An inmate in Dallas County jail was awarded nearly a million dollars for damages suffered when he was denied adequate medical care..
Medication Denied
Stanley Shepherd is partially paralyzed from a seizure he suffered in January 2004 while in jail. According to the lawsuit, Shepherd was not seen by a nurse until 15 minutes after the seizure began and was not taken to a hospital until an hour after his seizure.
The lawsuit claimed that Shepherd was denied necessary blood pressure medication prior to the seizure and that nurses falsified his records to indicate that he had received the medication.
Shepherd now suffers from paralysis in the left side of his body and requires the use of a wheelchair. The incident also left Shepherd with speech, hearing and visual impairments as well as an inability to eat anything other than soft food.
Past Problems
The Dallas County Jail has been criticized for in the past for improper medical care. In 2007, the county agreed to a settle with three families for almost $1 million. Those cases involved mentally ill inmates who were denied medication.
“The medication delivery system was so deficient and it was known to the county for a long period of time. The only question is how many other people the same thing has happened to,” said Don Tittle, attorney for Shepherd.