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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A judge has sided with Lancaster County and its jail in a lawsuit filed by a woman who said her serious skin infection wasn't properly treated while she was jailed on shoplifting charges.
Meghan McIntosh, 30, sued this year, saying the jail and its medical provider — Nashville, Tennessee-based Correct Care Solutions — were negligent in treating her for MRSA, a staph infection resistant to antibiotics.
McIntosh was jailed from November 2011 to March 2012 on the charges, to which she eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months, the Lincoln Journal Star reported (http://bit.ly/1pUVfpH ).
While she was in jail, McIntosh's lawsuit said, Correct Care failed to provide prompt and appropriate medical treatment and to recognize the seriousness of her condition. The provider also withheld medication that would have helped her, the lawsuit said.
McIntosh said her lack of proper treatment worsened her condition, requiring several surgeries. She had sought $63,000 for medical expenses, plus an unspecified amount for pain and suffering and for permanent scarring.
On Aug. 21, the judge granted the county's motion for summary judgment, saying McIntosh hadn't produced enough evidence to show the medical care in jail deviated from standard care and caused her injuries.
McIntosh's attorney, Elizabeth Govaerts, told the newspaper that the medical records kept in McIntosh's case were so sparse that experts had difficulty assessing the quality of McIntosh's care.
"It's hard to say that it was right or wrong (care) when they essentially just did damage control rather than treat" her infection, Govaerts said.
Govaerts did not immediately return a phone message Saturday by The Associated Press asking whether McIntosh would appeal the judge's ruling.
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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, http://www.journalstar.com
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