NCJ Number
179118
Journal
Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine Volume: 4 Issue: 4 Dated: December 1997 Pages: 181-184
Editor(s)
J. Jason Payne-James
Date Published
December 1997
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article examines the interface between the prison and the health care of those detained there.
Abstract
Gross overcrowding and poor conditions of detention bring specific health dangers, and prison systems face severe challenges in the treatment of prisoners who have contracted the HIV virus or AIDS. Prison doctors are in a sensitive professional position. They may be forced to grant treatment to individuals who do not want it or who may accept it only in hope of obtaining early release. Prison administrators may require prison doctors to cross the line between treatment for the benefit of the patient and treatment for the sake of a quiet institution. Doctors who see illnesses resulting from malnutrition, poor hygiene or other inadequacies on the part of a prison administration may be forced to choose between speaking out at the risk of dismissal or keeping quiet in order to continue helping prisoners. In addition, prison doctors are often expected to carry out official duties within the prison administration, e.g., overseeing corporal and capital punishment or executions by lethal injection, in violation of professional ethical guidelines. References