Citizens in Milwaukee are revolting against their sheriff over poor health care in jails. Patients have serious untreated health-care needs, and the only services the jails provide is pulling teeth. Sheriff David Clarke says the solution is to outsource jail medical care to a private Miami-based company, Armor Correctional Health Services.
Getting a private contractor in on the deal certainly eliminates much of the bureaucratic headaches of actually taking care of inmates. But as our own Broward Sheriff's Office, which contracts exclusively with Armor in its jails, has shown, privatization is an imperfect solution.
Over the past few years, Armor has been hit with dozens of lawsuits claiming improper medical care, many filed from the jailhouse in federal court. Here's a sampling.
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