Louisiana's State Prison is the largest prison with the highest number of inmates.
On this page of our website, our current day healthcare in our prisons in the United States is described.
Suicide continues to be the leading cause of deaths in prisons. In one survey, more than 32% of people in state correctional facilities reported being injured since their admission. Suicide accounts for nearly one-third of all deaths in local jails during 2000-2014. According to a 2011-2012 Bureau of Justice Statistics survey, it showed half of state, federal, and local inmates reported having some type of chronic condition including cancer, high blood pressure, stroke-related problems, diabetes, heart-related problems, kidney-related problems, arthritis, asthma, and cirrhosis of the liver.
Terre Haute Prison
Since 2000, a huge increase of 137% of deaths have been from drug overdose, including a 200% increase involving opioids. Opioids, primarily prescription pain relievers and heroin, account for the majority of drug overdoses in the United States population. Of the prisoners over the age of 55, 75% reported a pain related problem and 39% reported severe frequent pain. Of those reporting severe frequent pain, 70% had received a prescription opioid from a correctional provider within 1 week of interview. Although they receive a prescription, many prisons decline filling them to prevent the struggles and continuation of drug abuse/addiction. Decriminalization has hopes in improving in our future. The Drug Policy Reform Act includes many provisions including abolishing criminal penalties for drug possession, decarceration, expungement of drug criminal records, anti-discrimination measures, and reinvesting money into communities and drug-user health. It would give the power to categorize and regulate controlled substances, currently held by the Drug Enforcement Administration, to the National Institutes of Health instead.
But a decriminalization framework comes with its own problems. Because it does not legalize drugs, it means that people who use them still have to seek them from unregulated sources. This puts them at continued risk of overdose or other harms from drug contamination or mixing. And because drug selling and trafficking would still be criminalized, there would certainly continue to be arrests and incarceration for those offenses under the DPA bill. People who aren’t arrested would likely still face civil citations and fines.
But a decriminalization framework comes with its own problems. Because it does not legalize drugs, it means that people who use them still have to seek them from unregulated sources. This puts them at continued risk of overdose or other harms from drug contamination or mixing. And because drug selling and trafficking would still be criminalized, there would certainly continue to be arrests and incarceration for those offenses under the DPA bill. People who aren’t arrested would likely still face civil citations and fines.
Inside state of Michigan Prison
Rates of other sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, are also higher in individuals who are incarcerated. In correctional facilities, STI rates are higher in women than men. An addition individuals who are incarcerated or held in detention centers usually do not receive necessary immunizations, which allow for outbreaks of infectious diseases like influenza.
Maximum security prison located in Crest Hill, Illinois. It is a very controversial prison.
Jails and prisons have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the US, more than 40 of the 50 largest clustered outbreaks in the country have occurred in jails and prisons. Compared to the general US population, the number of COVID-19 cases is 5.5 times higher among people who are incarcerated. While the number of deaths is increasing, it is likely even higher than the reported number due to the fact jails and prisons have little access and are conducting limited testing on incarcerated people. Most facilities do not test incarcerated people who die after showing symptoms of Covid-19.