Nature of Claims: The plaintiff, confined at Albion Correctional Facility, the state’s largest women’s prison, suffers from neurogenic bladder and must self-catheterize in order to urinate. She was required to re-use disposable catheters and has had a series of urinary tract infections, which were likely caused by the re-use of catheters and in any case mean that that practice is contraindicated for her, as already recommended by the hospital to whom she was sent for treatment of her infections. She alleged that this treatment constituted deliberate indifference to her serious medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause.
Current Status: The plaintiff, by pro bono counsel Weil, Gotshal & Manges, moved for a preliminary injunction. Before the hearing on the motion, the prison system changed its policy to conform to the Medicare standard, so the plaintiff will receive four catheters a day. The case has now been settled on that basis.
Persons Affected: 1 directly; an unknown number of other prisoners suffering as a result of the same practice who will have benefited from the change in policy.
Reported Decisions: None.