Yvonne McBride Death: Healthy Miami Woman Dies Just One Month After Entering Prison, Investigation Reveals Shocking State Of Neglect

A healthy 26-year-old woman, Yvonne McBride, died just 34 days after entering the Lowell Correctional Institution for women in Ocala, Florida. The woman died from complications that resulted from a poorly diagnosed and treated case of the swine flu. McBride’s autopsy revealed that she died from bronchopneumonia, which was brought on by the swine flu virus. The doctors noted that the woman should have been hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia when she first disclosed she was coughing up blood. Though McBride went to the prison infirmary multiple times complaining of numerous symptoms of flu and pneumonia, each time she was sent back to her dormitory. The woman would later be found vomiting blood on the prison floor and taken to the emergency room where doctors say she was suffering from cardiac arrest and septic shock. The previously healthy McBride would die the same day.

The Daily Mail reports that an investigation into the state of the Lowell Correctional Institution for women is underway following the shocking death of a Miami woman under their care. The investigation has led to the discovery of shocking conditions of neglect in the prison, with reports indicating that the prison had a long-history of failing to provide adequate medical care to the female inmates. Routine medications were not given and delaying treatment for inmates was found as commonplace. This occurred even with potentially fatal illnesses such as in McBride’s case.

The Lowell Correctional Institution is the largest women’s prison in the United States, but was reportedly in a state that was not suitable to properly care for the women in the prison system. In fact, an investigation that resulted from the death of Yvonne McBride reveals that the prison was not sanitary for living. The report outlined poor sanitation an unsanitary living conditions and eating environments along with improper medical care and diagnosis.

The report outlined that parasites had been found in the prison’s water system and that rancid meat was served to inmates. The kitchen staff noted that they were told to serve the rancid meat but to cover the rotten smell with aromatic items such as garlic

“Parasites have been found in the water and meat that was served to the inmates was found to be rancid in 2012 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, records show. Kitchen workers reported that they were told to use garlic or sauce to mask the smell of the rancid meat, which smelled like fish.”

Inmates working in the kitchen say it was filthy and that families of mice lived in the dish pit and oven. The inmates on kitchen duty say they would have to tie the bottoms of their pant legs to keep the mice from crawling up their legs. Another investigation at the facility came after inmates reported worms crawling out of sink drains in bathrooms. The FDC discovered that black larvae were in the sinks and that drains were filled with parasites and other bugs.

With such unsanitary conditions it is no wonder that women in the prison system would routinely become ill. However, it is reported that the prison system does not have adequate medical staff to care for the 2,700 inmates. With 2,700 women in the prison at any given time, there are only two doctors, two advanced nurse practitioners, and about two dozen LPNs on duty. Therefore, many sick inmates are dismissed back to their dormitories when complaining of ailments. Such was the case with Yvonne McBride and her battle with the swine flu.

McBride’s mother, Lydia, blames the prison for her daughter’s death and says that there was no reason for her healthy daughter to die.

“A healthy 26-year-old doesn’t die of pneumonia. They treat these inmates like, no matter what their complaint is, they are liars. All the nurses were like that and it probably was like that at Lowell.”

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