Correctional Inmates

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The United States is faced with a growing and aging prison population which translates into higher health care costs (Carlson & Garrett, 2008). Inmates have a constitutional right to health care, but how far this extends is debatable. Correctional facilities have a moral and legal obligation to provide health care, but this should not guarantee prisoners the same access as private citizens especially at the expense of taxpayer. Estelle v. Gamble (1976) held that inmates have a right to adequate health care and that facilities could not be ‘deliberately indifference’ to an inmates health care needs. An inmate does not have the right to receive cutting edge treatments even though they may be available. A facility is not required to follow the existing treatment plan of an inmate who enters the facility (Lambda Legal, 2010). Correctional facilities have to consider costs when making health care decisions for inmates. For example, most physicians would prefer the technology of an MRI over a CT scan when making a diagnosis, but for a prisoner the CT scan would most likely meet the…show more content…
M., Subramanian, A. K., Sulkowski, M. S., Thomas, D. L., & Nelson, K. E. (2008). Should a prisoner be placed on the organ transplant waiting list? AMA Journal of Ethics, 10(2), 88-91. Retrieved from http://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/2008/02/ccas2-0802.html Carlson, P., & Garrett, J.S. (2008). Prison and Jail Administration: Practice and Theory, 2nd Edition. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. Estelle v. Gamble, 429 US 97 (1976) Lambda Legal. (2010). Your right to HIV treatment in prison and jail. Retrieved from https://www.lambdalegal.org/sites/default/files/publications/downloads/fs_your-right-to-hiv-treatment-in-prison-and-jail_1.pdf Sterngold, J. (2002, January 31). Inmate's transplant prompts questions of costs and ethics. The New York Times. Retrieved from

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