62 132. The Inter-American Court understands that, pursuant to Article 5 of the American Convention, the State has the obligation to provide regular medical examinations and care to prisoners, and also adequate treatment when this is required. The State must also allow and facilitate prisoners being treated by the physician chosen by themselves or by those who exercise their legal representation or guardianship.115 133. It is also pertinent to recall Principle 24 of the Principles for the Protection of All Persons Subject to Any Form of Detention or Prison, which establishes that: “[a] proper medical examination shall be offered to a detained or imprisoned person as promptly as possible after his admission to the place of detention or imprisonment, and thereafter medical care and treatment shall be provided whenever necessary. This care and treatment shall be provided free of charge.”116 134. Furthermore, the European Court has stated that: According to [Article 3 of the Convention], the State must ensure that a person is detained in conditions that are compatible in regards for human dignity, that the manner and way of exercising the measure do not subject him to anguish or difficulty over and above the inevitable level of suffering inherent in detention and that, given the practical demands of imprisonment, his health and welfare are ensured adequately, providing him, inter alia, with the necessary medical care.117 * * * 135. This Court also considers that it has been proved that the detention of Mrs. De La Cruz Flores, and the conditions in which this occurred, resulted in the rupture of her family structure, so that her children grew up without their mother and had to abandon their personal plans (supra para. 73(57)). The Court recalls that Mrs. De La Cruz Flores indicated in the statement made before notary public (supra para. 50) that her next of kin “suffered as if they had been in prison with me.” Moreover, the detention conditions caused her next of kin severe mental anguish. 136. In view of the above, the Court considers that the State violated the right to humane treatment embodied in Article 5 of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof, to the detriment of María Teresa De La Cruz Flores, and also that of her next of kin: Ana Teresa and Danilo Blanco De La Cruz, her children; Alcira Domitila Flores Rosas widow of De La Cruz, her mother; and Alcira Isabel, Celso Fernando and Jorge Alfonso De La Cruz Flores, her siblings. 115 Cf. Case of Tibi, supra note 1, para. 157; and Case of Bulacio, supra note 107, para. 131. 116 Cf. UN. Series of Principles for the Protection of All Persons Subject to Any Form of Detention or Prison, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 43/173, of 9 December 1988, Principle 24. 117 Cf. Kudla v. Poland, No. 30210/96, para. 93-94, ECHR 2000-XI.