Attorneys Joseph T. (Jody) Healey and Nicole C. Freiler obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a privately owned company that is contracted to provide medical services to inmates at the Lackawanna County Prison, after four-day trial in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Plaintiff claimed that he was deprived of necessary supplies to clean and maintain his colostomy during his 29-day incarceration in October and November of 2014 which, according to Plaintiff, resulted in numerous, serious infections and multiple painful surgical procedures.
The defense witnesses, which included Plaintiff’s surgeon and the emergency room physician who examined him after his release from the jail, testified that Plaintiff’s claims were simply not accurate. The defendants explained the Mr. Reed was never deprived of necessary supplies to maintain his colostomy, and that he never complained about any issues or concerns regarding his medical care during his incarceration.
At the close of Plaintiff’s case in chief, United States District Court Judge Malachy Mannion, granted defendant’s Rule 50 Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law as to four of the six defendants. He noted that the case as to the remaining Defendants was “paper thin” but should nevertheless be decided by the jury. The jury deliberated for about an hour before returning a unanimous verdict in favor of the remaining defendants.