Originally published AUG. 30, 2017 published in Prison Legal News September, 2017, page 32 by Matt Clark
Corizon Health is one of the nation’s largest for-profit medical providers for prisons and jails. Recent lawsuits against the company, however, call into question the quality, and even the availability, of the healthcare services it is supposed to provide. Further, a former New Mexico prison employee has filed a whistleblower suit claiming she was fired in retaliation for raising concerns about Corizon’s provision of medical care to prisoners in that state. …
“Dr. McDermott was personally aware that Corizon was not providing all mental health care required under the contract, which meant that some portion of the [$200 million] NMCD paid to Corizon had not been earned,” according to her complaint.
She filed a qui tam action, which allows a private party to sue for fraud against the government, and made several public records requests. The state Attorney General investigated her allegations, and McDermott claimed the NMCD took retaliatory actions against her.
Meanwhile, Corizon has faced multiple lawsuits nationwide that allege inadequate medical care similar to McDermott’s whistleblower claims.
Read the full article here: https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2017/aug/30/numerous-lawsuits-filed-against-corizon-nationwide-company-loses-contracts/