California Civil Rights Lawyers

Constitutional Torts

Denial of Medical Care to An Inmate or Pre-Trial Detainee 

When it comes to medical care, inmates and detainees in our jails are the most vulnerable. Inmates and pre-trial detainees cannot provide for their own medical care. Realistically, they are totally dependent on the jail/prison for their care. Simplistically, inmates/detainees cannot self-treat. They cannot change their diet, nor purchase basic remedies such as aspirin or Tylenol. More significantly, they cannot choose a doctor, nor obtain antibiotics on their own. Without the assistance of the jailers, and/or prison medical staff, inmates cannot go to the emergency room of a local hospital.

Where jails deprive medical care to inmates/pre-trial detainees, the state is capable of inflicting punishment far greater than incarceration itself. Accordingly, constitutional restraint offers some protection to inmates and pre-trial detainees.

With a strong medical background, the Scarlett Law Group's is a formable ally to inmates/pre-trial detainees who have been wrongfully deprived of medical care. Not surprisingly, numerous inmates suffer the consequences of traumatic brain injury. This condition, if overlooked, can lead to tragic and often fatal results.

Unfortunately, the Scarlett Law Group's is highly selective of cases accepted in this area due to the significant time and resources required. Cases involving serious and catastrophic harm, including wrongful death are carefully analyzed. From these, a select number are accepted, and momentum is immediate.

(a) Legal Basis for Claim.

In Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976), the United Supreme Court announced that deliberate indifference to the serious medical needs of a convicted prisoner violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, and gives rise to a cause of action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Pre-trial detainees are afforded the same rights under the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause.)

The Court held in Estelle:

"We therefore conclude that deliberate indifference to serious medical needs of prisoners constitutes the 'unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain', proscribed by the Eighth Amendment. This is true whether the indifference is manifested by prison doctors and their response to the prisoner's needs or by prison guards in intentionally denying or delaying access to medical care or intentionally interfering with the treatment once prescribed.

Regardless of how evidenced, deliberate indifference to a prisoner's serious illness or injury states a cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983."

In Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520 (1979), the Court applied the same reasoning to pre-trial detainees. A pre-trial detainee has a due process right to be free from punishment all together. (McQuarter v. City of Atlanta, 572 F.Supp. 1401 (N.D. Ga. 1983).)

Not every case of denial of medical care gives rise to a claim. In fact, the "deliberate indifference" federal standard is much more difficult to establish than state claims, which in many instances, require only that the inmate/pre-trial detainee establish negligence on the part of the treaters in order to prevail.

While fact patterns vary, the following case example is illustrative of the tragic consequences that can result where a jail provides inappropriate medical screening and monitoring for its inmate/pre-trial detainees:

On his 32nd birthday, Mr. H was in route to his mother's house for breakfast. Along the way, Mr. H was apparently attacked, his wallet stolen, the attack leaving him with a closed head injury. Unbeknownst to Mr. H, the blow to his head resulted in an internal bleed, causing pressure to build in his crania.

Following the attack on Mr. H, and due to his appearance and behavior, the police were called by the proprietors of a local business. Rather than provide Mr. H the medical treatment he so desperately needed, the police officers transported Mr. H to a jail.

Mr. H was handcuffed, restrained with leg irons, and thrown into a cell. Having been afforded no medical treatment, nor medical screen, Mr. H died twelve hours later as a result of complications from his closed head injuries.

The Scarlett Law Group's representation of individuals in this practice area is not limited to those cases involving improper medical screening.

An unfortunate, yet common, factual scenario involves the failure of jail medical personnel to diagnose and treat infection, and other life threatening conditions. Often, this occurs after the initial medical screen. The failure to provide remedial or corrective care to ongoing medical needs can result in a death sentence to the inmate/detainee.

Dedicated to the principle that all individuals are deserving of appropriate medical care and treatment, the Scarlett Law Group may be of assistance to you, when you, or someone you know, needs it most.

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