Medical Decision Making in Correctional Facilities: Highlighting Gaps and Advocating for Policy Change

In the United States, a disproportionately high number of incarcerated individuals suffer from serious mental illnesses, substance use disorders, chronic medical conditions, infectious diseases, and traumatic brain injuries. Correctional facilities are often ill-equipped to address the incarcerated community’s physical and mental health needs. Current laws and policies remain outdated and do not adequately address the complex health issues faced by incarcerated individuals, particularly the aging and terminally ill patients in correctional settings. We present a case of a male with schizophrenia whose ongoing psychiatric symptoms impaired his decisional capacity, leading to him to refuse medical treatment for an initially treatable medical condition, ultimately resulting in his death due to the lack of a surrogate decision-maker. This case underscores the urgent need for policy revisions to assign medical decision-making authority for individuals in custody and highlights potential interventions to bridge existing gaps in care for this population.