NursingLink

A nurse who cared for Cassandra “Sandy” Morgan at the Delaware County jail told jurors in a federal courtroom yesterday that she wanted to do more for her but was limited by the law.

“I just wanted her so badly to go to psychiatric hospital,” Maureen Hoffman, a nurse at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, testified at the civil trial. But each time Hoffman spoke with the jail staff psychologist, she said, he reminded her: “We can’t. Nobody is going to take her.”

Morgan, 38, of Aston, died after she suffered a seizure at the jail on March 25, 2006.

Morgan suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and did not tell jail staff that she had a thyroid condition and needed medication. She died after five weeks of incarceration without her medication.

Her family has sued the county Board of Prison Inspectors and the company that operates the jail, arguing that Morgan should have been sent for outside psychiatric help.

Yesterday, Hoffman and forensic psychiatrist Kenneth Weiss testified that the jail did everything possible for Morgan within state law.

Weiss, testifying for the defense, said state law protects a mentally ill person’s right to refuse medication as long as there is no imminent danger to that person or others.

Grato Paneque, a psychiatrist under contract to the jail and the only individual jail employee still named in the lawsuit, could not do much more for her than prescribe medication and urge her to take it, Weiss said. He could not force her to take her medication and could not, by law, commit her to a hospital unless she was dangerous.

“People have rights to determine what happens to their bodies or minds, even though you or I might think it’s bad judgment,” Weiss said. “I don’t write the laws. And I can’t go around the law and I can’t break the law, and neither could Dr. Paneque.”

Nurses at the jail knew that Morgan was not taking her medication and that she needed help, Hoffman testified. Angelina Blocker, a corrections officer, testified yesterday that Morgan would walk around her cell at night and stare out her window. Blocker said she never saw Morgan sleep.

Hoffman said that although Morgan was sometimes agitated, she never hurt herself or tried to hurt a nurse.

Carolyn Short, a lawyer defending GEO Group, which runs the jail, and the Board of Prison Inspectors said the family must show that the defendants were more than just negligent; it must show “deliberate indifference” to Morgan’s serious medical needs.

That is a burden that Short argues the family has not met. Jail staff members did not ignore Morgan’s condition; they did not know that she had it, Short said.

“Even if there was a delay [in calling 911] . . . there has been no policy that says, ‘Delay 911,’ ” Short said Monday.

Morgan, who was arrested for shoplifting toys from a Wal-Mart in Boothwyn, told police that she owned the store. A psychiatrist declared her incompetent for trial, but Morgan died before a competency hearing could be held.

“I could tell that she just looked so sad,” Hoffman said yesterday. “She said, ‘I took some toys.’”

In Massachusetts, we cannot obtain an order to medicate against someones will "Roger's Act"  unless someone is dangerous to self or others.  It takes a ton of documentation and a long time to get one.  I wonder if there had been any documentation stating how long she had been without sleep?  It may, and that's a big may have been helpful.  Weren't there any medical records available re: the thyroid disease, and refusal of meds?  That may again, big may, have been considered, again with the right documentaion, as being a danger to self.

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so so sad...we need better legislation. more people need to care and be aware of how sad and also how dangerous our legislation is regarding mental illness!

JoniDoe says ...

One thing about the placement of the mentally impaired to be put in jails is the fact that jails are also over crowded. The child molesters and the men that are also in there for rape are being released early. (as well as others)  Who would we rather have as our neighbors?

I'd pick the nuts, myself for neighbors if given a choice.

Putting people in jail without  their prescribed meds is not the answer, but the system just dont care.