RALEIGH - The ACLU of North Carolina filed a lawsuit today against the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction for denying Pamela Chambers, an incarcerated woman with diagnosed cataracts, medically necessary care.
A cataract is a clouding of the eye that causes visual impairment and eventually blindness, but can be cured with a quick, safe, and inexpensive surgery. In 2022, Chambers was scheduled to have cataracts removed from both of her eyes. However, after the first eye was corrected, her second eye surgery was denied by the prison's medical director due to an apparent policy that only permits one cataract removal surgery per individual during their incarceration, regardless of their medical needs and despite her physician's prescribed treatment. She now suffers from blindness in one eye, double vision, poor depth perception, and an increased risk of falling.
The complaint alleges that the NCCIW’s one-eye surgery policy violates the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Section 27 of the North Carolina Constitution, which require adequate medical care for people in state custody. The complaint also alleges violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act.
“Ms. Chambers has a serious medical condition that the prison system’s own healthcare providers have recognized as needing treatment,” said Dan Siegel, Deputy Legal Director with the ACLU of North Carolina. “Refusing such basic healthcare for non-medical reasons is unlawful and inhumane.”
You can read the complaint here.
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