The family of a 35-year-old man who suffered life threatening injuries while detained in a Shawnee County, Kansas, jail reached a $3.5 million settlement with the County and a third-party medical provider.
The man, who suffered from bipolar disorder, was taken to the jail amid a medical and mental health crisis. Upon arrival, the medical provider failed to conduct a proper medical intake and allowed the man to be placed in solitary confinement, where he spent 13 days without proper medical care or treatment.
Video footage obtained from the jail showed medical and correctional staff walking by the man’s cell on numerous occasions, in which he was unclothed and covered in his feces and urine. Footage further revealed that nurses, who were required to perform a medical intake every two hours, consistently filled out medical forms stating they were doing so, while footage showed they did not visit his cell. These actions resulted in the man being held in solitary confinement while his medical and mental health deteriorated for 13 days.
After 13 days at the jail, he was found unresponsive in his cell and transferred to a local hospital in critical condition where he was diagnosed with severe sepsis, acute kidney failure, rhabdomyolysis, and cellulitis of his lower left leg. He was then transferred to Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City, where he later passed away.
T.J. Preuss, Shawn Foster, and Andrew Clark of Preuss | Foster Law filed suit against the County the third-party medical provider, and numerous individual healthcare providers, alleging both medical negligence and violations of the man’s constitutional rights. As the litigation unfolded, piercing the corporate veil claims were brought against the third-party medical provider’s CEO and owner, individually, and a number of holding companies behind which the medical provider attempted to evade liability.
Judge Kathryn Vratil of The United States District Court for the District of Kansas, approved a $3.5 million settlement between the County, the medical provider, and the man’s family.