Michigan Department of Corrections Has Grossly Inadequate Medical Care

One of the biggest problems in the Michigan prison system is the atrocious quality of the healthcare provided to the inmates. This problem is widely known by prisoners and their families, prison administration officials, and state lawmakers. Yet, despite lawsuits filed and won by prisoners for Constitutional violations of deliberate indifference, the state of Michigan continues to maintain their contract with this inadequate health care provider.

The examples I am aware of, and have personally experienced, regarding the inadequate care by healthcare staff are too numerous to count.

Just recently, for example, one prisoner I know ("Doug") who is healthy and in excellent shape went to see medical for severe inflammation of his sciatic nerve. This normally very active prisoner was in great pain and was having trouble sleeping and functioning normally. After taking his vital signs and hearing his complaint, medical staff instructed him to place a soap in a sock and put it under the foot of his mattress. Besides the obvious stupidity of this advice as a solution, a sock with a soap inside would be considered a weapon by custody staff and would result in a major misconduct ticket, and possibly a trip to segregation for dangerous contraband. No other solution was provided and Doug, over complaints at this advise, was instructed to leave. 

Every visit to see medical staff results in a five dollar co-pay, which although small, is sometimes half of a monthly paycheck at prisoner wages. Prison policy requires inmates to see nursing staff three times before being allowed to see the doctor (often a physician's assistant). This means that prisoners are either required to spend more than a month's wages just to see the doctor, or suffer through their medical problems without proper treatment. 

I realize that Michigan's corrections budget is already approaching two billion dollars, but failing to provide even close to adequate medical care to Michigan's prisoners is unacceptable. The United States Constitution protects even prisoners from deliberate indifference in medical care.

For Doug, the only (inadequate) solution for his pain was to do his own stretching exercises using stretches learned over the years from other prisoners and medical books in the library and to suffer through the pain. Needless to say, Doug did not put a soap in a sock at the foot of his bed.