Pubdate: Sat, 08 Jan 2000
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2000 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  633 N.Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32801
Website: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
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Author: David Cox, Tallahassee Bureau

FAMILY SUES OVER PRISONER'S DEATH

TALLAHASSEE -- The family of a prisoner who died five days after
checking into a clinic at Jackson Correctional Institution claims in a
lawsuit that he received improper medical treatment.

In addition, the lawsuit suggests that the prison's chief doctor,
Galina Kats-Kagan, failed to check on Clifford Jones during the
weekend he was admitted in 1998. When Kats-Kagan did see Jones three
days after he entered the clinic, the lawsuit suggests, she wrote all
of Jones' progress reports for the previous days but backdated them to
indicate they were written throughout the weekend.

A registered nurse was present during only one shift at the prison
during the entire weekend, according to the lawsuit, and Jones was
left in the care of a licensed practical nurse the remainder of the
weekend.

Kats-Kagan could not be reached for comment. But the state's attorney
in the case said Jones' condition could have deteriorated after he was
transferred from the prison clinic to a hospital.

The lawsuit is the latest assault on the health-care system in
Florida's prison system. In September The Orlando Sentinel and
Sun-Sentinel, South Florida, reported that the state's own prison
medical oversight board found that nearly 1 in 5 inmates who died in
prison in 1998 had received substandard medical attention.

Questions about medical treatment comes amid a grand jury
investigation into the death of a Florida State Prison inmate who died
after a confrontation with prison guards last summer.

Jones, 37, who was serving a 20-month prison sentence for selling
cocaine and battery on a police officer in Franklin County, was
diagnosed with pneumonia in his right lung on April, 24, 1998.
Although that was the proper diagnosis, Jones was told by the prison's
medical staff only to drink extra fluids. The staff failed to treat
him with antibiotics or intravenous fluids, which are standard
treatments for the illness, according to the lawsuit.

Jones' condition deteriorated so badly during his four days in the
prison's medical unit that he was unable to overcome his illness after
being taken to Jackson Hospital on the morning of April 28, according
to the lawsuit. He died later that day.

Orlando attorney Charles Barfield, who is Jones' half brother and
filed the lawsuit on behalf of his family, said laws that cap the
amount of money people can receive when they sue the state for
negligence encourages the prison system to hire doctors who would
otherwise be unable to cut it in the medical profession.

"At the minimum, there is an appearance of criminal conduct here, and
the appropriate law-enforcement agency should have investigated,"
Barfield said. "I do believe the Department of Corrections has some
serious problems in the way they deal with the medical care of inmates."

The lawsuit was filed in Tallahassee in November.

In its response to the lawsuit, the state denies the allegations and
suggests that people outside of the prison system could have
contributed to Jones' death. Attorney John Buchanan, who represents
the state, said Jones' condition could have deteriorated after he was
transferred from the prison to a hospital in Jackson County.

A standard review of Jones' death conducted by the Corrections
Department simply indicates he died of natural causes. Kats-Kagan is
still the chief medical officer at Jackson Correctional Institute, and
a spokesman for the state board that regulates doctors said she has no
disciplinary actions against her medical license.
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