titantoo
07-20-2005, 11:06 PM
'Indifference' to Inmate Heart Attack 'Cruel and Unusual'
[From New York Law Journal]
John Caher
07-20-2005
ALBANY — In a rare Eighth Amendment victory for a prison inmate, a Northern District jury has awarded nearly $800,000 to a former prisoner who contended that denial of medical services left him disabled. The jury found that the defendants' "deliberate indifference" to the inmate's "serious medical needs" amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, and hit one of the defendants with a punitive damage judgment award that constituted about 80 percent of the entire award.
The panel sitting before visiting U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter of Louisiana concluded, according to the verdict sheet, that two upstate counties and a private medical services company are liable for injuries suffered by Byron Lake, that they responded with indifference after the prisoner suffered a heart attack, that they acted under color of law and that the incident occurred because of unconstitutional policies or customs of the local governments.
Lake v. County of Schoharie, 9:01-CV-1284, involves a man convicted of a felony drunken driving count in Schenectady County but serving a sentence at the Schoharie County Jail because of overcrowding at the Schenectady facility.
Court records show that on Aug. 15, 1998, Mr. Lake suffered breathing difficulties and chest discomfort, with pain radiating to his arm and neck. He reported the symptoms to a corrections officer at the Schoharie County Jail and expressed concern that he was having a heart attack. But there was no doctor or nurse on duty, so Mr. Lake was placed in a holding cell near the sergeant's desk for about two hours, all the while complaining of symptoms, according to a summary judgment decision last year.
At around 2 a.m., two hours after first reporting the symptoms, Mr. Lake was brought to the Schenectady County Jail for examination by a nurse employed by EMSA Correctional Care/ Prison Health Services. That company had contracted with Schenectady County to provide medical services at the jail.
Mr. Lake was examined by a nurse, and placed on the medical tier, where he repeatedly complained that the symptoms were worsening. A day later, he lost consciousness and was brought back to the nurse who, two and one-half hours later, notified the EMSA doctor by phone. According to Mr. Lake, he was not seen by a doctor for several more hours, until he was taken to a local hospital. There, it was determined that Mr. Lake had suffered a heart attack sometime over a two- or three-day period during which he was in custody, according to court records.
Mr. Lake, represented by Kevin A. Luibrand of Tobin and Dempf in Albany, brought an action under 42 U.S.C. §1983 seeking damages under the Eighth Amendment bar on cruel and unusual punishment.
Eighth Amendment
In his charge, Judge Walter instructed the jury that it could find an Eighth Amendment violation only upon proof of "deliberate indifference to [Mr. Lake's] serious medical needs." He advised the panel that only a serious deprivation would implicate a constitutional right, and that the "standard for Eighth Amendment violations contemplates a condition of urgency that may result in degeneration or extreme pain."
The judge further instructed the jury that it could not find for the plaintiff without first concluding that the "deprivation occurred because of the policy, custom or practice" of the municipal defendants, or because of the failure of one or both counties to train and supervise its employees.
In its verdict, the jury found both Schoharie and Schenectady counties liable. It also found the nurse and EMSA liable, but not the doctor. It then awarded $150,000 in compensatory and $632,988 in punitive damages. The punitive award is solely applicable to EMSA.
Prisoner Health Services, which bought EMSA, lost its contract with Schenectady County last year following the death of a prisoner at the local jail. In that matter, the inmate died after medical professionals at the jail stopped providing the prisoner with medication to control his Parkinson's disease, according to a report issued by the state Commission of Correction.
Appearing for the defendants were: Paul V. Mullin of Sugarman Wallace Manheim & Schoenwald in Syracuse for Schoharie County; Kevin P. Burke of Phelan Burke & Scolamiero in Albany for Schenectady County; and Andrew Seth Regenbaum of Feldman, Kleidman & Coffey in Fishkill for the private defendants.
— John Caher can be reached at jcaher@alm.com
[From New York Law Journal]
John Caher
07-20-2005
ALBANY — In a rare Eighth Amendment victory for a prison inmate, a Northern District jury has awarded nearly $800,000 to a former prisoner who contended that denial of medical services left him disabled. The jury found that the defendants' "deliberate indifference" to the inmate's "serious medical needs" amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, and hit one of the defendants with a punitive damage judgment award that constituted about 80 percent of the entire award.
The panel sitting before visiting U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter of Louisiana concluded, according to the verdict sheet, that two upstate counties and a private medical services company are liable for injuries suffered by Byron Lake, that they responded with indifference after the prisoner suffered a heart attack, that they acted under color of law and that the incident occurred because of unconstitutional policies or customs of the local governments.
Lake v. County of Schoharie, 9:01-CV-1284, involves a man convicted of a felony drunken driving count in Schenectady County but serving a sentence at the Schoharie County Jail because of overcrowding at the Schenectady facility.
Court records show that on Aug. 15, 1998, Mr. Lake suffered breathing difficulties and chest discomfort, with pain radiating to his arm and neck. He reported the symptoms to a corrections officer at the Schoharie County Jail and expressed concern that he was having a heart attack. But there was no doctor or nurse on duty, so Mr. Lake was placed in a holding cell near the sergeant's desk for about two hours, all the while complaining of symptoms, according to a summary judgment decision last year.
At around 2 a.m., two hours after first reporting the symptoms, Mr. Lake was brought to the Schenectady County Jail for examination by a nurse employed by EMSA Correctional Care/ Prison Health Services. That company had contracted with Schenectady County to provide medical services at the jail.
Mr. Lake was examined by a nurse, and placed on the medical tier, where he repeatedly complained that the symptoms were worsening. A day later, he lost consciousness and was brought back to the nurse who, two and one-half hours later, notified the EMSA doctor by phone. According to Mr. Lake, he was not seen by a doctor for several more hours, until he was taken to a local hospital. There, it was determined that Mr. Lake had suffered a heart attack sometime over a two- or three-day period during which he was in custody, according to court records.
Mr. Lake, represented by Kevin A. Luibrand of Tobin and Dempf in Albany, brought an action under 42 U.S.C. §1983 seeking damages under the Eighth Amendment bar on cruel and unusual punishment.
Eighth Amendment
In his charge, Judge Walter instructed the jury that it could find an Eighth Amendment violation only upon proof of "deliberate indifference to [Mr. Lake's] serious medical needs." He advised the panel that only a serious deprivation would implicate a constitutional right, and that the "standard for Eighth Amendment violations contemplates a condition of urgency that may result in degeneration or extreme pain."
The judge further instructed the jury that it could not find for the plaintiff without first concluding that the "deprivation occurred because of the policy, custom or practice" of the municipal defendants, or because of the failure of one or both counties to train and supervise its employees.
In its verdict, the jury found both Schoharie and Schenectady counties liable. It also found the nurse and EMSA liable, but not the doctor. It then awarded $150,000 in compensatory and $632,988 in punitive damages. The punitive award is solely applicable to EMSA.
Prisoner Health Services, which bought EMSA, lost its contract with Schenectady County last year following the death of a prisoner at the local jail. In that matter, the inmate died after medical professionals at the jail stopped providing the prisoner with medication to control his Parkinson's disease, according to a report issued by the state Commission of Correction.
Appearing for the defendants were: Paul V. Mullin of Sugarman Wallace Manheim & Schoenwald in Syracuse for Schoharie County; Kevin P. Burke of Phelan Burke & Scolamiero in Albany for Schenectady County; and Andrew Seth Regenbaum of Feldman, Kleidman & Coffey in Fishkill for the private defendants.
— John Caher can be reached at jcaher@alm.com