A Rikers Island detainee affected by clear indicators of medical misery waited for roughly 3 ½ hours in a clinic holding pen with out being seen as a result of jail officers didn’t inform medical workers he was having a medical emergency, a scathing new report launched Friday reveals.
John Worth, 49, died from pneumonia with a MRSA an infection, as he waited for care contained in the Eric M. Taylor Middle on March 28, the Board of Correction evaluate revealed.
The board’s 31-page report additionally detailed a number of acquainted breakdowns tied to 3 different current deaths in custody. They included: correction officers failing to conduct significant excursions of housing areas, inaccurate handwritten logbook entries, officers leaving their posts, and detainees gathering in unassigned areas due to damaged cell doorways.
“In every of the 4 deaths, correctional workers did not conduct supervisory excursions and welfare checks,” the report mentioned.
The report comes as a court-appointed remediation supervisor has ordered jail leaders to give you a sequence of reform plans.
No One Disciplined
Worth was arrested in December 2024 on drug costs, and instructed a clinician that he had an intensive medical historical past that included hypertension, congestive coronary heart failure, and coronary artery illness, the board report mentioned.
The day earlier than he died, two different detainees in his housing unit acquired right into a struggle within the dayroom “which led DOC workers to deploy chemical brokers,” based on the board report.
Later that night, Worth complained that he was affected by nasal congestion and shortness of breath. He was given some drugs and despatched again to his housing unit.
However his medical misery escalated as he struggled to maintain stability, the board report mentioned. He was despatched again to the medical clinic at 12:59 p.m. simply because the medical crew there was leaving to reply to one other emergency in one other close by housing unit.
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So that they moved him right into a holding pen.
Worth appeared weak throughout journeys to the toilet, at one level leaning on a trash can to keep away from falling.
Nurses from the Correctional Well being Companies, which oversees medical care on Rikers, have been really obtainable in an adjoining clinic, the service instructed investigators, however officers by no means alerted them that Worth wanted care.
He was seen by a medical supplier at 4:33 pm, three hours and 34 minutes after he was produced on the clinic.
It was too late.
Worth, experiencing shortness of breath and chest ache, was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital the place he suffered a coronary heart assault a couple of hours later and was pronounced lifeless at 5:37 a.m.
Regardless of the sequence of failures, the board report notes no correction officers, supervisors, or medical workers have been disciplined.
In a joint response to the board’s report, DOC and Correctional Well being Companies mentioned they’d set up a protocol requiring correction officers to promptly and clearly relay requires medical help to scientific workers.
Lapses in Different Deaths
The report additionally detailed the overdose demise of Barry Cozart, 39, contained in the George R. Vierno Middle on March 25. Cozart had a historical past of substance abuse and was seen on surveillance wanting intoxicated the night time earlier than his demise.
Employees repeatedly did not conduct correct excursions, left their posts unsupervised for prolonged intervals, and a logbook entry falsely recorded {that a} tour-tracking system was working, based on the board’s evaluate. Cozart’s physique wasn’t discovered till roughly 14 hours after he was final seen shifting, the report mentioned.
The realm captain and flooring officer have been beneficial for one-month unpaid suspensions, based on the board evaluate.
In an identical fatality, Rajpattie Ramkellawan, 41, was seen crushing and snorting medicine the night time earlier than her demise contained in the Rose M. Singer Middle on Might 18. A disciplinary evaluate in that case is ongoing.
Umais Khan, 40, went unnoticed in his mattress for hours earlier than his demise contained in the Eric M. Taylor Middle on Might 19, based on the report. He had epilepsy, bronchial asthma, and a substance use historical past, and had missed a number of scheduled clinic appointments as a result of DOC workers didn’t deliver him. The ground officer in his case obtained a 10-day unpaid suspension.
