# Larry > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Larry," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/larry-spinal-cancer/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The prisoner at FCI Loretto who complained of back pain for more than a year, was given Tylenol, and progressed from a cane to a walker to a wheelchair before a chaplain forced an outside hospital referral — which found stage four cancer of the spine. He died in his bunk two weeks later.* - **Where:** [FCI Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fci-loretto) - **Complaint:** Back pain, over more than a year - **Treatment given:** Tylenol - **Diagnosis when finally tested:** Stage four cancer of the spine - **Outcome:** Died in his bunk two weeks later, untreated **Larry** is the prisoner [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) offers as the end point of the [medical system](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/prison-medical-care) at [FCI Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fci-loretto). He did not know him well — Larry lived near the chapel where Kiriakou worked as an orderly, so theirs was a *"hey Larry, how you doing"* relationship.[1] Passing him on the way to work one day, Kiriakou saw him visibly hunched over and asked whether he was all right. Larry's back had been killing him for over a year; he had been to sick call that morning, where it was shrugged off and he was given the usual Tylenol.[1][2] A few weeks later he was walking with a cane. Kiriakou told him he needed heavyweight help and to have his family call their congressman — but, he notes, actually finding that kind of help is beyond most people, and it was beyond Larry.[2][3] ## The chaplain At a chapel staff meeting the chaplain mentioned that he intended to look in on Larry, who by then had gone from a cane to a walker to a wheelchair. Kiriakou told him about the year of unanswered complaints and asked him to intervene. To his great credit, Kiriakou says, the chaplain did: he went to the medical unit and demanded Larry be taken to an outside hospital for testing.[3][4] Another two weeks passed before the regional medical office agreed to pay for it. Larry was taken to a hospital, given an MRI, and diagnosed with stage four cancer of the spine.[4] He was sent back to Loretto and died in his bunk two weeks later, having received no treatment of any kind except Tylenol, and having never been considered for compassionate release. *"In a lot of ways Larry was ignored to death."*[5] Kiriakou's conclusion is put as a floor rather than an argument: there are genuinely bad people at Loretto, but none of them had been sentenced to death — *"not literally anyway"* — and they deserve at least basic medical care, which the Bureau of Prisons is legally obliged to provide.[5][6] ## See also - [Medical care in federal prison](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/prison-medical-care) - [FCI Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fci-loretto) - [Frank's heart attack](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/frank-heart-attack) - [Administrative remedy process](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/administrative-remedy-process) ## Sources 1. S2E12 Dangerous (2026-08-03), at 21:22. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a6eaae961ae402f61b96f44/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-03-dead-drop-s2e12-dangerous/ 2. S2E12 Dangerous (2026-08-03), at 21:52. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a6eaae961ae402f61b96f44/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-03-dead-drop-s2e12-dangerous/ 3. S2E12 Dangerous (2026-08-03), at 22:24. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a6eaae961ae402f61b96f44/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-03-dead-drop-s2e12-dangerous/ 4. S2E12 Dangerous (2026-08-03), at 22:54. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a6eaae961ae402f61b96f44/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-03-dead-drop-s2e12-dangerous/ 5. S2E12 Dangerous (2026-08-03), at 23:26. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a6eaae961ae402f61b96f44/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-03-dead-drop-s2e12-dangerous/ 6. S2E12 Dangerous (2026-08-03), at 23:56. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a6eaae961ae402f61b96f44/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-03-dead-drop-s2e12-dangerous/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/larry-spinal-cancer/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt