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Page Number: 16

10 

BROWN v. PLATA 

Opinion of the Court 

constitutional  deficiencies  in  the  [California  prisons’]
Ibid.    And  the  court  made 
medical  delivery  system.” 
findings  regarding  specific  instances  of  neglect,  including 
the following: 

“[A] San Quentin prisoner with hypertension, diabetes
and renal failure was prescribed two different medica-
tions that actually served to exacerbate his renal fail-
ure.  An optometrist noted the patient’s retinal bleed-
ing due to very high blood pressure and referred him
for  immediate  evaluation,  but  this  evaluation  never 
took place.   It was not until a year later that the pa-
tient’s renal failure was recognized, at which point he 
was  referred  to  a  nephrologist  on  an  urgent  basis; 
he  should  have  been  seen  by  the  specialist  within  14 
days but the consultation never happened and the pa-
tient  died  three  months  later.”  Id.,  at  928  (citations
omitted). 

Prisons  were  unable  to  retain  sufficient  numbers  of  com-
petent  medical  staff,  id.,  at  937,  and  would  “hire  any
doctor who had ‘a license, a pulse and a pair of shoes,’ ” id., 
at 926.  Medical facilities lacked “necessary medical equip-
ment” and did “not meet basic sanitation standards.”  Id., 
at  944.  “Exam  tables  and  counter  tops,  where  prisoners
with  . . .  communicable  diseases  are  treated,  [were]  not 
routinely disinfected.”  Ibid. 

In  2008,  three  years  after  the  District  Court’s  decision, 
the  Receiver  described  continuing  deficiencies  in  the
health care provided by California prisons: 

“Timely access is not assured.  The number of medical 
personnel  has  been  inadequate,  and  competence  has
not  been  assured. . . .    Adequate  housing  for  the  dis-
abled and aged does not exist.  The medical facilities, 
when they exist at all, are in an abysmal state of dis-
repair.  Basic medical equipment is often not available
or used.  Medications and other treatment options are