aging in prison

Dr. Homer Venters, the former head of New York City's correctional health services, says that inmates held in solitary confinement cells, such as the Rikers Island cell shown above, have a higher risk of committing self-harm.

Former Physician At Rikers Island Exposes Health Risks Of Incarceration

3:06pm March 18, 2019

by Dave Davies

Dr. Homer Venters describes a number of traumatic outcomes related to subpar medical care inside the New York City jail complex, including the death of a man who was denied insulin during intake.

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Nearly 90 former inmates are buried here on the grounds of the North Central Correctional Institution at Gardner. Before inmates, the state buried patients housed at what once was the Gardner State Colony for the "mentally disturbed."

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Tempering The Cost Of Aging, Dying In Prison With The Demands Of Justice

5:00am August 01, 2018

Massachusetts has one of the highest rates of aging prisoners in the nation. A new law would allow parole for prisoners who can prove they are physically or cognitively incapacitated.

By some estimates, nearly half of the people confined in U.S. jails and prisons have a mental illness, notes Alisa Roth, author of Insane: America's Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness.

'Insane': America's 3 Largest Psychiatric Facilities Are Jails

10:21pm April 25, 2018

by Ailsa Chang

Alisa Roth's new book suggests U.S. jails and prisons have become warehouses for the mentally ill. They often get sicker in these facilities, Roth says, because they don't get appropriate treatment.

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Hepatitis C virus, via transmission electron microscopy. (The actual viral diameter is around 22 nm.) Doctors say the recent FDA approval of Mavyret, a less expensive drug for treating the virus, may make it easier for more insurers and correctional facil

FDA's Approval Of A Cheaper Drug For Hepatitis C Will Likely Expand Treatment

1:30pm October 04, 2017

by Michelle Andrews

Mavyret, recently approved by the Food And Drug Administration, can cure hepatitis C in eight weeks, at a cost of $26,400. Though still expensive, that's well below the price of other options.

Karriem Saleem El-Amin of Baltimore is one of the more than 130 prisoners serving life sentences for violent crimes who were released on probation following a landmark ruling by Maryland's highest court.

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From A Life Term To Life On The Outside: When Aging Felons Are Freed

3:41pm February 18, 2016

A landmark ruling by Maryland's highest court affected prisoners convicted of violent crimes before 1981. None of them has re-offended so far. But that's no comfort to angry families of their victims.

What To Do With California's Mentally Ill Defendants?

4:29pm October 21, 2015

by Scott Shafer

Jail is too dangerous for many defendants found incompetent to stand trial because of illnesses like schizophrenia, judges say. But psychiatric hospitals are now overcrowded and violent, too.