The Florida Justice Institute filed a class action lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) and its private medical contractor Corizon, LLC for failing to provide necessary hernia surgeries, resulting in possibly hundreds of incarcerated people being left in severe pain, unable to engage in normal activities, and at risk for serious complications such as bowel obstruction, infection, and even death. The case is brought on behalf of three prisoners—Tracy Copeland, Amado Parra, and Archie Green—and seeks to certify a class of all FDOC prisoners with painful hernias that have gone untreated. The lawsuit alleges that both the FDOC and Corizon have a policy, practice, and custom of not providing hernia surgeries, except in emergency circumstances, for the purpose of saving costs and increasing profits. The lawsuit seeks an immediate injunction ending the policy, as well as monetary damages to compensate the plaintiffs and potential class members for the pain and suffering they have endured.
Case Summary: Challenge to the Florida Department of Corrections' Failure to Treat People's Hernias