Basic aspects of manifestation of vulnerability in penitentiary medicine

Abstract

Penitentiary medicine is the most important subject for discussion of various bioethical problems. Of particular relevance is the issue of vulnerability. Prisoners represent a vulnerable population, but vulnerability increases exponentially in groups with various health problems. One of the features of penitentiary medicine is that it offers medical services to prisoners with various degrees of vulnerability: “double” if the patient is a minor or an elderly prisoner, and “triple” if severe chronic illness, disability or mental disorders are added to this. An analysis of penitentiary medicine from a bioethical point of view should be preceded by the identification of the main components of this specific environment with a special vital status. The first of them is to determine the specifics of the penitentiary environment in the context of vulnerability issues. The second is a characteristic of the forms of vulnerability of prisoners. The third component is the identification of the diverse manifestations of the vulnerability of prisoners in the medical aspect