# Can you commit crime in order to receive expensive critical health care in the US. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-commit-crime-in-order-to-receive-expensive-critical-health-care-in-the-us/202666 "2003-09-19T19:53:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-commit-crime-in-order-to-receive-expensive-critical-health-care-in-the-us/202666/21 "2003-09-26T14:48:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissa \* > \*\* Some of the inmates in my husband’s prison had never been to the dentist in their lives before they were incarcerated. \*\* Ah yes, the classic “indian corn” smile! 😃 We need a smilie like that! In prison, the expectation is that inmates will get what is considered “the standard of care” available in the community. This doesn’t mean they get whatever they want, but rather they get what’s currently accepted as necessary by the local medical community. That’s _necessary_, not “nicer” or “less unpleasant”. With diabetes this means they get NPH and Regular insulin, but not the new Lantus or Humalog insulinss, which do make management a bit easier for some, but cost 5 times as much. For their reflux esophagitis, they get cheap ranitidine first, and get to go on generic prilosec only if ranitidine fails. They won’t get Nexxium unless all other therapies truly fail. Frankly, I take damn good care of my patients in prison, and I work hard to take care of their **needs**. What is different here, is that their **wants** (which they often misperceive as their needs) will not get the attention that a private physician will give to a paying patient. ---
**Author:** ![derigel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@derigel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/derigel)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-commit-crime-in-order-to-receive-expensive-critical-health-care-in-the-us/202666/22 "2003-09-26T15:44:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > \*\*treatment for Hep C is more frequently **not** lifesaving! I could rant about this endlessly. Treatment is appropriate for a _select_ population of people with hep C who meet certain criteria. If one is so far gone that one has decompensated cirrhosis, there’s no point in treating the Hep C virus. If one is not having progressive liver scarring, one will be far less likely to have liver failure and death, and there is no need for tretment. The trick is to find the people in between who could benefit from Hep C treatment, and get it to them! > \*\* Jeez Qadgop…I was just using this case as an example, to illustrate the policy of the Corrections Dept. here to refuse treatments not available to the general prison population, not to argue for Hep C treatment policy. I didn’t mean to touch a nerve. If you’re curious, a respected physician here, Dr. Bennett Cecil of the VA, had joined in the lawsuit to force the prison to allow treatment of the patient, which in Dr. Cecil’s opinion was medically warranted. He had already developed cirrhosis, and as of the last newspaper story he’d responded to the interferon and ribavirin treatment and had reduced the virus in his system to undetectable levels. So he was one of the lucky ones who could benefit. I’ve only heard of of maybe 20 other prisoners since then who’ve been treated for Hep C in Kentucky, following the successful lawsuit. But like I said, I’m not arguing one way or the other. I was just trying to point out that here in Kentucky the Corrections Dept. won’t allow prisoners or others to pay for treatment beyond that which the prisons offer to everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-commit-crime-in-order-to-receive-expensive-critical-health-care-in-the-us/202666/23 "2003-09-26T17:27:43Z")
Sorry, I’m still a bit twitchy over a lawsuit for failing to immediately treat hepatitis C within weeks of our initial assessment, even though the patient had it for years and knew it, but did nothing about it while he was on the outside. The initial assessment to see if a hep C patient needs treatment takes about 6 months here in our system. That standard is held to be reasonable and meeting current medical standards. ---
**Author:** ![derigel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@derigel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/derigel)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-commit-crime-in-order-to-receive-expensive-critical-health-care-in-the-us/202666/24 "2003-09-26T19:12:09Z")
I understand completely. I know a physician who was part of a malpractice lawsuit a few years ago. His complete involvement with the patient had consisted of a 5-minute consultation with the attending physician, but the jury somehow decided he was 5% at fault and ordered him to pay damages. Having heard about the case, I still have no idea how he could have been expected to do anything differently, so I can see why he’s still angry. I can only imagine what the ruling did to his malpractice insurance rates. Quite a few medical lawsuits should never make it past the first judicial hearing, but do anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-commit-crime-in-order-to-receive-expensive-critical-health-care-in-the-us/202666/25 "2003-09-30T21:47:57Z")
From [http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/106448150093420.xml](http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/106448150093420.xml) – > [@](#): > > A lawsuit filed in March by the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta alleged that the Alabama prison system administered negligent health care, leading to the deaths of nearly 38 HIAIDS-infected inmates between 1999 and 2002. > > NaphCare – the state’s Birmingham-based health care provider – and Department of Corrections Commissioner Donal Campbell are listed as defendants in the class action lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![quothz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/da6949/32.png) [@quothz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quothz)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-commit-crime-in-order-to-receive-expensive-critical-health-care-in-the-us/202666/26 "2003-09-30T21:59:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissa \* > \*_That’s strange. The prison my husband works in must be unique. It’s crammed full of rapists, theives murderers, gang members, child molesters, and armed robbers. I once asked him how many people were incarcerated therein for simple possession. His reply? “Three.” And those \* guys had vast amounts of drugs, not just a joint in the pocket._ First, I agree with your general conclusions. But “vast amounts of drugs” is not simple possession - it’s possession with intent to sell, at the very least. Also, this is kinda snarky, but unless your husband reviews _every_ prisoner’s record and memorizes their offences, why would he know? It sounds like a wild-assed guess to me. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-commit-crime-in-order-to-receive-expensive-critical-health-care-in-the-us/202666/27 "2003-10-02T04:58:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by quothz \* > \*\*Also, this is kinda snarky, but unless your husband reviews _every_ prisoner’s record and memorizes their offences, why would he know? \*\* Well, he kind of does. He’s in administration now, so he needs to know bits of trivia like who’s in for what for security clearances and the like. He’s also worked other jobs in the prison which meant lots of time poring over inmate records, compiling reports for treatment programs and things like that. When it comes to his job, he has a phenomenal memory for detail. At any given time, he’s able to give accurate statistics about how many offenders are incarcerated for which offense. (A lot of these records are now computerized, so it makes searching for statistics much easier than it used to be. He used to spend hours in the “vaults” searching for what can now be found with the click of a mouse.) ---
**Author:** ![quothz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/da6949/32.png) [@quothz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quothz)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-commit-crime-in-order-to-receive-expensive-critical-health-care-in-the-us/202666/28 "2003-10-05T03:08:45Z")
That sounds reasonable enough. Sorry for the snarkiness; of course someone analyzes the prison population, it just didn’t occur to me. Again, I agree with your point. I know a few folks who’ve been busted, and none of 'em went to prison. Jail time, parole, fines, and maybe rehab, yeah, but not prison. (Of course, if they’d broken their parole they’d have been sent up the river.) ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-commit-crime-in-order-to-receive-expensive-critical-health-care-in-the-us/202666/29 "2003-10-05T04:41:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by quothz \* > \*\*That sounds reasonable enough. Sorry for the snarkiness; of course someone analyzes the prison population, it just didn’t occur to me. \*\* Hey, that’s okay. It’s a reasonable question to ask. It’s not unknown around here for people to make assertions without any actual knowledge of the subject. You gotta challenge people sometimes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-commit-crime-in-order-to-receive-expensive-critical-health-care-in-the-us/202666.md?page=1)