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| Judge upholds $1.2 million award to ex-inmates |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/11/2005 |
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A federal judge has denied an appeal by Bucks County (Pa.) Commissioners to toss out a $1.2 million jury award to two former county prison inmates who developed abscessed wounds from an infection that swept through the jail in 2001 and 2002. In January, the federal jury found that prison officials violated the civil rights of the former inmates by failing to get them prompt medical treatment when they contracted the flesh-eating staph infection. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge John P. Fullam agreed, stating that prison officials "did nothing to provide medical treatment to plaintiffs until the last possible moment." The decision was written in late March and released last Friday by Anita F. Alberts, an attorney who represents the inmates. The county has appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. One of the inmates, Benjamin Martin, of Warminster Township, who was awarded $400,000, said he suffered nerve damage in both legs and nearly had to have one amputated when the infection rooted in his hip. The other inmate, Kevin Keller, of Churchville, who was awarded $800,000, said prison staff ignored his requests to be seen by a doctor as the infection traveled from his armpits to his scrotum. The men said they begged for help for weeks as their infections spread. "The fact that treatment, once provided, required immediate hospitalization and multiple surgeries provided a sufficient basis for the jury to conclude that the prison simply ignored their conditions," Fullam wrote. County solicitor Guy T. Matthews said that the county provided medical care for the men, and added that the $1.2 million award is excessive because their injuries were temporary. The legal actions stemmed from an outbreak of MRSA, a bacteria that can give its victims abscesses and boils and isn't easily treated with antibiotics. It infected 32 inmates, officers, and family members. |
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