Worth.

Guards did not find the medicine because they did not want to search
McDougal's cell and disturb his sleeping cellmate, the report says.

One of the medicines, nitroglycerin, could have bought McDougal some time
after he was stricken with a heart attack on March 8, a prison official who
did not want to be identified, said yesterday.

Neither Warden George Killinger nor prison spokeswoman Susan Marlo could be
reached yesterday to comment. Prison duty officer Arden Hanson said, "This
isn't anything that can be handled by me over the weekend."

McDougal became a key witness for Whitewater prosecutors when the
investigation centered on an Arkansas land deal in which the two men were
involved. Independent counsel Kenneth Starr, in his report released Friday,
made no mention of wrongdoing by Clinton in the real estate venture.

McDougal was convicted of unrelated federal fraud charges and was serving
out his term in Fort Worth when he died of the heart attack.

The internal report, compiled by prison officials and obtained under the
Freedom of Information Act, said McDougal's treatment behind bars was
"consistent" with "reasonable community standards of medical care." But it
also mentions what appear to be mistakes, or at least a breakdown in
communication.

At 9 p.m. on March 7, after five hours of trying to provide a urine sample
for guards, the perpetually ailing McDougal said he was dizzy, the report
says. Two physician assistants at the prison were notified, but both
"reported they were treating other inmates at the time and were scheduled to
get off duty at 10 p.m.," the documents say.

The medical attendants asked a doctor at the prison to evaluate McDougal.
Instead, the doctor "told the physician assistants that they should take
care of inmate McDougal before they left for the night," the report says.

Neither the doctor nor the physician attendants saw McDougal, according to
the report. "There is no indication of follow-up on this issue by any member
of the Health Services staff," the report says.

At 10:30 p.m. on March 7, McDougal "remained unable to provide a urine
sample" and said he would go to "The Hole," according to the report. As a
guard was taking him to isolation, he "thought inmate McDougal might be
breathless and suggested they stop," the internal documents say. After 15
seconds, they continued.

But at 11:10 p.m., as McDougal was "being placed into the shower area for
in-processing, he vomited," the report says. After that, according to the
report, McDougal told guards, "I'm fine," and "voiced no complaints
regarding his health or medical state."

At 1:30 a.m. on March 8, McDougal said he thought he could finally provide a
urine sample, but a guard told him that "it was too late," according to
documents.

McDougal appeared "alert, well-oriented and absent any visible signs of
distress" until 10:55 a.m., when a guard heard "a loud sighing from within
the cell" and found him lying on the floor, the report says. McDougal was
pronounced dead after being rushed to John Peter Smith Hospital.

The internal report suggests that McDougal should never have been
disciplined in the first place.

After being punished once before for failing to comply with a drug test,
McDougal underwent an exam on Sept. 2, 1997, "for the purpose of assessing a
possible psychological basis for his inability to provide a urine sample,"
the report says. The exam concluded that McDougal was not at fault, but
simply too embarrassed to undergo a urinalysis test in front of other
people.

A memorandum was issued stating that McDougal, if ordered to undergo another
drug test, should simply be placed alone in a cell and given time to provide
a urine sample, according to the report. But the memo was "inadvertently
placed" in a supervisor's file, where it was not found until several days
after McDougal died, the documents says.

Once McDougal was taken from his regular cell, "there is no evidence that
inmate McDougal had access to his self- administered medications," including
pills for a bad heart, high blood pressure and anxiety, the report says.

The report noted that McDougal never asked for the medicine while he was in
isolation.

Checked-by: Don Beck