Judges orders AZ prison health care operations takeover

US judge orders AZ prison healthcare takeover

A federal judge has ordered a takeover for health care operations at Arizona's prisons. The decision came after a lawsuit alleging years of complaints about poor medical and mental health care for prisoners.

PHOENIX - The Associated Press is reporting that a federal judge has ordered a takeover of health care operations in Arizona prisons.

The backstory:

Per the report, the decision by U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver came after a 2022 verdict that concluded Arizona had violated the rights of prisoners by giving them inadequate care that led to suffering and preventable deaths.

The AP article states that for over 10 years, the state's government was dogged by criticism that its health care system for the 25,000 inmates in state-run prisons was run in a shoddy and callous manner.

Dig deeper:

According to AP's report, the state and attorneys representing prisoners have 60 days to submit a list of candidates to run health and mental health care operations in prisons.

It should be noted that the lawsuit, according to the AP, does not cover the nearly 10,000 people who are held in private prisons for state convictions.

Big picture view:

This is not the first time such a ruling has been made for state prisons in the country, according to the AP: in 2005, a federal judge placed California's prison medical system under receivership, after it was found that an average of one inmate a week was dying from medical neglect or malpractice.

The other side:

We have reached out to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry for comment.