Autopsy results identify what killed Philadelphia woman held at Bucks County Jail
A female defendant at Bucks County's jail died last month five days after she was incarcerated as a result of a perforated ulcer, according to the Bucks County Coroner’s Office.
Melissa Mager, 48, of Philadelphia, was pronounced dead March 1 at Doylestown Hospital where she was taken after correction staff noticed she appeared to be in physical distress, Coroner Meredith Buck wrote in a news release Thursday.
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She was taken to the hospital’s emergency room where she was pronounced dead at 11:41 a.m. the same day. A subsequent autopsy found she died of a perforated peptic ulcer in the upper part of the small intestine. Her death was ruled as natural.
The autopsy showed no evidence of external trauma or foul play, Buck said. A bowel perforation is a serious complication of peptic ulcer disease that can be life-threatening.
Duodenal ulcers, ones in the upper part of the small intestine, tend to cause consistent pain, according to Cedars Sinai Hospital. A patient may feel no pain when he or she awakens, but by midmorning it is present.
The pain can be relieved by eating, but it usually returns two to three hours later. Pain that wakes a patient at night is common for duodenal ulcers. The three main signs of a perforated peptic ulcer are sudden onset of abdominal pain, tachycardia and abdominal rigidity, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Court records show that Mager was incarcerated on a probation violation Feb. 24 as a result of a new arrest in Bristol Township on felony retail theft in December. She was admitted to the Bucks County Correctional Facility early on February 25, 2023.
Mager is the second incarcerated defendant to die this year in Bucks County's jail.
Octavius Davis, 35, of Bristol Township, was found unresponsive in his cell on Jan. 16, nearly two weeks after he was jailed. An autopsy determined he died as a result of an accidental drug overdose.
Last year, five Bucks County inmates died in custody, according to Bucks County Prison Oversight Board records. A sixth inmate died in August and he was initially counted, but later removed because the inmate was released from custody after he was transported to the hospital.
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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Why did Bucks County inmate die? Autopsy released for latest jail death
