|
Charleston
County Detention Center
Charleston, South Carolina
Prison Health Services
March 15, 2004
Leon Jones was an inmate inside Charleston County's Detention Center for about
two months before he suffered a diabetic episode in March 2002. Those caring for
him tried to give him milk while he was unconscious. Four months later, Jones
died at a local hospital.
That is what's alleged in a civil lawsuit filed
recently by Jones' sister, Garetha Bell, who is suing the county and Prison
Health Services, Inc., a private health care company that helps handle medical
care at the jail. Bell's lawyers John Crumrine and Keith Bolus declined to
elaborate on their lawsuit Friday, and Sheriff's spokeswoman Dana Valentine said
she could not comment on pending litigation. The lawsuit says Jones was
booked on Jan. 8, and that he had a severe form of diabetes and other medical
complications. "Despite the notice ... (of Jones') severe diabetes,
the defendants all acted negligently and failed to reasonably provide a
sufficient regiment of nutrition, observation, medication, testing and other
medical treatment," the suit says. On March 2, the lawsuit says Jones
suffered a diabetic episode and became unconscious and unresponsive. The lawsuit
also says the defendants acted recklessly and failed to provide proper emergency
care. Someone attempted to give Jones milk "despite his unconscious
state," the lawsuit says. He later inhaled the milk, suffered cardiac
arrest and was taken to St. Francis Hospital. Jones died at the hospital
on July 14 as a result of the March 2 episode, the lawsuit says. The
lawsuit claims that the defendants did at least 16 things wrong, from failing to
follow the state's minimum standards for local jails to not properly training
its employees in CPR to giving Jones milk while he was unconscious. (Charleston.com)
Columbia
Training Center
Columbia, South Carolina
CCA
December 15, 2000
A federal grand jury Friday awarded more than $3 million to a Charleston
teen-ager who was hog-tied, maced and thrown against a wall by Corrections
Corporation of America guards three years ago. The verdict could open the
door for 21 other teens who have filled lawsuits against the Tennessee-based CCA.
The teens claim that guards at a privately run juvenile prison that CCA operated
in Columbia assaulted and improperly punished them. "It's a case
where a corporation had a policy of using abuse." said Gaston Fairey, the
teens lawyer. The jury decided Thursday that CCA had a corporate policy of
using excessive force to control teens sent to its facility on Farrow Road in
Northeast Richland. They awarded Pacetti, now 18, $125,000 in "actual
damages," compensating him for his pain suffering. Cooper
acknowledged in court that the company made "big mistakes," but added,
"CCA is not an evil empire." The state decided not to renew the
contract after the first year. (Tennessean, Dec. 16, 2000)
The state took over CTC in 1996 after
numerous problems. A class-action lawsuit has been filed alleging abuse by CCA's
Special Operation Response Team. Videotapes of incidents are missing.
North Augusta, North
Carolina
Wackenhut (Group 4)
November 2, 2007 WRDW News 12
The family of Alecia and Jade Arangelin say the man who killed them, Robert
Herring, was a monster. The family says there were signs of abuse against Alecia
at Robert's hands. By why he killed her daughter too, is a thought that will
haunt them forever. "He was insane. He was a psycho. He was a monster. I don't
want anybody saying nice things about him because he murdered my sister and my
niece. He was an evil person and that's what I want everybody to know," says
Alecia's sister and Jade's aunt, Tanya Sullivan. She's talking about her
brother-in-law Robert Herring, a former Wackenhut employee, who police say
murdered his wife and stepdaughter before turning the gun on himself. "I want
people to know what kind of a person he was. I don't want them to think he just
snapped in the moment, he didn't just snap, he planned this. He assaulted my
sister many times," adds Sullivan. But why the attack happened now, when there
weren't any recent signs of trouble, baffles this grieving family. "We were all
on vacation this past weekend. I stayed in the same room with him up in Blue
Ridge. Everything seemed okay." "So no sign of why right now?" we asked. "No,
no," Sullivan said. "So why Jade?" we asked. "We don't know why he did this to
Jade," Sullivan said. "She was asleep in her bed. He shot her first they said.
My sister, they said she sat up in bed so she had heard the gun shots but they
said it probably all happened within a minute, and then he went and shot my
sister. Jade was asleep in her bed. Why would he do this to my niece? My
innocent 17-year-old niece?" Haunting questions with no answer, but they believe
this could have been avoided. "Back in December of last year, my sister was
assaulted, severely assaulted...I'm surprised she didn't die at that time,"
explains Sullivan. At the time, Alecia had been married to Robert Herring for
less than one month. "She was so traumatized. She was bleeding out of her eyes,
her nose, her ears." But Alecia stayed and escaped another close call in May.
"He called me and said 'Tanya, I'm out at this house and I'm drunk. I've got a
gun and I'm going to kill her.'" That's the night Tanya says Robert was cited
for public disorderly conduct. If more had been done then, she says Alecia and
Jade would still be here today. The public viewing is scheduled for tonight at
Rowland Funeral Home on Martintown Road in North Augusta from 6 pm until 8 pm.
The funeral is tomorrow (Saturday, November 3) at Big Stevens Baptist Church in
North Augusta at 2 pm. The family is asking that friends and family who come,
don't wear black and white. They feel colors would be more appropriate for the
upbeat ceremony planned to celebrate the lives of Alecia Arangelin and Jade
Arangelin.
Richland
County Jail
Richland County, South Carolina
Prison Health Services
March 15, 2006 The State
Richland County officials plan to nearly double medical staffing and
increase spending by 42 percent to help prevent inmate suicides and other
problems that plagued the jail in recent years. The county is negotiating a $2.7
million annual contract with Tennessee-based Correct Care Solutions to provide
medical and mental health services to the jail. "It's unfortunate that it took
the deaths of three people to come to this position," said Dave Almeida,
executive director of the state chapter of the National Alliance on Mental
Illness, who lobbied the council to fire the old company. "Hopefully, this is
the end of a very sad chapter." The county's previous contract with Prison
Health Services Inc., also of Tennessee, was for $1.9 million. In September, the
council fired the company following concerns about the deaths of three mentally
ill inmates. Prison Health Services was given six months to pull out. Its last
day is Friday. Correct Care Solutions is scheduled to start at 12:01 a.m.
Saturday. From July 1, 2001, through Feb. 28, the county paid Prison Health
Services $7.5 million for medical and mental health services. During that time,
seven inmates died under questionable circumstances, including a mentally ill
inmate who died of complications from hypothermia and two other mentally ill
inmates who hanged themselves. Another inmate hanged himself in January, though
investigators said he had no known history of mental illness. The families of
the three mentally ill inmates -- Bobby Mott, Marc Washington and Antonio
Richburg -- sued Prison Health Services. Mott and Washington's lawsuits were
settled last year for a total of more than $600,000. Richburg's lawsuit has been
partially settled for $500,000, court records show. An update on lawsuits filed
by the families of three mentally ill Richland County jail inmates who died in
custody: • Bobby Mott, whose age was listed as 58 or 61, died Jan. 22, 2003, at
Palmetto Health Richland of complications from hypothermia he suffered a week
earlier in his cell. Mott had been jailed on assault charges. Prison Health
Services last year agreed to settle its part of the lawsuit for $375,000; the
county agreed to pay another $50,000, court records show. • Marc Washington, 41,
hanged himself Oct. 28, 2003, after being charged with criminal domestic
violence of a high and aggravated nature. Prison Health Services last year
agreed to pay $50,000 to settle its part of the lawsuit; the county and state
mental health department agreed to pay $85,000 and $50,000, respectively, court
records show. • Antonio Richburg, 29, hanged himself May 20, 2005, after not
getting prescribed medication for his schizophrenia for seven days. He was
facing armed robbery, assault and other charges. Prison Health Services recently
agreed to settle its part of the lawsuit for $500,000, court records show.
September 9, 2005 AP
The Richland County Council has voted to terminate a contract with Prison Health
Services, the largest U.S. provider of health care to inmates, following the
deaths of three mentally ill inmates during the past three years. The company,
which has been paid more than $6.5 million by the county since 2001, has come
under fire for services in other parts of the country recently. The council
voted unanimously this week to end the contract. Council member Val Hutchinson
said the service was "unacceptable and inhumane" and chairman Tony
Mizzell added the county was "terribly dissatisfied." Mizzell said the
county wanted to act on the contract after a coroner's inquest into the May
suicide of inmate Antonio Richburg. A special jury found that jail workers
contributed to Richburg's death by not providing him with his prescribed
medications. The inquest found the company was under a court order to follow a
treatment plan for Richburg, who suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar
disorder. Two other mentally ill inmates died in 2003 while under the company's
care. The inmates' estates settled lawsuits against the company and the county
earlier this year for more than $600,000.
August 31, 2005 The State
The widow of a Richland County jail inmate who hanged himself in May has sued
the company hired by the county to provide mental health services to her
husband. In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in circuit court in Richland County,
Tiffany Richburg claims Prison Health Services Inc. failed to give prescribed
medications to her husband, Antonio Richburg, for his schizophrenia and bipolar
disorder. The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages, is
at least the seventh Richland County lawsuit against the Tennessee-based company
since 2003, including two other wrongful death cases that settled for a total of
more than $600,000. A state mental health advocate Tuesday called on the county,
which was not named as a defendant in the latest lawsuit, to cancel its contract
with the company. “This is the third death of an inmate during the time Prison
Health Services was responsible for mental health treatment,” said Dave
Almeida, executive director of the S.C. chapter of the National Alliance for the
Mentally Ill. “Three deaths later, it just defies explanation as to why those
gaps were not addressed the first time.” A
special jury during a Richland County coroner’s inquest last month found that
jail workers contributed to Richburg’s death. Coroner Gary Watts said the jury’s
verdict gave him the go-ahead to pursue possible criminal charges.
Richburg, 29, of Columbia, was found hanging in his cell May 20. In a letter to
his wife the day before Richburg complained he had not received his medications
for seven days. A copy of the letter was obtained by The State newspaper. The
coroner’s inquest revealed that jail staff were under a Richland County
probate court order to follow a treatment plan for Richburg. Besides Prison
Health Services, Adriane Gillespie, a licensed practical nurse with Prison
Health Services, is named as a defendant in the latest lawsuit.
July
16, 2005 The State
A special Richland County jury ruled Friday that county jail workers contributed
to the May suicide of a mentally ill inmate.
The six-member jury found after the coroner’s inquest that Antonio Richburg
died “due to a lack of standard of care by providers” at the Alvin S. Glenn
Detention Center. The verdict did not identify specific individuals.
Coroner Gary Watts, who presided over the rarely used court proceeding, said
afterward the ruling gives him the go-ahead to meet with Solicitor Barney Giese’s
office to pursue possible criminal charges through the county grand jury.
Asked who might be targeted, Watts replied, “I think it’s fairly obvious
that the whole issue is about medical care, so it falls back on Prison Health
Services. “If it hadn’t been for the inaction of other people, he
would still be alive,” Watts said. The county has contracted with Prison
Health Services since 2001 to provide medical services to inmates and has paid
the Tennessee-based company a total of more than $5 million. Critics
nationally have accused the company, which serves about 270,000 jail and prison
inmates in 38 states, of providing poor — sometimes fatal — medical
care. Testimony during Friday’s hearing revealed there were no jail
records indicating Richburg, 29, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, had
received any anti-psychotic or antidepressant medications for seven days before
he hanged himself in his cell May 20. Harpootlian represented the families
of Bobby Mott, who suffered hypothermia in his cell in January 2003 and died a
week later; and Marc Washington Sr., who hanged himself in his cell in October
2003. Prison Health Services and the county have faced at least six
lawsuits since 2003 that contend jail inmates didn’t receive proper medical
care, a State newspaper investigation found earlier. County attorney Larry
Smith, who attended Friday’s hearing, declined comment on the verdict. He said
he didn’t know whether Prison Health Services’ contract would be renewed,
noting, “The whole situation needs to be shared with administration and
(County) Council.”
Efforts to reach Prison Health Services officials afterward were
unsuccessful. Watts engaged in a tense exchange with Adriane Gillespie, a
licensed practical nurse who testified she made a “grammatical error” when
she noted in Richburg’s medical records that she had received a prescription
order for him on May 11, though she acknowledged the order wasn’t actually
given until nearly a week later. “Miss Gillespie, we’ve had nothing
but misdocumentations,” Watts said. “It seems very strange to me that when
the only time something is documented, it is the wrong date and the wrong time.”
Chief Deputy Coroner Ted Kennedy testified Gillespie told him that she and other
staff nurses didn’t always follow protocols in administering medications,
though he added she refused to admit to that in writing. Watts would not
let Gillespie’s lawyer, Kana Rahman, ask questions during the
hearing. Kennedy testified that another nurse, Vera Hanna, told him
she had “never seen anything like the medical department at the jail,” and
that she “knows a lot of information that could get a lot people in trouble.”
Hanna, a registered nurse who no longer works at the jail, testified that
understaffing was a problem in the eight months she worked at the jail. She said
she often was the only nurse on her shift for the entire jail, which she noted
had an inmate population then of up to 1,100. But Hanna could not say how many
inmates needed medication. “When you have one medical staff (worker) for
the whole facility, you can’t follow protocol,” she told jurors.
June 23, 2005 The State
The day before he hanged himself in his Richland County jail cell, Antonio
Richburg said in a letter that he had gone seven days without his medication and
that he was stabbing himself in the arm.
“I need for you to call down here and get on them for me,” the
29-year-old Columbia man wrote in the May 19 letter to his wife. The handwritten
note, a copy of which was obtained Wednesday by The State newspaper, provides a
stark glimpse into Richburg’s mental state before he killed himself. Advocates
for the mentally ill want answers from county officials. Richland
County Coroner Gary Watts, who with the county Sheriff’s Department is
conducting a joint investigation into Richburg’s death, said Wednesday he
would hold a coroner’s inquest July 15 at the county courthouse.
The inquest is a rarely used proceeding the coroner presides over and in
which he questions witnesses under oath. He can issue an arrest warrant if the
six-member jury determines it is necessary. The jail contracts with a
Tennessee-based company, Prison Health Services Inc., to provide medical
services, including mental health treatment, to inmates. Snowden said Wednesday
she didn’t know how many Prison Health Services workers are at the jail. It
is unclear what role, if any, the company had in Richburg’s death, though the
firm has been named as defendant in at least six lawsuits in the county —
three of which involved inmate deaths — since 2003. Six
inmates have died under questionable circumstances since 2000, three of whom,
including Richburg, hanged themselves.
June 10, 2005 AP
Richland County has been sued at least six times in
the past two years by people who say the jail did not provide proper medical
care. The county and the Tennessee-based private company that provides health
care to inmates have settled at least two of the suits that involved mentally
ill inmates, paying more than $600,000. "We have a lot of concerns about
the types of treatment people with mental illnesses are receiving at the
detention center," said Dave Almeida, executive director of the state
chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Health care at Richland
County's jail has been provided since 2001 by Prison Health Services Inc., a
Brentwood, Tenn., company. Almeida sent a letter this week to county officials
seeking more information about the deaths of three inmates, including Antonio
Clarence Richburg, who was found hanging in his cell May 20 in what authorities
say was a suicide. The other four lawsuits involve claims the jail didn't
provide proper care to inmates with existing illnesses or injuries sustained
behind bars, including a suit over inmate George King. The suit says King died
from complications from pneumonia and renal failure after he wasn't properly
treated for his injuries from a fight with another inmate.
|
