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| Prison health care needs overhaul, not simple outsourcing |
| By azcentral.com - Doris Marie Provine |
| Published: 05/24/2012 |
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Arizona -- A walk down the windowless, concrete hallways in any of Arizona's various prison complexes reveals horrific conditions where thousands of inmates are suffering abuse and neglect resulting in amputation, disfigurement and even death. While most states bar solitary confinement for inmates with serious mental illness because of the risk for self-injury, Arizona prison officials routinely place suicidal and mentally ill inmates in solitary cells -- a barbaric practice that has contributed to an inmate suicide rate that is twice the national average. A lawsuit filed in March documented numerous examples of extreme indifference on the part of prison officials. One example involved a critically ill prisoner, who in response to repeated pleas for medical help was told to drink energy shakes. He was sent to the hospital only after his abdomen was distended to the size of a full-term pregnant woman. He died there a few days later of untreated lung cancer that had spread to his major organs. Last week, the Arizona Department of Corrections responded to the lawsuit by denying claims that they have ignored the basic health-care needs of prisoners. The response comes on the heels of a prior announcement by the state prison system that it will outsource the delivery of health care to Wexford -- a for-profit prison corporation that critics say has a history of incompetence, waste and corruption. As bad as conditions are in the Department of Corrections, the state's decision to hire Wexford will only make things worse. Read More. |
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