LA Times — Gov. Jerry Brown's contention that California has fixed the problems of delivering medical care in its prisons collides with the first reviews of some of those prisons by court-appointed medical experts.
All three of the first prisons that were evaluated failed, though two were deemed capable of passing if fixes continue to be made. Healthcare at the third, RJ Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego, was so bad that the court's experts questioned how it could have been given "high" marks recently by the state Inspector General.
In reports filed Monday in U.S. District Court, the experts deemed conditions at RJ Donovan so serious that they "present an on-going serious risk of harm to patients and result in preventable morbidity and mortality."
The prison has recently been converted, and 80% of patients have chronic diseases and more than half require mental health treatment. The experts noted that medical staffing has decreased even as crowding increased, and that medical care was focused on responding to immediate problems as they arose. The team found inmates' medical conditions sometimes went months without evaluation or treatment. Such lapses were documented in the deaths of several inmates, including one dying inmate for whom prison guards failed to perform CPR.
Facilities also were a major problem. Some medical areas were deemed "unfit for use" while others lacked sinks or doors. In one clinic, a nurse worked in a closet, evaluating an inmate who sat in the hall. Discipline was also a problem: The experts noted a nurse accused of "over-familiarity" with an inmate remained employed in the mailroom for two years while the case was pending.
The reports were filed before the same three federal judges whom Brown must persuade that California is ready to forego federal oversight of its prison system. One of those judges is weighing evidence and expert testimony now over the adequacy of inmate psychiatric care. Brown has announced intentions to file a similar bid to resume control over medical care, now run by a court-appointed receiver. continue reading...
2 comments:
Ah yes, inmates' mouth pieces telling the court how bad their "conditions" are. If they are so bad, then the inmate lover/families can pay for better "service" not the tax payers who also happen to be the victims. Funny how that works, they commit crimes against us and we have to pay for their "A class" care,,,,
Wow instead of thinking of ways to keep these scumbags / Dumbasses off the streets these other Dumbasses are more concerned about these scumbags health?? If they care so much yes they should foot the bill and see how fast their concerns will change! The state pampers these criminals and the victims / tax payers are having to pay for their health care?? The bigger picture here is money. I know medical doesn't do it cause they care but because there's money to be made $$$$$ in this prison system. If it don't make money it don't make sense! Yes the prison system has not fixed their health care issue. We still need to make millions before we say ok the system is good!
Inmates love prison everything they need is free plus they get to hang out with their homies. And if they don't get what they want they get a lawyer paid for by tax payers of course who else. And sue the state for not giving them what they want for millions paid for by tax payers of course. The system is broken its not for the good citizens of this state it's for the criminals and the money they make off them.
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