September 15, 2008
Inmate death rate drops 30% in state prisons
The death rate of California prison inmates has dropped almost 30% since the beginning of 2006, a court-appointed monitor reported today.
J. Clark Kelso, the court-appointed receiver for inmate medical care, said the drop was an indication that his office is succeeding in reducing the number of preventable deaths in state prisons due to inadequate access to care, poor quality treatment and other factors.
In a report to U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson, who is overseeing an inmate lawsuit, Kelso said about 204 inmates per 100,000 died in state prisons in the second quarter of 2008. That was down from about 291 deaths in the first quarter of 2006. Kelso did not say how many he thought could have been prevented…
LINK - LATimes.com Blog
