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| Suit reinstated on inmate's claim he was denied dental care |
| By The Salt Lake Tribune |
| Published: 11/03/2003 |
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It took six years, but a murderer serving a life sentence in Utah could get his day in court on his lawsuit claiming he was denied medical care for a serious dental problem. In a ruling released Monday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a 1997 suit filed by convicted cop killer Brian K. Stack accusing prison officials of deliberate indifference to his dental needs by making him wait seven months for treatment. The ruling takes no position on the validity of Stack's claims, but sets the stage for a trial on the issue. Stack, 43, claims in his suit that Utah Department of Corrections officials refused to allow him to see a dentist even though he told them that his gums were bleeding and full of pus. One reason given for the delay was that Dove Development Corporation, the private company providing health care for some Utah inmates at the time, had a policy of paying only for tooth extractions and offered no other dental treatment, according to the 10th Circuit ruling. The ruling says Stack made numerous attempts over seven months in 1996 to get dental care, but was refused by Dove officials. After more than three months, a dentist finally examined him and found advanced periodontitis. The dentist prescribed an antibiotic mouthwash and noted that Stack needed further evaluation for periodontal disease. Seven months after his dental problems began, the inmate received care for his problems but the long-term prognosis for his affected teeth is poor, the 10th Circuit says. A trial court judge in Salt Lake City last year granted judgment in favor of Corrections officials, ruling that Dove's dental policy did not cause Stack serious harm and that the inmate failed to show that the defendants were aware that the private company had delayed treatment. In making the ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell rejected a recommendation by a magistrate that she deny a motion to throw out the case. The appeals court said the evidence is ambiguous on whether Stack suffers any lingering effects from the treatment delay and on whether prison officials should have known about his complaints through court petitions he filed. Because there is a dispute on the facts, the 10th Circuit sent the case back to trial court. Stack pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the 1978 fatal shooting of state trooper Ray Lynn Pierson and was sentenced to a life term. In 1995, he was one of 100 inmates sent to serve their time in Texas in private jails operated by Dove while Utah built facilities to handle its growing prison population. Utah brought its inmates home in late 1996 after eight of them, including Stack and three other killers, escaped the Texas jails. Dove is no longer in business. |
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