A newly released report says healthcare in Illinois prisons is failing to meet minimal constitutional standards.
The report was written by national researchers as part of a federal lawsuit. It details failures at every level of the prison healthcare system.
In one instance at Illinois River prison, inspectors found an inmate’s classic symptoms of lung cancer went ignored until it was too late.
The Reverend Doris Green’s husband Michael Smith died at Dixon prison in 2011 of untreated bone and prostate cancer.
"I can almost see my husbands face in this one because I know what I went through trying to help him live long enough for me to take my grand kids down to see him."
In a statement, a department spokeswoman says they are working to improve prison care, but many of the conclusions in the report are flawed.