Corizon Pays Out $10 Million Following Inmate Death, Lawsuit In Oregon
Madaline Pitkin, in an undated photo provided by the Pitkin family.
A federal judge in Oregon has approved a $10 million judgment against Washington County and Corizon Health, following the 2014 death of a woman who died in the county jail.
The settlement is the highest Corizon — a private healthcare company which operates in jails and prisons across the country — has ever paid in a judgment of this kind.
On April 24, 2014, Madaline Pitkin, 26, was found dead in her cell in the Washington County Jail where she was detoxing from heroin. She had been arrested one week earlier by Tualatin Police for unlawful possession of heroin.
A $20 million lawsuit filed in 2016 states Pitkin submitted at least four healthcare request forms during her week in the jail asking for care.
"None resulted in an exam, evaluation or other contact with medical staff," the lawsuit filed by Portland attorney Tim Jones stated.
The day before she died, a nurse responded to multiple calls from jail deputies.
"Unable to get a reliable blood pressure reading, Pitkin was transferred to the Medical Observation Unit," Jones wrote.
No doctor was on staff the day Pitkin died, the lawsuit states. The only doctor that had been on staff was terminated the day before Pitkin died.
When she was booked into the jail, a nurse ordered a clinical opiate withdrawal scale evaluation. But the nurse who did the evaluation incorrectly tabulated the results, the lawsuit states. Furthermore, the nurse told investigators the protocol had been approved by a doctor when, in fact, they were approved by a physician assistant, the lawsuit states.
On April 19, Pitkin submitted a form requesting medical care.
"Heroin withdrawal," she wrote. "I told medical intake that I was detoxing & they said I was not yet sick enough to start meds. Now I am in full blown withdrawal and really need medical care. Please help!"
During the night, Pitkin vomited. She needed a change of bedding the next morning, the lawsuit states.
Again, she submitted a form requesting help.
"Detoxing from heroin REALLY Bad," she wrote. "Can't keep any food down. Heart beating so hard that I can't sleep."
The same nurse reviewed both requests. She noted Pitkin had been seen and her protocol started. But an autopsy would later reveal no controlled substances or common pharmaceuticals in Pitkin's system.
Following Pitkin's second request, the nurse ordered Loperamide, a drug that treats diarrhea.
"No medical staff examined Pitkin or took any other actions in response to her second Health Care Request form," Jones wrote in the lawsuit.
In its response to the lawsuit, Corizon acknowledged Pitkin filled out requests for medical care.
On April 23, the day before she died, Pitkin wrote again for help. It would be the last time.
"This is a 3rd or 4th call for help," she wrote. "I haven't been able to keep food, liquids, meds down in days ... I feel like I am very close to death. Can't hear, seeing lights, hearing voices. Please help me ..."
A deputy in the jail called for medical staff, which did another withdrawal evaluation. Piktin was taken to the medical unit and given a pitcher of Gatorade. By then, she was so weak she was having trouble sitting up to take medication.
The next morning a jail deputy saw Pitkin sweating profusely.
The deputy asked a nurse to check on Pitkin, but the nurse refused saying she was there to check on an inmate with diabetes.
The deputy insisted. But it was too late.
"Pitkin was found lying on her cell floor with brown fluid leaking from mouth and nose, eyes open, mouth weakly moving with one arm moving/twitching," Jones wrote in the lawsuit.
EMS responded, but couldn't revive her.
Pitkin's cause of death: chronic intravenous drug use. The manner, "natural."
In a statement, Corizon Health CEO Steve Rector said the medical team at the jail failed Pitkin and her family.
"The amount of this settlement is unprecedented for our company and reflects how far removed the facts of this case are from our standards and expectations of care."
"For whatever small comfort this may provide, the lessons we’ve learned from this case have been catalysts for significant changes we have made and are still making to our clinical program," said Rector.
Rector said Corizon reorganized in 2017 and now operates with a new leadership team and board.
Corizon stopped providing medical services in the jail on May 31, 2015, said Washington County sheriff's office public information officer Deputy Jeff Talbot.
"Since that incident, many changes have been implemented to how healthcare is provided to inmates at the Washington County Jail. Our current healthcare provider, NaphCare, has piloted a program in Washington County to provide medication that helps inmates who are detoxing from drugs," said Talbot.
This article will be updated.
[Copyright 2018 Oregon Public Broadcasting]
