Last night Al Jazzera America aired a special report about privatized
health care in Arizona prisons.
An investigation by the program America Tonight found dozens
of cases of medical neglect.
Arizona’s system is currently run by Corizon Health, Inc.,
the largest private prison health care provider in the country. Now one of its
former employees is blowing the whistle about its failures.
Former Corizon patient care technician Teresa Short’s claims
are backed up by other studies. The American Friends Service Committee reported
last October that medical spending in Arizona prisons dropped by $30 million
after Arizona privatized prison health care. They also found that there was a
sharp rise in inmate deaths.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in 2012
claiming that health care in Arizona’s prisons now amounts to cruel and unusual
punishment. The suit cites examples of officials telling prisoners to pray to
be cured and to drink energy shakes to alleviate cancer symptoms.
You can watch the videos of the Al Jazeera report in the post below.
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