Mother of 5 dies after 4 days of solitary confinement in jail
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Ana the Ist
Aggressively serene!
This article sheds some light on why she was arrested to begin with...
Mentally ill woman dies in custody, lawsuit alleges deprivation of medical care - CNN
Apparently state law requires police to arrest anyone who they suspect of domestic abuse/assault. The husband doesn't speak English all that well.
Also...
In a statement provided to KIRO, SCORE said that while in custody, Rodriguez "had been seen by medical and mental health personnel and was observed over the course of her stay by corrections staff and medical personnel. Upon finding her unresponsive, staff immediately initiated emergency procedures and began CPR. Unfortunately, the individual did not survive and was pronounced dead in the facility."
The jail is claiming she was seen by medical professionals and the coroner ruled she died of a sudden cardiac arrest/event.
Mentally ill woman dies in custody, lawsuit alleges deprivation of medical care - CNN
Apparently state law requires police to arrest anyone who they suspect of domestic abuse/assault. The husband doesn't speak English all that well.
Also...
In a statement provided to KIRO, SCORE said that while in custody, Rodriguez "had been seen by medical and mental health personnel and was observed over the course of her stay by corrections staff and medical personnel. Upon finding her unresponsive, staff immediately initiated emergency procedures and began CPR. Unfortunately, the individual did not survive and was pronounced dead in the facility."
The jail is claiming she was seen by medical professionals and the coroner ruled she died of a sudden cardiac arrest/event.
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One of the major problems is that lots of drunks and people with serious drug problems end up in jail, and exhibit many of the same behaviors as people with mental health problems, at least initially.
It's not reasonable IMO to expect jails to be able to adequately deal with mentally ill patients over extended periods of time. Unfortunately that's exactly what is expected since many states, including California, lack adequate resources to deal with mental health issues. Admittedly one would expect that someone would have noticed something was wrong, but then again, dealing with mental illness requires a much different skill set, and a very different approach. For instance, some bi-polar patients would probably require sedation to force them to get sleep, something that is not typical of the average inmate.
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Ana the Ist
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There's not a lot of details in the OP...I was merely speculating.
I found an article with more details and shared it in post 42. The prison is claiming that she was seen by medical personnel.
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You need specialised services for that kind of scenario. Crisis services that coordinate with the emergency services exist in the UK to provide safe spaces with trained staff, but I doubt if there is the necessary profit margin involved to make it viable in the US.
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Ana the Ist
Aggressively serene!
Yeah the thing is...it's hard for me to think of anyone more deserving of help. A psychotic episode is one of the most difficult things to go through....and it can be completely life altering. A lot of the US has few options available until it turns dangerous for all involved.
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JCFantasy23
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From the article,
"According to Bingham, “there were a couple of nurses that stopped by, they tried to talk to her, but most of the time she was far too mentally ill to engage with them at all.”
So she was too mentally ill to give proper consent/communication, another red flag for hospital care.
As for the manner of death, the family states:
"The Rodriguez family lawsuit claims the wife and mother eventually died from "an easily diagnosable and treatable metabolic condition called ketoacidosis” that could have been prevented, had jail staff more closely monitored the woman whose every move was visible on surveillance cameras."
"According to Bingham, “there were a couple of nurses that stopped by, they tried to talk to her, but most of the time she was far too mentally ill to engage with them at all.”
So she was too mentally ill to give proper consent/communication, another red flag for hospital care.
As for the manner of death, the family states:
"The Rodriguez family lawsuit claims the wife and mother eventually died from "an easily diagnosable and treatable metabolic condition called ketoacidosis” that could have been prevented, had jail staff more closely monitored the woman whose every move was visible on surveillance cameras."
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JCFantasy23
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I found another article that says,
“There were numerous entries on welfare check logs that corrections officers signed off on even though they never occurred,” the lawsuit alleges. “For example, a corrections officer initialed a log entry claiming that Damaris was offered and refused water almost an hour after she had stopped breathing.”
So not all the check-ups are likely true considering they were busted on falsifying at least one entry.
A sign of her condition was excess thirst, and the reports/video show she kept consuming large amounts of water to where she ended up vomiting it up.
“Left unchecked, excessive water intake causes fatally low sodium levels,” the lawsuit claims. “Correction officers and medical staff were aware of the dangers of water intoxication. In fact they even discussed and made notes about their concerns that Damaris would experience water intoxication. However, they did not help her.”
So they knew it would likely happen but still did nothing further.
I hope the family wins the lawsuit for sure. Her life would have very likely been saved in a hospital since ketoacidosis is treatable, usually with IV's replacing the fluid.
“There were numerous entries on welfare check logs that corrections officers signed off on even though they never occurred,” the lawsuit alleges. “For example, a corrections officer initialed a log entry claiming that Damaris was offered and refused water almost an hour after she had stopped breathing.”
So not all the check-ups are likely true considering they were busted on falsifying at least one entry.
A sign of her condition was excess thirst, and the reports/video show she kept consuming large amounts of water to where she ended up vomiting it up.
“Left unchecked, excessive water intake causes fatally low sodium levels,” the lawsuit claims. “Correction officers and medical staff were aware of the dangers of water intoxication. In fact they even discussed and made notes about their concerns that Damaris would experience water intoxication. However, they did not help her.”
So they knew it would likely happen but still did nothing further.
I hope the family wins the lawsuit for sure. Her life would have very likely been saved in a hospital since ketoacidosis is treatable, usually with IV's replacing the fluid.
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faroukfarouk
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Hi @JCFantasy23 I even read about a mom who was sent to jail over an unpaid library book fine...
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JCFantasy23
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faroukfarouk
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I take your point but I think the particular instances was in a publicly owned jail; more a case of bungling bureaucracy, I think...
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faroukfarouk
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I think the ppl in the system must have just gotten fed up with her...
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