Draft law gives prisoners seek medical care

The Russian Federal Penitentiary Service has developed a draft law, regulating the provision of free medical care to prisoners and securing their rights regarding paid care, the head of the Service’s legal department Yuri Timofeev said on Tuesday. “A bill that enshrines the rights of convicts to receive free medical care under the program of the state, also secures their right to see additional medical services paid by their own means,” Timofeev said. Timofeev did not specify exactly what services are to be provided for a fee, saying the details would be clarified in the course of studying and discussing the bill. “Perhaps it will be those services that are not provided under free medical care, for example, a gold crown or porcelain tooth, a procedure a prisoner would choose to have done by themselves,” Timofeev added.