preview

Essay On Medical Health

Good Essays

In 2004, the Bureau of Justice Statistics provided inmates in both state and federal prisons with a survey related to their health concerns (Maruschak, 2004). Overall, the surveys purpose was to discover how many prisoners, since being incarcerated, developed or reported particular health concerns including injuries and dental issues (Maruschak, 2004). The survey also took into account the prisoners age, and gender (Maruschak, 2004). The number of prisoners for both state and federal facilities had a significant amount of medical issues reported. There was approximately 44% for state prisoners and 39% for federal prisoners (Maruschak, 2004). A fair amount of state and federal inmates also reported a physical or mental impairment, 36% …show more content…

Injuries reported in both state and federal prisons both showed a greater propensity to report it as an accident rather than an assault (Maruschak, 2004). When it comes to receiving medical attention in prison, nearly all inmates stated they had, at a minimum been questioned by staff, concerning any health issues while being processed into the facility (Maruschak, 2004). More specifically, the majority of inmates have received a medical exam, including a blood, TB, or HIV test while nearly three quarters of inmates were cared for by a professional (Maruschak, 2004). A higher percentage of prisoners stated they seen a professional for dental issues and injuries received since being incarcerated (Maruschak, 2004). Some females are pregnant when placed in prison and overall had higher complaints of medical issues than males. For the females that are pregnant, almost all stated receiving an obstetric exam and over half revealed they were afforded some type of medical service concerning their pregnancy (Maruschak, 2004). It’s important to cover some the history and legal aspects of health care in prisons. The Geneva Convention of 1929 set a foundation for medical services of prisoners (Shalit & Lewin, 2004). There are also institutions such as the Red Cross and Amnesty International that influence medical services for prisoners (Shalit & Lewin, 2004). Our prisoners are protected under the 8th Amendment to the

Get Access