Wrongful Death Claim Due to Health Care in Prison
There are so many things that are wrong here…
In a nutshell, this inmate was a dialysis patient who happened to be just a few days from being released on parole. Prison officials – who have an obligation to provide health care – failed to get the dialysis team to him and he died as a result.
It is clearly wrong when anyone dies when they shouldn’t have to. Granted, this man was a convicted rapist, so I certainly wouldn’t be jumping over pits of flaming crocodiles to help him. Personally, I’m not sure how much I’d want him back out on the streets. But still, prison officials have a duty to make sure their inmates are receiving adequate health care. This inmate’s needs were no secret or surprise to this particular prison; the staff just dropped the ball and a man died due to the error. It’s obvious negligence and there should be consequences. Even convicts with horrible pasts have rights.
But as I’m writing this article it reminded me of the contradictions of American society. Our prisons are over-crowded, and it’s acknowledged that for the most part this is due to the unwarranted prosecution of non-violent drug crime offenders. Citizens are clamoring about not wanting to pay so much in taxes but we keep our prisons more than full, creating a huge burden on our coffers. What’s more is that we are bound to provide health care for all of these inmates, which only serves to drain more money from taxpayer contributions.
Where it really gets wacky is when you think about American citizens’ rights to health care: There is, essentially, no “right” to health care held by American citizens. Emergency rooms are mandated to provide emergency care regardless of ability to pay, and in some part this is funded. Medicare and Medicaid, for those that qualify, help to get care for people in particular circumstances (mostly the elderly and poor mothers and their children). But the rest of the population has no right to basic preventative health care.
So where is the wrong here? Maybe it’s everywhere. It’s wrong that a man died in prison because he didn’t get the health care he is guaranteed. But what about the overwhelming numbers of citizens – who haven’t done anything to warrant incarceration – who need health care and can’t get it? What about them? Why is health care a right to inmates but not to everyday citizens? And why do we have to have so many people in prison? Has anyone ever thought that maybe we should legalize marijuana, tax the bejesus out of it, and use that to fund a universal health care system? I’m just spit-balling, but there are several birds right there and I think I can get ’em with just this one little rock.
I don’t have the answers, but it’s something to think about.