Article: Private prison care blasted Audit faults staffing, unlicensed clinics in state

DENVER - Two Colorado inmates died last year because their prescription medications were changed by unlicensed medical clinics in private prisons, according to a stinging audit that charged the state with lax oversight of an out-of-control private prison system.

The Colorado Department of Corrections houses about 2,800 of its 18,000 inmates in six private prisons. Five are in Colorado, and one is in Missouri. It cost taxpayers $53 mil-lion in 2004.

An audit of those prisons released Monday found numerous problems: inadequate staffing levels, unlicensed medical clinics, employees with criminal backgrounds, poor food services and more.

The audit laid much of the fault with the state ...

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