What Can I Do About Inadequate Medical Care in Prison in Arkansas?
Full Question:
Answer:
The Eighth Amendment guarantees that "cruel and unusual punishment [not be] inflicted." The Eighth Amendment has been used to challenge the medical care in prisons. In some cases, it is possible to bring a lawsuit for deliberate indifference to serious medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment. In cases involving an inmate's medical needs, the need must be, objectively, sufficiently serious, as typically proven by evidence from medical professionals. Deliberate indifference to serious medical needs is required to prove a violation of the Eighth Amendment.
In Estelle v. Gamble, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that deliberate indifference to serious medical needs of prisoners constitutes "unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain," whether the indifference is displayed by prison doctors in their response to the prisoner's need or by prison guards who deny or delay access to treatment or interfere with the treatment. The Court, however, ruled that "every claim by a prisoner that he has not received adequate medical treatment" does not mean a violation of the Eighth Amendment. An "inadvertent failure to provide adequate medical care" is not "an unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain" or "repugnant to the conscience of mankind.… Medical malpractice does not become a constitutional violation merely because the victim is a prisoner." Only deliberate indifference "can offend 'evolving standards of decency' in violation of the Eighth Amendment." Because Gamble saw medical personnel seventeen times over three months, the court did not find this a violation of the Eighth Amendment. "A medical decision not to order an X ray or like measures does not represent cruel and unusual punishment."
You might try contacting the medical care department of the AR Department of Corrections at 870-267-6331.
Please see the following links for contact information at the ACLU:
http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/medical-care
http://www.acluarkansas.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=28
For further information, please see:
http://www.aele.org/law/Digests/jail77.html
http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/aclu-arkansas-says-court-ruling-brings-new-hope-mentally-ill-jail-inmates-denied-tr
