Formerly Incarcerated Man Awarded $307M Over Prison’s Medical Negligence

A former Michigan inmate who was denied a colostomy reversal and forced to live with a waste bag has been awarded more than $307 million.

A former Michigan inmate who spent two years in prison with a bag of waste attached to his body has been awarded more than $307 million in damages over the prison’s handling of his medical care.

On April 2, a federal jury awarded former Michigan inmate Kohchise Jackson $307.6 million after a prison healthcare contractor denied surgery to reverse his colostomy to cut costs, leaving him with a leaking, foul-smelling bag, Click On Detroit reports. The verdict follows years of allegations that Corizon Health intentionally refused to approve Jackson’s medically necessary colostomy reversal surgery, forcing him to continue living with a waste bag during his incarceration from 2017 to 2019.

“It was a horrible experience for me,” Jackson said. “Shame on you. I’m still a human being at the end of the day.”

The decision wasn’t based on medical need, but on cost, his lawyers claimed. The move forced him to live with a colostomy bag in prison, where he endured abuse from other inmates, experiences he still finds too painful to discuss.

“It was horrible, having to be in those close quarters with guys wearing a colostomy bag, knowing that it was supposed to come off within two months,” Jackson said.

In a 2019 lawsuit against CHS TX, Inc.—formerly Corizon Health—and its successor YesCare, Jackson alleged civil rights violations during his incarceration from 2016 to 2019. The suit claims he developed a hole between his colon and bladder, allowing waste to leak into his bladder and causing severe infections, fever, nausea, and extreme pain.

“A billion-dollar company that makes a profit by bilking the taxpayers faced the music,” said one of his civil rights attorneys, Jonathan Marko of Marko Law. “The evidence showed the companies spent decades making a calculated decision based on profit that the lives of prisoners didn’t matter. No corporation is above the law.”

When asked how he was treated by staff and inmates while incarcerated, Jackson said: “I was scrutinized. I was treated like an animal.”

The jury awarded $300 million in punitive damages against CHS TX, Inc.—which acquired Corizon Health after its 2023 bankruptcy—along with $100,000 in punitive damages against Dr. Keith Papendick, Corizon’s former director of utilization management during Jackson’s incarceration. An additional $7.5 million in compensatory damages was also awarded against CHS TX.