by David M. Reutter

On November 11, 2024, private prison and jail healthcare contractor Wellpath LLC filed for bankruptcy protection from debtors collectively owed $544 million, casting doubt on its ability to continue in business, much less pay settlements and verdicts owed in suits for poor medical care filed by prisoners, detainees or their estates.

One of the many cases still pending against the firm was filed by the family of a Virginia detainee who died of “salt wasting” after being denied medication necessary to control the disorder by officials at Henry County Adult Detention Center (HCADC), where Wellpath held the healthcare contract. Deborah Sue Damron, a firm nurse responsible for Brad Steven Hensley’s care, was not only named a defendant in the civil case but also criminally charged after his death with involuntary manslaughter.

Hensley, 42, was born with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, which caused him to suffer from “salt wasting” when his body failed to produce cortisol needed to regulate blood pressure and blood sugar, among other things. Hensley’s condition was treated with twice daily doses of prescribed Prednisone and Fludrocortisone, which was noted at booking into HCADC on August 22, 2022. It was further noted that Hensley had not taken his medication since the previous day. His mother called to advise jailers of his condition and offered to get the medications to him, but she was refused, with assurances that the medication was being procured.

The next day, Damron, 57, recorded an order from Physician Assistant Sarah Eves for the medication, but it didn’t arrive. Meanwhile, Hensley asked Wellpath staff “for help due to severe abdominal pain and discomfort, headache and fever, weakness and fatigue, dehydration due to vomiting and diarrhea, confusion and lightheadedness, loss of appetite, and the other increasing and predictable symptoms of adrenal crisis,” according to the civil rights complaint filed by his estate. His family made at least 18 calls to the jail by August 5, 2022, warning that his condition was life-threatening without medication. A local judge also called the jail with his concerns.

Finally, on August 5, 2022, the medication arrived. But attempts to administer it orally failed. When Hensley vomited that evening, Wellpath Registered Nurse M. Adkins “found” he’d puked some sort of red drink; it was actually blood. According to Damron’s indictment, she falsified records to indicate taking vital assessments of Hensley twice in the early morning hours of August 6, 2022. Around 7:33 a.m., he was found unresponsive in his cell. Efforts to revive him failed. The medical examiner concluded the cause of death was acute fentanyl toxicity and adrenal crisis due to congenital adrenal hyperplasia contributing.

With the aid of attorneys Devon J. Munro and Benjamin Byrd of Munro & Byrd PC in Roanoke, along with Jonathan E. Halperin and Darrell German of Halperin Law Center in Glen Allen, the estate filed suit alleging deliberate indifference to Hensley’s serious medical needs, in violation of his Fourteenth Amendment rights, as well as state-law claims for negligence and wrongful death. Wellpath and Damron moved to dismiss the complaint. But on August 6, 2024, the federal court for the Western District of Virginia denied them. See: Hensley v. Wellpath, LLC, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139351 (W.D. Va.).

Meanwhile Damron was indicted on March 20, 2023; she was arrested in Kentucky two days later and held for extradition. The Virginia Board of Nursing suspended her license on September 12, 2023. See: Hensley v. Wellpath, USDC (W D. Va.), Case No. 4:24-cv-00014. PLN will update developments as they are available in the case, as well as Wellpath’s bankruptcy. See: Wellpath Holdings, Inc., USBC (S.D. Tex.), Case No. 24-90533.

$10,000 Settlement for Pennsylvanian Prisoner in
Another Failure-to-Treat Claim

Another failure-to-treat claim against Wellpath in Pennsylvania resulted in a $10,000 settlement in August 2021. That suit was filed by Tyreek Jackson, a prisoner at the State Correctional Institution (SCI) in Chester, where the firm held the contract to provide healthcare. It paints a damning picture of Wellpath policy to juice profit by denying care to prisoners.

Before entering prison, Jackson was under the care of University of Pennsylvania Hospital gastroenterologist Dr. Farzana Rashid for Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and irritable bowel syndrome. He took three different medications for these, but upon arrival at SCI-Chester, Jackson came under the care of Wellpath’s Dr. Paul Little, who prescribed only Tylenol for pain.

The complaint he later filed recalled events between February and October 2019. Jackson had four medical appointments the first month, at two of which Little allegedly made derogatory religious and racial remarks, refusing to treat him. Then, on February 27, 2019, Little reduced Jackson’s prescribed pain medication from three daily pills to one but “provided no explanation for the change,” the complaint alleged.

When Jackson’s condition began to degrade in March 2019, lab tests were finally conducted and he was started on a regimen of Prednisone, replacing the Tylenol. Between March 5 and 13, 2019, Little saw Jackson four times. But at each visit, he refused to address “Jackson’s questions or concerns about his treatment,” becoming “hostile” and “curt” and raising his voice,” the complaint recalled. Little also denied pain medication and refused to send Jackson to Dr. Rashid. At a visit on March 13, 2019, he allegedly said that Jackson could wait until his release to have his chronic illnesses treated, since SCI-Chester was a “transitional institution” with a limited budget, so chronic illnesses like Jackson’s were not prioritized.

Six more times in April 2019, Jackson saw Little, who called him a “f***ing cry baby” who would “have to learn to cope with his pain and discomfort,” the complaint alleged. Jackson was seen by rheumatologist Dr. Ritu Kharana on April 12, 2019, and finally by Dr. Rashid on June 19 and October 16, 2019. At each visit, the specialists issued discharge instructions or made recommendations for treatment. Each time, Little allegedly failed to follow those instructions and recommendations. Meanwhile, Jackson’s lack of bowel movement resulted in severe pain, once putting him in an outside hospital for two weeks.

On July 6, 2019, nurses reiterated that Jackson would not be treated because he was “ready to be paroled.” Two days later, Little hurled “racial slurs” at Jackson and said he was not prescribing anything because of a complaint that the prisoner had filed with the Pennsylvania Board of Osteopathic Medicine on May 3, 2019.

Jackson then filed suit in federal court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, accusing Wellpath and Little of violating his Eighth Amendment rights with deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. The complaint also made a First Amendment claim for Little’s alleged retaliation after Jackson filed a medical board complaint. The parties then proceeded to reach their settlement agreement. Jackson was represented by attorneys from Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis in Philadelphia. See: Jackson v. Little, USDC, (E.D. Pa.), Case No. 2:19-cv-05824.  

Additional source: Martinsville Bulletin, WDBJ