Judge Orders Federal Takeover of State Prison Health Care System
Posted on: Friday, 1 July 2005, 18:01 CDT
Jun. 30--SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge on Thursday placed himself in charge of California's troubled prison health care system, saying he was driven to act by "stunning testimony" that medical malpractice or negligence has been causing, on average, one death each week.
"We're dealing literally with life and death," said Senior U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson in announcing he'll appoint a receiver, accountable only to him, to run the billion-dollar medical system.
The receivership is believed to be the largest ever imposed on a state by a federal court. Henderson took the unusual step of ruling orally at the conclusion of a series of hearings that explored the state's inability to cure defects in the health care provided to its 165,000 prisoners.
He cited evidence of "outright depravity in the rendering of medical care" as well as systemic weaknesses that have thwarted reform efforts. Among those, he said, is a civil service system that has resulted in the hiring of "anyone with a (medical) license, a pulse and a pair of shoes."
Henderson did not name the receiver. Nor did he define the receiver's duties and powers, which could extend to hiring, firing and contracting. He'll announce those decisions in written orders in a few weeks, he said.
He invited the state's collaboration on those matters and also on reaching his goal of raising the health care system to constitutional standards.
"We're going into this thicket together, and it's new to all of us," he said.
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Source: The Sacramento Bee
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