Prison inmate with MS wins lawsuit for gabapentin denial.

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NHE
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Prison inmate with MS wins lawsuit for gabapentin denial.

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Washington prison inmate awarded $549,000 after he’s denied pain medication for multiple sclerosis
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-ne ... sclerosis/
A Washington state inmate with multiple sclerosis who was four times denied nonaddictive nerve-pain medication by prison staff has been awarded $549,000 by a federal jury in Tacoma.

The jury last week found that three prison medical staffers showed “deliberate indifference” to Etienne Choquette’s pain and medical needs when they refused to allow him medication that was prescribed to him by a neurologist.

Choquette was awarded $149,000 in compensatory damages for violation of his Eighth Amendment rights and $400,000 in punitive damages.

“The jury sent a strong message to the DOC (Department of Corrections) and its officials that they must treat the prisoners under their care with basic human dignity,” said Jesse Wing, one of Choquette’s attorneys.

“The defendants repeatedly denied our client a simple, generic medication for almost five months when they knew their decisions would cause him terrible nerve pain. These state officials thought no one would care. But the jury did, and it found their behavior cruel, in violation of the Bill of Rights,” Wing said.
ElliotB
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Re: Prison inmate with MS wins lawsuit for gabapentin denial

Post by ElliotB »

Hard to believe, and a sad story that should have never happened in the first place. They obviously should have just given him the medication. Considering there are really no drugs that effectively help with nerve pain and considering Gabapentin is primarily used to treat seizures and pain caused by shingles and that the drug possibly/probably would not have helped him anyway, this is a tragedy in so many ways. Someone or several people within the system obviously made a costly error and hopefully they were properly dealt with. As someone who deals with chronic nerve pain, I can't even imagine how this inmate is dealing with the it!
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