A federal jury recently returned its verdict in favor of an Ohio man who was the victim of medical malpractice in a Virginia correctional facility in the amount of $1.06 million ($708,671 in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages) for the permanent hand injury he suffered as a result of the prison’s failure to provide him with timely and appropriate medical care after he injured his hand while in prison.
The 32-year-old man suffered a fractured right ring finger as a result of an accident that occurred in the prison’s recreation area. The prison medical staff provided the man with an ice pack, an Ace bandage, and aspirin instead of taking x-rays and properly setting his fractured finger. As a result, the prison medical malpractice lawsuit alleged that the man suffered a permanent disability to his right hand. The man sued the prison doctor and two nurses hired by the private company that provided medical services to prisoners in the correctional facility.
Evidence introduced during the three-day federal jury trial established that the correctional facility took more than 235 days to provide the plaintiff with proper medical attention. However, by that time, it was too late to avoid a permanent injury to his hand.
The plaintiff’s lead lawyer stated after the verdict, “They [the jury] were very attentive during the trial and took my client seriously. Whether you are inside or outside of prison you have inherent human rights and human dignity and the standard care we afford people doesn’t stop at the prison door.”
The plaintiff stated after the prison medical malpractice jury found in his favor, “A jury of my peers understood I was wronged and knew it wasn’t right. There shouldn’t be any difference in the standard of treatment between an inmate and someone on the outside. I’m a human.”
A spokesperson for the company that funded the plaintiff’s prison malpractice lawsuit stated, “We have a crisis in the Commonwealth of Virginia related to the treatment of inmates, we have a crisis in local jails, and we have a crisis in state prisons. Now is the time for that crisis to be dealt with. This verdict is the beginning of a campaign we will wage to free inmates from solitary confinement conditions, medical malpractice issues, and inmate abuse by guards. The simple fact is, we are better than this as Virginians, and today this jury stood up and said that. It is time for the Virginia attorney general, the governor, and this administration to stand up and do something to cure the disease of inmate abuse in Virginia’s prisons.”
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If you or a loved one were injured due to deliberate indifference or the lack of appropriate medical care while incarcerated in a prison, jail, or other correctional facility in Virginia or in another U.S. state, you should promptly seek the legal advice of a local medical malpractice lawyer in your state who handles prisoner/inmate medical malpractice claims and may investigate your claim and represent you, if appropriate.
Visit our website or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to be connected with prisoner rights lawyers in your state who may assist you.
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