Jail logs show Ralkina Jones may have been improperly medicated

Ralkina Jones, who died in a jail cell shortly after being arrested may have been improperly medicated, according to newly released documents as part of an ongoing investigation...

Ralkina Jones, who died in a jail cell shortly after being arrested may have been improperly medicated, according to newly released documents as part of an ongoing investigation.

On Wednesday, the jail log as well as the medical log were released by authorities, who admit that there is a discrepancy between the two logs as to how many times the medication for Ralkina Jones was administered, reports NBC News.

“We note that the Medical Log Sheet reflects fewer medications dispensed to Ms. Jones than documented in the Jail Log,” read a statement from the office of Elizabeth Rothenberg, director of law for the City of Cleveland Heights. “This matter is under investigation along with the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s investigation of the cause of Ms. Jones’s death.”

Ralkina Jones’ prisoner medication log

The prison medication log notes Jones was given medication twice over the course of 24 hours, however the main jail log indicates she was given medication three times. According to NBC, Jones’ prisoner medication log shows atenolol (blood pressure), gabapentin (anti-epileptic), escitalopram (anti-anxiety), sumatripitan (migraine), oxycodone (pain), and zolpidem (sedative) listed.

“The escitalopram here, it looks like she was given it twice — in the morning at 10:43 and also in the evening time and that’s a once a day drug,” said Dr. Jeannie Lee, an associate pharmacy professor from the University of Arizona, upon reviewing the logs for NBC. “So I’m wondering why she’s taking it twice a day. That’s another one of my concerns that particular medication because of the interactions, we probably want her on the lower side of the dose, which she’s on 20 mg, but this particular day she received 40, it looks like.”

“So there are potential drug interactions that are present there, especially escitalopram and sumatriptan which is a migraine medication,” Lee added. “So, she had several medications that basically work on the serotonin receptors in the brain and if you take multiple medications that stimulate serotonin in the brain, that can cause overstimulation and what we call serotonin syndrome — it’s a possibility.”

The medical examiner has yet to determine Jones’ cause of death.

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