N.Y. AG settles with jail medical care provider after deaths

ALBANY, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman recently announced a settlement with Correctional Medical Care Inc. (CMC), a Pennsylvania-based company, after it allegedly violated its contract with Monroe and Tioga counties.

The settlement comes after an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office found that CMC allegedly violated its contract with Monroe and Tioga counties by understaffing facilities and shifting work to less qualified and lower paid employees to save money, including replacing shifts of doctors and dentists.

During the probe of CMC’s practices it was alleged that several unlicensed and inexperienced staff members were hired, including a nurse with a felony conviction. The attorney general’s review board also alleged that medical records lacked notes from physicians and that medications were dispensed without medical orders.

The inquiry by the Attorney General’s Office began after six prisoners died in the custody of five county jails between 2009 and 2012, allegedly from a lapse in medical care.

The settlement requires that restitution be paid to Tioga county and that the company be monitored independently for three years to ensure it meets its obligations to provide medical care. CMC will also be responsible for paying civil penalties.

CMC holds more than $32 million in contracts to provide health care workers to 14 upstate New York jails.