Judge dismisses lawsuit brought by family of man who died of detox at Valley Street jail
Oct. 20—A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by the family of a man who died of alcohol withdrawal last year at the Valley Street jail in Manchester.
Robert Martel arrived at the jail on May 10, 2021, to serve a 10-day sentence. He told intake nurses that he habitually consumed a bottle of vodka a day and had done so earlier that day. He also was a daily fentanyl user, he disclosed.
He was placed under detox watch, refused both a withdrawal assessment and to have his vital signs taken. He was given medication at one point. Nurses noted symptoms such as sweats, chills, vomiting and agitation.
Thirty-two hours later he was dead.
His family sued Hillsborough County, which operates the jail, several nurses, a corrections officer and the physician firm that provides medical services.
But in a 35-page order, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Laplante said the care did not rise to the level of deliberate indifference, which must be proved to meet the bar of constitutionally inadequate medical care. Laplante also rejected negligence claims under state law because the nurses believed in the legality of their actions.
"It's upsetting. He never should have died," said Manchester lawyer Lawrence Vogelman, who represented the family. "You've got to take alcohol detoxification very seriously, actually more so than opioid (detoxification)."
The new superintendent of the jail, Joe Costanzo, who was not at the jail at the time, said he could not comment. He referred a reporter to the county's staff attorney, Carolyn Kirby, who did not immediately return a call.
Earlier this year, the county agreed to pay $875,000 to settle claims brought by the parents of Nicholas Sacco, who died of opioid withdrawal in the jail in 2019.
Vogelman said the law makes it difficult to clear initial hurdles in a case involving medical care at jails. Had the Martel case survived the motion to dismiss, he would have been able to gain more information by deposing the jail staff.
He said he was limited in what information he could gather for the lawsuit.
In his ruling on the Martel case, Laplante noted that the nursing staff disagreed on his condition. One nurse scored him a 5 on the CIWA scale to measure alcohol withdrawal, a score that falls in the minimal range. Another nurse scored him 13, which falls in the mild to moderate range.
"Like the other nurses, the plaintiff does not allege that Martel requested treatment from Nurse (Erica) Gustafson, and she refused. Its allegations instead reflect a disagreement about the course of treatment, as opposed to facts suggesting a deliberate choice to withhold necessary and appropriate care, or delay such care," the judge wrote.
Vogelman said the family has yet to decide whether to appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
