Prisoners' Constitutional Right to Medical Treatment - A Right Without Substance?

• NCJ Number: 80307
• Journal: New England Journal on Prison Law Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1981) Pages: 341-377
• Author(s): C G Carrabba
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 37 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The adequacy of court decisions relevant to a prisoner's right to medical treatment is assessed.

Abstract

The eighth amendment's ban against cruel and unusual punishments has long been viewed as a flexible and dynamic concept. Yet, it seems to have lost some of its flexibility in its application to claims of inadequate medical care for State prisoners. Remedies for such claims are largely illusory because of formidable legal and procedural obstacles faced by a State prisoner bringing such a claim. Foremost among these obstacles is the restrictive 'deliberate indifference' requirement of the Federal courts, which effectively precludes many legitimate prisoners' claims from redress. The Federal courts cling to the outdated vestiges of the 'hands-off' doctrine, sending State prisoners back to the State courts where their chances for recovery are even dimmer. A reasonable standard should be developed to afford inmates redress for violations of their right to medical treatment. The issue of whether an inmate received adequate medical treatment should be determined by the criteria of contemporary standards of reasonable medical treatment. The question of 'reasonableness' should not be left to the unreviewable discretion of prison medical personnel, but should require a showing that a private physician from the general community might reasonably have prescribed the same treatment. An independent medical assessment which either substantiates or contradicts the accuracy of the diagnosis or the efficiency of the challenged treatment would simplify matters for both the inmate and the court. If a State prisoner's claim of inadequate medical treatment in violation of the eighth amendment is substantiated, the prisoner should be permitted to state a claim for relief under section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871. A total of 213 footnotes are listed. (Author summary modified)