In an article from U.S. News & World Report, Amanda Gardner discusses the issue of U.S. prisons lacking good healthcare. According to multiple studies, compared to non-incarcerated citizens, inmates in state jails were 31% more likely to have asthma, 55% more prone to diabetes, and 90% more likely to have suffered a heart attack. Additionally, there is an estimate 42.8% of inmates in state prisons who have a chronic medical condition. Even though many inmates suffer from chronic conditions, and estimated 20% of those being held in state jails have not seen a health care provider since their incarceration. In general, Gardner reports that the individuals being held in local, state, and federal prisons have difficulty accessing care both inside and outside of the correctional system.
These statistics are extremely surprising, especially since these people, although they are locked up for various amounts of time, are still citizens of the United States. According the 8th Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, these prisoners should be receiving proper and regular health care. If the country makes a vow to protect all its citizens with the rights instituted in the Constitution, these rights must be properly extended to those who are looked down on in society. Ethically, there should be no distinction in health care between someone who has saved lives, and someone who has possibly taken multiple lives away. But, how can we realistically ignore the wrongdoings of these criminals and treat them the same as other, normal citizens.
The real issue with this subject is that most people, whether based on their religion or basic morals, view those who have sinned or done wrong as lower than others who strive to do right. But, should these religious and moral views get in the way of extending proper healthcare to those locked up in jail cells? For instance, if a member of the Salvation Army and a murderer both suffer a heart attack, who gets treated first? Clearly, one of them has strived to help others while the other has taken away a human life. But, is it in the doctor’s or health official’s power to decide who is the better person?
I feel that most tax-paying citizens would not want their money going towards health care for the most dangerous members of society. But, on the other hand, it is not ethical to mark these individuals as subordinate in our healthcare system. This is the same type of medical discrimination that may occur towards women, minorities, and poor people. So, we must make an effort to eliminate yet another disparity in our health care system; the phenomenon of untreated chronic disease and limited access to healthcare in our nation’s prisons. But, how we go about doing just this is just the beginning of the solution to the problem.
Article from: http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/01/16/many-in-us-prisons-lack-good-health-care.html
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I would agree that there is an ethical imperative to not allow health care to be withheld from prison inmates, and I am not surprised by, nor do I refute what the this blog in its opening establishes – that the overall state of health within your prison system is entirely decrepit. The statics that are offered are compelling, but I would like to point out that there are a number of possible confounding variables involved that may make that state of poor health in prisons more understandable.
It is my general understanding (and hopefully not just a stereotype) that a large portion of criminals originate from poor inner-city areas. What this means is that, yes, prisons do have a high percentage of inmates with asthma, but as mentioned many inmates are from the inner-city where the percentage of people with asthma is also high, due to bad air quality. If we continue down this path, if many criminals were indeed poor before their incarceration, then they were most likely already devoid of health care and thus much more likely to develop the other chronic diseases that were mentioned. Not to mention that inmates are subjected to a constant high stress environment, which one would imagine has bad consequences for one’s health.
To reiterate, I agree that it’s not necessarily ethical to deny prisoners health care, but unfortunately (and I don’t like to put it this way) it is practical. The blog stated, “This is the same type of medical discrimination that may occur towards women, minorities, and poor people. So, we must make an effort to eliminate yet another disparity in our health care system.” Although this statement isn’t wrong, it points out the fact that there are already a number of issues on the table when it comes to fixing our health care system, and realistically we are going to deal with virtually all the other issues before we get around to addressing prisons. I’m not sure how many millions of Americans, who haven’t committed a felony, are still without and waiting for proper health care, but what I do know is that (although I don’t agree with it) society will send criminals to the back of a long preexisting line.
Finally, I just wanted to mention that the reference to 8th amendment is interesting, because it made me ask myself the question, “is this poor state of health a cruel and unusual punishment (which would mean we are immediately compelled to start providing better health care to prisoners) or is it just a result of an underfunded overburdened prison system, which no tax payers would be willing to pay more for?”
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