Lawsuit filed in prisoner’s drug-related death

By Admin on July 31, 2009

Central Illinois resident Brian Parks, 38, who had long struggled with his addiction to prescription pain medication, was sent to Stateville prison outside Joliet in 2007 after being arrested for a violation of his work release.

Two months later, the Pekin man was found dead inside his cell, about a day after a prison doctor to whom he’d complained about back pain handed him a pack containing 30 pills of Tramadol, a prescription pain medication he was addicted to, according to a lawsuit filed this week in Will County circuit court and the inquest report.

 

The cause of the Aug. 1, 2007 death was Tramadol intoxication, according to the inquest. Investigators found only 10 of 30 the pills in his cell.

 

Elizabeth Green, Parks wife, told the coroner’s jury in 2007 that Parks was addicted to Vicodin and Tramadol, had been jailed at least three times for drug offenses and had been hospitalized before after overdosing. She said her husband would often complain of pain to get his hands on the drugs.

 

“I don’t understand why they would give an addict pills while he’s in there for being a prescription drug addict,” she said, according to a transcript.

 

The wrongful death lawsuit names Wexford Health Services, Inc. – the Pittsburgh-based firm that contracts for health care at Statesville. It alleges the medication was given to Parks by Dr. Constantine Peters.

 

“Literally you’ve taken the thing that’s this guys private nightmare and given it to him,” said Michael Clancy, the family’s attorney.

 

Clancy said private medical providers find it cost-effective to dispense such drugs in volume rather than assigning a nurse to hand inmates a cup with their medications.

 

A spokeswoman for Wexford declined to comment specifically on the lawsuit, but issued a statement.”Our policies and procedures are based on nationally accepted industry standards, and comply with all applicable state and federal regulations for inmate care.”

 

A spokeswoman for the department of corrections, which was not named in the lawsuit, also declined to comment.

 

At the 2007 inquest, Dorothy Culkin, a department of corrections investigator, testified that she did “substantiate charges” against two prison guards for failing to follow the prison’s procedures for checking on inmates.

 

–Steve Schmadeke

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