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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThese Sheriffs Release Sick Inmates to Avoid Paying Their Hospital Bills
Michael Tidwells blood sugar reading was at least 15 times his normal level when sheriffs deputies took him to the hospital. But before they loaded the inmate into the back of a car, deputies propped up his slumping body and handed him a pen so he could sign a release from the Washington County Jail.
I could barely stand up or keep my eyes open, he recalled.
Tidwell said that he didnt know what he was signing at the time, and that he lost consciousness a short time later. The consequences of his signature only became clear in the weeks that followed the 2013 medical emergency.
By signing the document, which freed him on bond from the small jail in south Alabama, Tidwell had in essence agreed that the Washington County Sheriffs Office would not be responsible for his medical costs, which included the two days he spent in a diabetic coma in intensive care at Springhill Medical Center in Mobile.
Its unclear whether Tidwell, who was uninsured at the time and in poor health afterward, was billed for his care or if the medical providers wrote it off. Neither Tidwells attorneys nor the hospital was able to say, and Tidwell was unable to get answers when he and a reporter called the hospitals billing department.
What is clear is that the sheriffs office avoided paying Tidwells hospital bills.
Tidwell had been on the receiving end of a practice referred to by many in law enforcement as a medical bond. Sheriffs across Alabama are increasingly deploying the tactic to avoid having to pay when inmates face medical emergencies or require expensive procedures even ones that are necessary only because an inmate received inadequate care while incarcerated.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/these-sheriffs-release-sick-inmates-to-avoid-paying-their-hospital-bills/ar-AAI3Qdl?li=BBnbcA1
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)Generic Other
(28,979 posts)DO NOT GO TO THEIR EMERGENCY ROOM IF YOU WANT TO LIVE. Their Yelp page is worse than the dentist that killed the beloved African lion.
Also, this hospital specializes in helping Chinese citizens give birth to anchor babies. Somehow they managed to convince others this woman's epileptic seizure was staged.
They obviously have never heard of these First Amendment Auditor filmers who go around filming public spaces to see if stupid officials will challenge them.