The Onondaga County jail’s former medical care provider will — for now — not be allowed to operate in New York because it violated multiple state laws while providing care to incarcerated people at the county jail.  The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James and NaphCare, the c orrectional healthcare organization, agreed to a settlement that banned NaphCare from the state for at least five years, James said Friday in a statement. NaphCare will also pay an $875,000 fine to the state.  James’ office found NaphCare misrepresented its role in providing services to the county, committing repeated fraud and violating correctional health care standards, James said.  The Alabama-based company oversaw health care at the jail from 2020 to 2022, when at least four people died at the Onondaga County jail. That includes the death of an infant girl who was born at the jail. “Our investigation found that NaphCare illegally practiced medicine in New York and failed to adequately protect individuals in custody who relied on their care. These failures put vulnerable individuals at serious risk and had devastating consequences,” said James in a statement.  Three of the four deaths during NaphCare’s contract were at least in part a result of medical negligence, according to mortality reports by the State Commission on Correction.  Angela Peng died by suicide without having been provided needed medical and mental health care.  Kevin Gilooly died after only intermittent treatment of his high blood pressure, as well as mix ups in his medications and their administration, wrote James. Naphcare never asked that he be seen by a specialist.  Cheree Byrd’s preterm infant died hours after birth in the jail. Byrd was not seen by a medical provider for 30 hours after she first reported her water broke, and her cries were ignored for six days.  NaphCare oversaw much of their treatment through providers working electronically from Alabama, James found.  New York State has strict laws preventing the “corporate practice of medicine.” Only physicians licensed in New York can own medical practices. NaphCare’s CEO is an attorney, Brad McLane, and NaphCare has never been licensed for medical practice in New York, James wrote.  NaphCare created a New York professional corporation, Proactive, to provide medical services in Onondaga County. The county’s contract said that Proactive would provide all clinical services and NaphCare would only do administrative and managerial work, James wrote.  An ophthalmologist with connections to NaphCare was reported as Proactive’s owner. NaphCare’s CEO was the President of Proactive, and the two companies shared a business address. Proactive medical director reported to NaphCare’s chief medical provider, James wrote.  Proactive informed the county it would provide care through telehealth. But the providers worked for NaphCare. They were based in Alabama, and ordered treatment by reviewing electronic records without seeing or speaking to patients or providers based in the facility, wrote James. Some on-site providers in the jail had the authority to change medical orders from these remote teams, but others did not, wrote James.  James found that NaphCare’s practice of medicine in New York State was both illegal and fraudulent, as Onondaga County was told Proactive, which was licensed in New York, would be providing all care.  This is not the first jail medical provider the attorney general’s office has found guilty of violating these rules. In 2014, then-AG Tim Shneiderman found that Correctional Medical Care, Inc. had violated corporate practice laws, leading to deaths in jails across the state — including one in Onondaga County. Dozens of deaths due to medical negligence have occurred in jails across New York State, often under the oversight of private medical providers, a New York Focus investigation found.  Naphcare did not bid to renew its contract with Onondaga County once it expired in 2022.  The county next contracted with Wellpath, another medical provider based in Tennessee. Wellpath had previously been embroiled in scandal, and had renamed itself after a 2019 CNN investigation found it accused of contributing more than 70 deaths nationwide. There were two more deaths in the jail in 2023.  Soon after another person died after a “medical episode” in the jail in 2024, the county fired Wellpath. That company filed for bankruptcy a few months later.  The county now contracts with CFG Health Systems.  Naphcare did not admit nor deny James’ findings,  but agreed to the terms of the settlement.  The post New York AG’s office bars former Onondaga County jail medical provider from NY jails appeared first on Central Current. ...read more read less