Two Steps Backwards: Medical Malpractice in Correctional Health Care & the Texas Two-Step Bankruptcy Maneuver as a...

This Note explores how correctional health care companies attempt to circumvent mass tort liability by filing for bankruptcy, further exacerbating the challenges incarcerated individuals face in accessing the legal system. In Section I, I provide background on the increasing trend of prisons outsourcing their required health care capabilities to correctional health care corporations, the high rates of medical malpractice and adverse medical outcomes in prisons that contract with correctional health care companies, and the barriers incarcerated individuals face in seeking relief for medical malpractice. Section II provides an overview of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the Texas Two-Step maneuver, explaining how they serve as mechanisms for resolving mass tort claims. To demonstrate this, I present a case study of Corizon's attempted Texas Two-Step. In Section III, I analyze Corizon's Texas Two-Step in light of Harrington v. Purdue Pharma's prohibition of nonconsensual third-party releases and argue that the approved reorganization plan was nonconsensual, given institutional barriers to accessing the legal system in prisons. I also suggest and evaluate additional efforts that should be explored to decrease both medical malpractice and barriers to seeking relief in correctional settings.