This recent piece from the Times-Tribune is a frightening example of what can happen when medical complaints by prisoners go unheeded.
A Lackawanna County Prison inmate made half a dozen requests seeking medical help for a severe skin condition, but was ignored until the American Civil Liberties Union intervened, an ACLU attorney said Thursday.
The inmate's condition became so severe it shocked Valerie A. Burch, an attorney with the ACLU of Pennsylvania.
"He looked like a burn victim," she said. "He had severe psoriasis all over his body. His skin was cracked and bleeding. It was immediately apparent this man was not getting the treatment he needed."
Thanks to pressure from the ACLU and other groups, the prisoner's condition has improved. The report makes it seem that the problem revolved around the prisoner's inability to secure health care treatment. But you have to wonder about the role of the private health care provider, Correctional Care Inc. CCI is in a dispute with the county over billing and transparency, as this article indicates.
With over 2.3 million incarcerated people in the U.S., health care is an enormous but largely invisible issue. Increasingly, health care of prisoners is being turned over to private companies, further removing the State from responsibility toward and accountability for those whom it has deemed in need of "correction."
