SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Calling it a crisis of life-and-death proportions, a federal judge is now taking over the state's troubled prison health care system.

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson said that lawsuits, reforms and protests over the past 25 years have done nothing to improve a severely broken prison health care system.

Spurred by a series of official investigations, Henderson found that the California's prison health care system was bordering on "outright depravity." He added that "a significant number of prisoners have died as a direct result of this lack of care." He also cited "neglect and even cruelty by medical staff."

"The estimate was that one inmate a week was dying from medical neglect," said Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles.

Even the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, whose doctors were criticized by the judge, admitted something needed to be done.

"Certainly, conditions in CDC health are in crisis and need to be addressed," said union spokesman Doug Chiapetta.

The judge is now going to appoint a receiver to run the state's $1 billion-a-year medical system.

"He was very clear on his intent," said California Youth and Adult Corrections Secretary Roderick Hickman. "And as secretary and with this reorganization, my hope for us is to finally fix the real issues of health care and to provide proper care to prisoners of California."

In the next few weeks, Henderson is expected to release his official written ruling, which will detail the depth of the changes he will mandate. They are reforms that some critics believe could run as costly as $100 million a year to institute.