Jail ignored diabetic man’s pleas for doctor as he ‘languished’ in vomit, MN suit says
Jail staff ignored a 22-year-old diabetic man’s pleas for a doctor for hours as his blood sugar rose to dangerous levels, a Minnesota lawsuit said.
The man spent less than 40 hours in Dakota County Jail between July 4, 2022, and July 6, 2022, according to the lawsuit filed July 18, but then needed to spend weeks in the hospital as a result.
The man’s father is now suing Dakota County and the jail staff present during his son’s stay.
“‘[The man’s] plight was so severe that it is extremely difficult to watch any of it on video, but the video goes on for hours on end—and the individuals present at the time did nothing,” attorney Ryan Vettleson said in a news release.
The county declined to comment on the case.
“We are aware of a lawsuit involving an incident from 2022, which is under review internally,” a spokesperson for the county told McClatchy News.
The man was arrested on probable cause on accusations of domestic assault around 6 p.m. on July 4, according to the lawsuit. His father called the jail shortly after his son’s arrival to inform officials of the man’s medical needs.
The father urged that his son needed gabapentin for anxiety and insulin to treat his Type 1 diabetes, according to the lawsuit.
He also warned jail staff that his son could go through severe withdrawal if he did not have access to gabapentin, the lawsuit said. Despite repeated warnings from the man’s guardian, according to the lawsuit, the jail staff never gave the man the medication.
The man started to go into withdrawal around 11 a.m. July 5 and began to show signs of “agitation, disorientation, combativeness, and confusion,” according to the lawsuit. A nurse practitioner at the jail reportedly advised that the man be placed into a padded cell and put on suicide watch due to his behavior.
After he was placed into the padded cell, he refused insulin, the lawsuit said. The man “clearly demonstrated an inability to care for himself or understand the consequences of his decision not to take the medication,” but jail staff allowed him to refuse, the lawsuit said.
Throughout the man’s final 24 hours in the cell, his behavior grew more and more concerning, according to the complaint.
He repeatedly screamed, “I need a doctor,” jail records recorded, but jail deputies made “no effort” to get him medical attention.
The man vomited, urinated and defecated multiple times in his cell and “languished” there for hours, the lawsuit said.He was also bleeding from his head because he had hurt himself, according to the lawsuit.
“By 6:00 p.m. on July 5, 2022, even a layperson with no corrections or medical training would understand that [the man] needed urgent medical attention,” according to court documents.
Overnight, the man “badly deteriorated,” the lawsuit said, but jail staff were indifferent to the “horrendous condition of his cell.”
The man continued to plead for a doctor throughout the night and early hours of July 6, according to documents, but his requests were ignored by jail deputies.
By 9 a.m., a nurse practitioner called an ambulance.
“He was code Red on arrival, meaning he was in critical condition,” the lawsuit said. Hospital staff said he was in “severe diabetic ketoacidosis with a blood sugar of 1030 mg/dl,” according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says a person with a blood sugar above 400 mg/dl should seek emergency care.
The man was in a coma for four days as a result of the diabetic ketoacidosis, according to the lawsuit. He was also diagnosed and treated for acute encephalopathy, Agitation, subdural hematoma, subdural hygroma, and subarachnoid hemorrhage during his 21-day stay, the lawsuit said.
His hospital bills totaled over $220,000.
“No person should be subjected to such willful indifference,” Vettleson said.
This story was originally published July 19, 2024 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Jail ignored diabetic man’s pleas for doctor as he ‘languished’ in vomit, MN suit says."
