MOSCOW, June 24 (RAPSI) - The Moscow City Court has proposed developing a simplified procedure for Moscow hospitals to examine individuals who have been placed in custody and claim to have a serious condition, the court's Deputy Chairman Dmitry Fomin said at a roundtable on remand center medical examinations.

Officially, the period between the prisoner's statement regarding the state of their health and the medical examination is at least 10 days. However, this takes much longer, as officials do not face sanctions for failing to send these people for examination on time.

Fomin proposed sending a sick prisoner for a medical checkup within no more than 72 hours, which is the longest possible period of detention without a court sanction.

According to Moscow City Court statistics, 40 people died in Moscow remand centers in 2011, including five who committed suicide, six deaths from drug poisoning, and 29 from diseases. The most frequent cause of death is cardio-vascular or cardio-pulmonary deficiency.

According to statistics, 12 prisoners were in custody for less than a month before they died, and eight were in custody from one to two months. 

Another 15 prisoners died after they were convicted.