Jury Awards Tragically Injured Former Inmate $1 Million for Medical Neglect Inside Virginia Prison

RICHMOND, Va., July 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A Federal Court jury awarded a 32-year old Ohio man $1.06 million after the medical staff at a Virginia prison failed to provide adequate emergency care following a recreation yard accident, believed to be the largest jury verdict awarded to a current or former state Department of Corrections prisoner in a medical malpractice case.

The Lunenburg Correctional Center medical staff failed to set John Kinlaw's broken right ring finger – leaving his hand permanently disabled. Instead of immediately taking x-rays, a doctor and two nurses gave Kinlaw an Ace bandage, an ice pack, and some aspirin, evidence at trial confirmed.

Despite continued protests and appeals by Kinlaw and his family, it took the Lunenburg medical team more than 235 days to get Kinlaw the proper medical care. By that time, doctors outside the prison told Kinlaw, it was too late to save his right hand from being permanently disabled, evidence presented at the three-day trial confirmed.

The jury verdict, certified by Federal District Court Judge Robert E. Payne, awarded Kinlaw $708,671 in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages. The medical staff at Lunenburg was employed by Armor Correctional Health Services, which was named in the suit along with Dr. Charles Nwaokocha and two nurses.

"We have a crisis in the Commonwealth of Virginia related to the treatment of inmates, we have a crisis in local jails, and we have a crisis in state prisons," said Mike Donovan, the CEO of Nexus Services. The Verona, Virginia, company, dedicated to protecting the civil rights of prisoners and others, funded the lawsuit that brought Kinlaw justice. "Now is the time for that crisis to be dealt with," Donovan said.

"This verdict is the beginning of a campaign we will wage to free inmates from solitary confinement conditions, medical malpractice issues, and inmate abuse by guards," Donovan said. "The simple fact is, we are better than this as Virginians, and today this jury stood up and said that. It is time for the Virginia attorney general, the governor, and this administration to stand up and do something to cure the disease of inmate abuse in Virginia's prisons," Donovan added.

Andrew Tate, the lead lawyer on the case, with Nexus Derechos Humanos, the civil rights law firm funded by Nexus Services, thanked the jury for carefully judging the facts. "They were very attentive during the trial and took my client seriously," he said. "Whether you are inside or outside of prison you have inherent human rights and human dignity and the standard care we afford people doesn't stop at the prison door."

John Kinlaw also thanked the jury, his lawyers and Nexus Services. "A jury of my peers understood I was wronged and knew it wasn't right. There shouldn't be any difference in the standard of treatment between an inmate and someone on the outside. I'm a human."

SOURCE Nexus Services