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Family sues over death of mentally ill prisoner

Paul Egan / The Detroit News

October 5, 2006

The company hired to provide medical care to state prisoners -- already the subject of controversy and a review ordered by Gov. Jennifer Granholm -- is being sued in federal court over the Aug. 6 death of a 21-year-old mentally ill man who had been placed in an isolation cell at the state's Jackson prison.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit by attorney Geoffrey Fieger's firm alleges Timothy Joe Souders of Adrian was restrained to a bed and left to lie naked in his urine and feces without access to food and water for four days before he died.

Souders "exhibited the signs and symptoms of a serious medical condition and continued to deteriorate physically and mentally," but prison officials and medical contractor Correctional Medical Services Inc. "failed to obtain medical treatment," the lawsuit alleges. In addition to Correctional Medical Services, the lawsuit names as defendants the prison warden and deputy warden and several prison officials and medical workers

"No one should have been treated like this -- no one," Souders' mother, Theresa Vaughn, said Wednesday. She and Timothy's father, Steven Souders, are suing.

Russ Marlan, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections, said Souders' death is under investigation, and he could not comment on the allegations in the lawsuit.

He said prison policy allows for the use of bed restraints in cases where prisoners are acting out or trying to harm themselves or others.

Strict rules about food and water and monitoring apply when prisoners are placed in restraints, and Marlan said he believes all rules were followed in the Souders case.

Souders was in prison for theft, assault and resisting arrest. Vaughn said her son was diagnosed with attention deficit order at age 8 but functioned well as long as he took his medication.

Paul Broschay, the Fieger lawyer handling the case, said Vaughn was told her son died in his sleep.

Ken Fields, a spokesman for Correctional Medical Services in St. Louis, Mo., said the company is reviewing the lawsuit and he can't comment on patients. He said the company's contract with the state does not include mental health services.

You can reach Paul Egan at (313) 222-2069 or pegan@detnews.com.

 

 

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