Wednesday, December 13, 2006

DoJ report on Dallas jail healthcare now online

After Matt Pulle at Unfair Park broke the story (see Grits' coverage yesterday), the complete report from the US Department of Justice Civil Rights division criticizing healthcare at the Dallas County Jail is now available online:

See Part One and Part Two of the 47 page report.

Bottom line (p. 4): The Dallas County Jail "fails to provide inmates with adequate medical care that complies with constitutional requirements." Ouch! It's one thing for defense attorneys and inmate advocates to make such claims; it's quite another for Alberto Gonzales' Justice Department to say so.

The only things wrong with healthcare in the Dallas jail, says the USDoJ, are "inadequate":
  • intake screening
  • acute care
  • chronic care
  • treatment and management of communicable disease
  • access to healthcare
  • followup care
  • record keeping
  • medication administration
  • medical facilities
  • specialty care
  • staffing, training and supervision
  • quality assurance, and
  • dental care
Other than that, everything is just peachy, thank you very much.

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