Class action suit filed against DOC after decades of inadequate health care for incarcerated Alaskans

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alaska, with the ACLU National Prison Project, filed a class action lawsuit today against the Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) challenging DOC’s inadequate, dangerous, and inhumane health care system. The federal court lawsuit, brought on behalf of incarcerated Alaskans, contends that the state’s failure to provide adequate health care is a violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments and has resulted in needless suffering, decline, and death.

A years-long investigation into the inadequate physical, dental, and mental health care for thousands of incarcerated Alaskans demonstrates a critical need to fix DOC’s health care system immediately.

“Thousands of Alaskans depend on DOC to take care of their most basic and essential health care needs. They have no other option once they are detained. But the care they’re receiving, if they receive it, often comes too late, and is woefully inadequate,” said Megan Edge, Prison Project Director for the ACLU of Alaska. “State officials have known for years about these unconstitutional, inhumane, and cruel conditions, but have failed to make meaningful changes. We are hopeful that the courts will mandate an overhaul of DOC’s medical processes. If they don’t, Alaskans will continue to suffer and die needlessly.”

According to DOC, the cost of care for someone housed in an Alaska state jail or prison is $202 per day. However, this does not include medical care for chronic diseases, end-of-life, or emergency care. At the beginning of 2025, Alaska Governor Michael Dunleavy announced a proposed state budget that included $481 million for the DOC. DOC’s budget has continued to grow, without safer conditions or improved health care.

“When it comes to health care, Alaska’s prisons showcase some of the worst conditions of confinement that we’ve seen anywhere in the country,” said Nancy Rosenbloom, Senior Litigation Advisor at the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “The Alaskans who we represent in this lawsuit have been subject to an egregious lack of medical care that is heartbreaking, inhumane, and violates their constitutional rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.”

Examples of the health care inadequacies include the following:

• Untreated diabetes led to a coma and time in the ICU. In July 2023, an incarcerated diabetic woman complained of severe low back pain and was diagnosed with muscle spasms. Her pain did not improve and became so excruciating that she could not walk to receive medical attention, eat meals, or use the bathroom without the assistance of other incarcerated people. Medical staff did not check her blood sugar levels even while she remained in her cell, incapacitated by pain. Approximately one week later, an officer noted that the woman had fallen out of bed and was unresponsive. Upon being transferred to the emergency room, she was found to be in a diabetic coma, a life-threatening complication of poorly controlled diabetes. She spent 6 days in the intensive care unit before returning to prison.
• A diagnosed chronic illness progressed to pre-stages of colon cancer. An incarcerated man was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease in which abnormal reactions of the immune system cause inflammation and ulcers in the large intestine. Because of DOC’s failure to treat his disease appropriately during a previous incarceration, he suffered enormous pain and discomfort, and the colitis progressed to the advanced pre-stages of colon cancer.
• Untreated cataracts led to near blindness and the inability to care for other health problems. An incarcerated man’s cataracts worsened and advanced to the point where surgery was required. Because DOC failed to provide him with the needed procedure, his vision has become so impaired that he cannot clearly see the food on his plate or safely navigate the prison environment. Years after his diagnosis of bilateral “dense” cataracts and myopia (nearsightedness, with a visual acuity of 20/400 in both eyes), DOC has still failed to provide him surgery or eyeglasses. At the same time, he repeatedly asked the prison clinic for assistance, as he could not see well enough to care for his severe facial acne. He often bled from his face, at times soaking a napkin with blood.
• Untreated teeth lead to gross decay, oral wounds, and stitches. An incarcerated man suffered three fractured teeth, including one loose in the socket, and a knocked-out tooth. Despite requesting dental care in September 2021, he did not receive an appointment for four months, by which time he had pain and “gross decay.” DOC dental staff extracted two teeth and the patient required sutures to repair wounds in his mouth caused by the fractured teeth cutting his lips. He experienced further dental problems that were not addressed, leading to severe pain and further loss of teeth. DOC has a de facto “extraction only” policy, often offering extraction as the only treatment option, even for teeth that could be saved.