A federal judge has held the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) in contempt for failing to abide by a court order to improve medical care for incarcerated people.
The August 5 contempt order came after a court monitor's report, released in June, found the IDOC had failed to fully comply with nearly every measure in a 2019 plan to provide adequate health and dental care to incarcerated people under its supervision. Among the report's findings: failures to quickly diagnose cancer, lack of dental care, and poor treatment of dementia patients "that appeared consistent with neglect and abuse." This included dementia patients not being given enough fluids or assistance with eating, and signing "do not resuscitate" orders and living wills that they could not understand.
