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Tribune: Jail deaths reflect on medical care

The Texas Tribune's Brandi Grissom reports that:more than 280 Texas county jail inmates ... died from illnesses while in custody over a four-and-a-half year period, according to data provided by the Texas attorney general and analyzed by The Texas Tribune. The number of illness-related deaths in county jails comes close to the number of deaths in state penitentiaries ? despite the fact that county lockups house half as many inmates, on average, and keep them for much shorter periods.Sheriffs say that they are doing everything they can to care for people who come to them with a multitude of physical and mental illnesses that are exacerbated by drug and alcohol addiction. And, they say, they are struggling to meet the health care needs of more inmates at a time when budgets are dwindling...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on November 14, 2010 (boomark / email).