Legal Pearl: Inmate Sues Doctor Over Injured Finger

The Trial

The case went to trial. At trial, the plaintiff’s attorney argued that the delay in treatment resulted in a poor outcome and permanent damage, and that the patient would never realize his goal of being an aviation mechanic due to the injury.
The defense argued that the patient received appropriate care which was the same as anyone would receive from their doctor. They introduced an expert who looked at the original x-ray and agreed that it did not reveal anything other than a small finger fracture.

The jury, however, was apparently swayed by the 100-day delay before the patient was taken to the orthopedist, and by the plaintiff’s argument that the prison’s health care service was trying to delay until after his release date in late July so they would not be responsible for the costs of his medical care.

The jury awarded the patient a total of over $1 million—$700 in compensatory damage and over $300,000 in punitive damages.

What’s the Take Home?

“There should be no difference in the standard of treatment between an inmate and a regular person. I’m a human,” said the patient at a post-trial press conference. And he is correct. The clearly documented delays in this case, coupled with the appearance that the corrections institution was delaying treatment until the patient was released from prison to save money was enough to convince a jury that his care did not meet the standard that it should have.

Bottom Line—Whether a person is an inmate or a model citizen if you are that person’s health care provider, you owe him or her the same level of care that everyone should and would get in the same situation.