DOVER, DE - The ACLU of Delaware has filed a class action lawsuit against the Delaware Department of Corrections and multiple healthcare providers on behalf of incarcerated Delawareans.
The lawsuit, filed today, October 11, claims the Delaware Department of Corrections along with private healthcare agencies contracted for inmate medical care violated inmates’ Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights in their failure to provide adequate medical care.
The ACLU alleges that understaffing, intentionally delayed or denied medical care, lack of medical staff supervision, and refusal to provide needed specialist care, prescribed medications, tests, and procedures were all examples of misconduct negatively affecting incarcerated people and their wellbeing from April 2020 up to and including today.
According to the plaintiffs, this alleged misconduct was not occasional, but systemic.
Three plaintiffs are named in the suit, all of them incarcerated at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna. Their individual allegations are included in the lawsuit, including one of the plaintiffs claiming he was denied prescribed medication for 47 days as a form of discipline.
“Incarcerated people often have significant medical and mental health needs, yet in Delaware, far too many individuals continue to be held in conditions that threaten their health and safety on a daily basis,” said Dwayne Bensing, Legal Director at the ACLU of Delaware, “Recognizing, addressing, and ensuring their healthcare needs are met is not just a constitutional obligation and ethical imperative, but also a crucial step towards restoring human dignity.”
The plaintiffs seek injunction orders to end the alleged misconduct as well as monetary damages to compensate for the alleged violations of constitutional rights within the Delaware prison health care system.
Multiple members of the Department of Corrections, including acting and former Commissioners and the Medical Director, are named as defendants. Medical companies Centene Corporation, Centurion of Delaware LLS, and VitalCore Health Strategies are also listed as defendants.
A spokesperson for the Department of Correction told WBOC Wednesday morning that they had not received the lawsuit and cannot comment on pending litigation.
