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FLORIDA RECORD

Friday, March 29, 2024

Prison healthcare providers must respond to inmate's lawsuit over amputation, federal judge rules

Lawsuits
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From FreeImages - Jos van Galen

MIAMI — Two out-of-state prison health care service companies accused of ignoring a Florida inmate's ailments for so long that his legs had to be amputated have days to respond to the inmate's lawsuit, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert N. Scola Jr., on the bench in Florida's Southern District, gave Wexford Health Sources, Inc., and Corizon Health, Inc., until Dec. 27 to respond to the case. Scola's seven-page opinion and order, signed Dec. 13 and issued the following day, also denied the company's motion to dismiss.

Wexford Health Sources is based in Green Tree, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, while Corizon Health is based in Brentwood, Tenn.

The plaintiff in the case, Florida Department of Corrections inmate Craig Salvani, filed his lawsuit alleging "certain prison medical care providers" were indifferent to his Eighth Amendment rights in the events leading to the amputation, according to background portions of Judge Scola's order. Salvani was serving a sentence on cocaine possession and sale charges when lab tests in February 2014 revealed he was suffering from an infection and showed signs of sepsis, prompting a health care provider to recommend a follow-up X-ray.

"No follow-up chest x-ray was scheduled and the plaintiff received no further treatment for his infection or sepsis at that time," Scola's order said.

Eight days later, Salvani was transferred to a state DOC reception and medical center operated by Corizon Health. There, "no medical intake was performed, and despite his continuing complaints of dizziness and serious night sweats, he was apparently threatened by unnamed medical staff with being placed in confinement rather than be allowed to make a sick call," the order said.

Early in the morning four days later, Salvani "was seen on an emergency basis because he could not speak, was hyperventilating, confused, hypotensive, tachycardic, had bilateral crackles, and the medical staff could not start an I.V." the order said.

Salvani was examined by a physician "who did not immediately call an ambulance or provide treatment for the severe sepsis," the order said. "Less than an hour later, the plaintiff had become non-responsive to questions. At 8:20 a.m., an ambulance was called, and the plaintiff went into cardiac arrest."

Upon arriving at the hospital, Salvani "was diagnosed with severe sepsis, tricuspid valve endocarditis, pneumonia, severe esophagitis, malnourishment and acute renal failure," the order said. "As a result of the sepsis, the plaintiff's legs had to be amputated."

Salvani, who was 38 years old when his legs were amputated, according to information in an online Florida DOC search, filed his initial complaint about a year ago and amended the complaint in May.

The corporate defendants in the case moved for dismissal with both arguing that Salvani's second amended complaint "contains insufficient factual allegations to state a claim for deliberate indifference," the order said. "Wexford also argues that the second amended complaint is a shotgun pleading and requests the court to strike certain of the plaintiff's damage requests."

In his order, Judge Scola referred to the defendants' arguments as "meritless," finding that Salvani sufficiently alleged a constitutional violation.

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