Canadian court orders remand centre to provide prescribed medication and permit consultation with outside physician

In two applications brought by Geary, a provincial prisoner, the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench ordered the Edmonton Remand Centre to provide Geary with prescribed medication and to permit him to consult an outside physician. In each application, Geary was asking the court on an urgent basis to order interim measures until such time as the court could hear his full application for release from custody. This decision has important implications for prisoners living with HIV/AIDS, some of whom report receiving medical treatment that does not meet professionally accepted standards. It is also significant that, in finding for the prisoner, the court refers to the Charter, the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, and American constitutional case law.