Corizon Health, Allegheny County Jail Kill Again

A man whose esophagus was severed from his stomach in a shooting three years ago is suing the medical staff at the Allegheny County Jail and Corizon Health after he said they failed to provide his required five daily tube feedings, resulting in his being hospitalized twice for malnourishment and related health problems, including a heart attack. 

Christopher Wallace, 30, of Lincoln-Lemington, was arrested Feb. 12, 2015, on charges that he robbed two banks two days earlier. Bret Grote, the attorney representing Wallace in his lawsuit, said his client’s Medicaid had been discontinued, and he could no longer get the tubes he needed to receive nutrition. Wallace robbed the banks, Mr. Grote said, to get money to buy the feeding tubes. At the time of Wallace’s arrest, he was taken to UPMC Mercy, where hospital records showed that the 6-foot 4-inch man weighed 77 pounds, the lawsuit said. 

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, also names as defendants jail Warden Orlando Harper, county Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Dr. Abimbola Talabi, who was interim medical director at the jail. Also named in the suit are Nurse Ryan Heitzenrater, Nurse Michelle Dranko, Nurse Logan Berger. Nurse Juliann Rager, and Social Worker "Jane Doe". 

The lawsuit says Wallace was released from UPMC Mercy on Feb. 16, 2015, with instructions to jail medical staff to provide five tube feedings each day. Mr. Grote contends the nurses and physicians “acted with deliberate indifference” to Wallace’s medical needs and failed to feed him properly, providing him with less than half of the required feedings per day, and on some days, the complaint said, not feeding him at all. 

“Mr. Wallace complained to these nurses about his need for tube feedings. His complaints were ignored and no measures were taken to ensure that he was provided with his medically prescribed tube feedings,” the complaint said. On March 2, 2015, Wallace lost consciousness in the jail infirmary and was rushed back to UPMC Mercy, diagnosed with emphysema, severe malnutrition, hypoglycemia and hypothermia, among other conditions, the lawsuit said. “UPMC medical records indicate that Mr. Wallace was suffering from ‘severe protein-calorie malnutrition [consistent with] starvation,’” Mr. Grote wrote.

 “His condition was further described as ‘emaciated.’” A week later, Wallace was returned to the jail, and, the lawsuit alleges, he was fed even less. “On some days he was not provided any tube feedings, and on others he received less than half of what he was prescribed,” according to the complaint. “There are no records that Mr. Wallace was provided any tube feedings during this period.” A week later, he was again rushed back to Mercy, having a heart attack in the ambulance on the way there, Mr. Grote said. He was kept at Mercy for 19 days and released back to the jail on April 3. According to the complaint, from that date until his release from custody on May 30, 2015, he received all of his feedings. 

“In addition to the deliberate indifference of medical staff, the severe and nearly-fatal injuries plaintiff suffered were the result of systemic deficiencies in the provision of medical care at ACJ during this time that were caused by policies and practices that ACJ, Corizon, and Allegheny County officials knew were resulting in constitutional violations,” Mr. Grote said. Mr. Fitzgerald, in 2015, refused to renew the county’s contract with Tennessee-based Corizon after repeated problems were reported — including the death of seven inmates in 2014. Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner issued an audit in 2014, reporting that Corizon failed to maintain required staffing levels, failed to keep complete and accurate medical records and was failing to provide appropriate care to inmates. 

Because of that audit, Mr. Grote alleges, county officials knew of the potential danger inmates at the jail faced. 

“County Executive Fitzgerald ... had been repeatedly contacted about health care issues at ACJ by other government officials in the months leading up to Mr. Wallace’s incarceration. He took no action to remedy the situation,” the lawsuit said. “Warden Harper received reports from staff and inmates constantly about health care inadequacies. He took no action to remedy the situation either.” A spokeswoman for Mr. Fitzgerald said she could not comment on pending litigation. A spokeswoman for Corizon also would not comment, citing the lawsuit and patient privacy laws. The lawsuit includes claims for medical malpractice and for due process violations under the 14th Amendment, including deliberate indifference to serious medical needs.