Federal jury awards $307.6M to Michigan inmate denied surgery over cost
This historic verdict, delivered on **April 2, 2026**, marks one of the largest awards ever granted to a single inmate in a civil rights case.
A federal jury awarded **$307.6 million** to **Kohchise Jackson**, a 44-year-old former Michigan inmate, after finding that the state’s prison healthcare provider deliberately denied him a simple surgery to save money.
### The Case Details
The lawsuit centered on Jackson's treatment while in the custody of the **Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC)** and the **St. Clair County Jail** between 2016 and 2019.
* **The Condition:** Jackson developed a **colovesical fistula** (a hole between the colon and the bladder), which caused fecal matter and gas to leak into his bladder.
* **The Denial:** After an emergency surgery installed a colostomy bag, doctors scheduled a reversal for February 2017. However, the private healthcare contractor, **Corizon Health** (and its successors), allegedly refused to approve the reversal.
* **The Motivation:** Jackson’s legal team argued that the surgery—which cost less than **$1,000** ($919.35)—was denied purely as a cost-cutting measure to maximize corporate profit.
* **The Suffering:** Jackson was forced to live with a leaking, foul-smelling colostomy bag for over two years. He testified that he was "treated like an animal" and subjected to physical abuse and mockery from both staff and other inmates due to the smell and constant leakage.
### The Verdict
The jury's decision reflects a scathing critique of the private prison healthcare system. The **$307.6 million** award is intended to compensate Jackson for his suffering and serve as a punitive measure against the "calculated decision" to prioritize profit over human dignity.
> "A billion-dollar company who makes a profit by bilking the taxpayers faced the music. The evidence showed the companies spent decades making a calculated decision based on profit that the lives of prisoners didn’t matter."
> — **Jonathan Marko**, Jackson’s attorney
>
### Aftermath
Jackson was paroled in May 2019 and finally received the reversal surgery two weeks later, funded by **Medicaid**. While the verdict sends a massive signal to the industry, Corizon Health and its related entities have faced significant financial and legal restructuring (including bankruptcy filings) in recent years, which may complicate the actual collection of the full award.
