ABOUT US

Medical Advocacy Consultants was founded by Dr. Richard Goldberg.

He received his undergraduate education in Biology at Franklin and Marshall College, medical school at the University of Michigan, and his residency at Duke University Medical Center.

During his career, Dr. Goldberg has always been a fighter for those in need. He was honored by Cyrus Vance, Jr. for his help in obtaining medical care for those affected by the dust from the World Trade Center attack on 9/11/2001.

After practicing medicine as the “Grand Old Man” of academic family medicine in New York City for 35 years, he and his medical partner made an egregious error in judgement and entered into a financial arrangement with a New Jersey laboratory. They were found guilty of accepting money and were sentenced to prison.

It was while incarcerated, that he recognized the often horrendous medical conditions in the Bureau of Prisons. When his sentence was completed, he began Medical Advocacy Consultants to help correct this injustice.

As the medical consultant for the prestigious legal advocacy firm, the Justice Advocacy Group, his role has been described by Joel Sickler, the founder of that firm as, “Dr. Goldberg’s medical academic background is extraordinary – University of Michigan, Duke, New York Medical College, Albert Einstein Medical College – it was his incarceration that has made him a valued member of the JAG team.  In fact, in the current Coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Goldberg has provided expert advice in 8 cases and we have won early release to home confinement in five of those cases.  Part of that success is based on Richard’s first-hand knowledge of the federal prison health system. But more so on his knowledge of disease generally.”

In addition, for the past 5 years he has been the medical consultant for the Aleph Institute, a Jewish humanitarian organization aiding prisoners and those in the military for over 35 years. His role with Aleph, as with the Justice Advocacy Group, is to assist those who are incarcerated with medical needs.

He has worked with numerous criminal lawyers and legal aid groups in assisting with issues such as federal prison medical designation, as well as the advocacy care of their clients while incarcerated.

 

The case for better care.

The United States government has incarcerated more people than any other country on earth. We have 5% of the World’s population and over 25% of its prisoners. In 2016, there were 2,162,400 people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails.

Those incarcerated men and women are among the most physiologically vulnerable individuals in our society. Prison was not intended to be a literal death sentence. What the pandemic has exposed is that there is no place on the planet that is safe from the COVID-19 virus. What has also become apparent, is that our prison system is one of the most ill-equipped institutions to deal with a threat such as this, and that it will not be prepared to “return to normal” for the foreseeable future.

Since the rise of the pandemic in the early winter of 2019-2020, Medical Advocacy Consultants has been active in working with prison consultants and organizations to help those at high risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19 get out of prison or delay their date of surrender.

 

Team philosophy.

The Medical Advocacy Consulting network includes those with criminal convictions. In fact, their convictions are a significant reason why they are part of Medical Advocacy Consultants–the work that they do for our clients is informed and enhanced by the time they have spent in the system. Part of their success is based upon their first-hand knowledge of the federal and state prison health system. During the last few years, issues of re-entry and criminal justice reform have been at the forefront of public policy in the area of criminology.  The First Step Act, signed by the President, was specifically designed to reintegrate people into society.  The White House said the day of the signing, “The First Step Act will help prepare inmates to successfully rejoin society and enact commonsense sentencing reforms to make our justice system fairer for all Americans.” Their knowledge of the prison system, in addition to their unquestioned academic medical excellence, have aided the courts in deciding matters of life and death.

 

Plan of action.

Medical Advocacy Consultants provides pre-surrender medical advice and preparation for incarceration. No one wishes to have issues with the Bureau of Prisons or Department of Corrections. We are associated with prison consultants and advocates as well as lawyers and assist medically in several areas:

 

  • We work closely with lawyers and consultants to help try to keep clients from incarceration (for medical reasons) if at all possible.
  • If pending incarceration, we fight to get the proper facility based on medical needs.
  • We are available 24/7 during our client’s incarceration to help deal with medical issues that arise and try to make sure the care received is the proper medical care.
  • If possible, we work with consultants and lawyers to try to obtain a Compassionate Release or Reduction in Sentence. The medical portion, often crucial to this process, is dealt with by our staff.

Our work resulted in the release of over a dozen inmates for CR/RIS and The Cares Act. During the past year we have helped obtain 2 Presidential pardons. Let us help you.

 

Richard Goldberg, MD

Medical Advocacy Consultants, LLC