Moral Right to not be Killed or tortured
- May 3, 2017
- 4 min read
Introduction
A tremendous stigma exist when one is imprisoned – convicted or just awaiting trial because you can’t make bail. No matter the case, once you’re behind bars; our society has stigmatized you and has a strong pull to deny your Eighth Amendment rights to remain healthy. In an American Medical Association Journal of Ethics article Dr. Joseph E. Paris makes the case that not only based upon the Constitutional rights of inmates, our society is also ethically and logically obligated to provide health care to inmates (Paris, 2008).
Consider the case of young Demetrius Manderfield, arrested and held in jail for nearly five months without the proper health care he needs for his chronic, life threatening health conditions. On the outside Manderfield would receive blood transfusions every three weeks along with pain management medications (Detroit Receiving Hospital, 2017). Since he was arrested last December, he has been denied that treatment by prison officials and physicians. He was simply given Ibuprofen for his life-threatening pain (Lange, 2017).
Manderfield’s case is not uncommon, according to a Department of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance study that states “Among inmates with a persistent medical problem, 13.9% of federal inmates, 20.1% of state inmates, and 68.4% of local jail inmates had received no medical examination since incarceration.” The study’s findings clearly indicate a troublesome conclusion that “Many inmates with a serious chronic physical illness fail to receive care while incarcerated” (Wilper, Woolhandler, Boyd, Lasser, McCormick, Bor, & Himmelstein, 2009).
Dr. Joseph E. Paris: Why Prisoners Deserve Healthcare
Dr. Paris sums of the ethical issues. He writes;
it makes sense from a legal, ethical, social, and public health point of view to provide health care to prisoners, but doing so creates the perceived injustice that those who behave badly are rewarded with free medical care, while those who soldier on working for low pay and resist the temptation to resort to crime are punished by not receiving free care.
(Paris, 2008)
Dr. Paris freely admits that he does not have a “solution to the apparent paradox.” I have mentioned the Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment that Dr. Paris cites. But Dr. Paris also makes the case from an “ethical, social, and public health point of view.” Dr. Paris grants that not all Americans “have the resources” to cover health care cost, but they do have options such as purchasing insurance, paying out of pocket, government assistance, and even free access to emergency services regardless “of a patient's health insurance status or ability to pay.” But he points out that prisoners have none of those choices (Paris, 2008). And what one can conclude from the Cambridge Health Alliance study mentioned earlier (Wilper, Woolhandler, Boyd, Lasser, McCormick, Bor, & Himmelstein, 2009); “many” inmates like Manderfield are left with the options of luck and perhaps divine intervention.
Dr. Paris points to “social reasons too.” Most inmates will get out of prison and will be back in our society. “Proper care helps to preserve their physical function.” If their health deteriorates while they are serving time, when they get out they will become a burden on the health care system. “It is in society's best interest that recently released prisoners be free of disabling diseases.” And from a public health standpoint, percentage-wise, those who have been jailed or imprisoned have a high rate of health care issues. Once again, logic implies that denying them care will only make their health worse, and when they get out that effects all us as our health care system will be further burdened (Paris, 2008).
Moreover, above the Constitution, above the ethical and social codes, and above pure logic; there are moral rights. “The idea that everyone has rights is no surprise to people living in the United States,” said Paula Tomkins in her book Practicing Communication Ethics. “For example” she writes, “there is the moral right to not be killed or tortured.” Manderfield has not even been convicted yet, but he may be getting a death sentence if he is not given the proper care that he needs.
Conclusion
There is a substantial, negative stigma that we as a society associate with those behind bars or who have served sentences. Perhaps it is this stigma that allows the health care provided to them be of such horrible quality. But we should look beyond that. We should look to the Constitution. We should look toward the ethics. We should look toward the societal and public health implications. But above all, we should look to our own morality and the fundamental belief that no one should be killed or tortured by another, especially by a powerful government entity like a prison system.
References
Detroit Receiving Hospital (2017). RE: Demetrius Manderfield [Letter to Judge Judith Levy]. Benign Hematology Clinic, Detroit, Michigan . March 16, 2017
Lange, A. (2017) . Mom: Jailed son with deadly disease isn't being treated . Fox 2 -Detroit . March 20
2017 . retrieved from http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/242768465-story
Paris, J. (2008) . Why Prisoners Deserve Health Care. American Medical Association Journal of Ethics . Medicine and Society. February 2008, Volume 10(2). pp 113-115. Retrieved from http://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/2008/02/msoc1-0802.html
Wilper, A.; Woolhandler, S.; Boyd, W.; Lasser, K.; McCormick, D.; Bor, D.; & Himmelstein, D. (2009) . The health and health care of US prisoners: results of a nationwide survey. American Journal of Public Health . April 2009 . 99(4) . pp 666-672 . doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.144279
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