Troubling prison death suit
Alawsuit by the family of a young man who died last year in an Oklahoma prison alleges abject disregard of his medical condition by prison staff. The portrayal, if close to accurate, is one that should concern all Oklahomans.
The federal lawsuit names as defendants DOC Director Joe Allbaugh and several medical and correctional personnel at Joseph Harp Correctional Center, where Joshua England, 21, died May 29, 2018, after suffering a ruptured appendix.
The death “was entirely preventable, if only he had been provided with minimally adequate medical care,” the lawsuit contends.
According to the lawsuit, England arrived at Joseph Harp in February 2018 to serve less than one year for fourth-degree arson and other charges. Three months into his time at Joseph Harp, the inmate began seeking help for severe abdominal pains.
At least five times in a span of seven days, he sought treatment. On his first visit, he was given Pepto-Bismol. On his next visit, where according to the lawsuit, he
had blood in his stool and a rapid pulse, no abdominal exam was conducted and he was given another laxative.
In response to his third request for medical help, a nurse wrote: “You were seen on 5/23/18,” and refused to see him, the lawsuit says.
At one point during this stretch of days, a correctional officer saw England lying on the floor of his cell complaining of pain, but did nothing, the lawsuit says.
During his fifth visit to the clinic, an EKG showed that England's heart rate was 158 beats per minute. “The EKG results should have alerted clinic staff that Joshua was facing a dire medical emergency and that he needed life-saving intervention at a hospital immediately,” the lawsuit states. “Instead, Defendants continued to ignore Joshua and his complaints, and failed to render an abdominal examination.”
Eventually, according to the lawsuit, England was unable to walk to the clinic. Instead of providing a stretcher or wheelchair or calling an ambulance, “Defendants recorded a video of Joshua as he lay dying in his cell, ostensibly to document his `refusal' of medical care.”
The lawsuit alleges that England was delirious and in extreme distress and that “any reasonable lay person” would have realized he couldn't think rationally. Instead, a nurse noted in England's chart that he “waived sick call appointment.”
It's alleged that prison staff refused to provide “even the most basic medical treatment” for England, then failed to send him to a nearby medical facility for testing or evaluation when his condition worsened. “Instead, corrections officers and medical staff belittled Joshua, and did nothing as Joshua, suffering extreme pain, rapidly deteriorated.”
We have said often that the DOC and its prison workers are overburdened by the sky-high inmate population; the plaintiff's attorney acknowledged as much in an interview. And medical personnel, no doubt, deal regularly with inmates trying to con them. But those problems can't excuse the behavior outlined here, if true. This lawsuit bears watching.