Settlement unsealed in 2018 inmate suicide at Bucks County jail. Here's what was paid
When Bucks County released documents last year detailing a $337,500 settlement for wrongful death claims involving an inmate who completed suicide in 2018, the public only got half the story.
Missing were the settlement details for its private correctional health contractor, which provides medical and mental health services at its adult corrections and youth detention centers at a cost of $8.2 million this year.
What taxpayers didn’t know until July is PrimeCare Medical Inc. also agreed to pay $337,500 to settle wrongful death claims brought by the estate of Charles Freitag Sr., for a total of $675,000.
Bucks County settles another lawsuit Bucks County to pay $300K to settle wrongful death lawsuit filed by family of jail inmate
Those settlement details could have stayed secret. The Harrisburg-based company routinely requests the court to seal its settlements in the 37 Pennsylvania county jails that contract for its services, according to a review of federal court docket filings.
Since 2019, PrimeCare Medical has been named as a defendant in at least 65 federal lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania alleging injuries or deaths as a result of inadequate medical care.
In Bucks County, the company has settled five wrongful death lawsuit claims brought against the company by families of Bucks County Corrections inmates since 2013. The Freitag settlement is only the second one made publicly available.
The agreement was released after this news organization was successful in unsealing the records with pro-bono assistance from the Pennsylvania chapter of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic.
The attorneys representing the Bucks County Courier Times argued that the newspaper had standing to intervene and the court improperly sealed the records citing constitutional and common law right, entitling the public to access the agreements.
“While PrimeCare is a private company, local government agency Bucks County pays it millions of dollars to exclusively provide medical, dental, and mental health services at the jail,” the attorneys wrote in the motion seeking to unseal the records. “PrimeCare’s prison activities — funded by taxpayer dollars — are thus matters of significant public concern. Yet this inherently public information has been kept under seal for months.”
U.S. District Court Judge John Gallagher agreed and he granted the motion to intervene and unseal the records; the 27-page settlement was unsealed on July 12.
With the success in unsealing the Freitag case, the legal group is planning to file additional motions to unseal the three remaining wrongful death settlements involving Bucks County inmates where PrimeCare Medical was a defendant.
Did Bucks County fail Charles Freitag? Falsified records, ignored warnings: Did Bucks County jail staff fail to protect inmate?
The Managing Attorney, Local Journalism Project Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic Heather Murray called the unsealing effort critical to holding accountable government entities and their contractors.
“As we saw with the rapid spread of COVID-19 in prisons, conditions of confinement not only affect each individual in prison, but also contribute to major public health challenges,” Murray said. “Reporting by journalists is essential to informing the public to help address these challenges.”
Previously this news organization sought settlement records for lawsuits involving Bucks County inmate deaths and injuries under the Right to Know Law process. The county provided its settlement records, but denied requests for PrimeCare records stating agreements are negotiated separately and they do not have copies in their possession.
While PrimeCare is a county contractor paid with public money, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records Law determined it is not a government entity, so its records are not subject to the Right to Know law.
Last year the same groups of attorneys successfully unsealed a PrimeCare Medical settlement agreement in York County reached with the estate of an inmate who died by suicide in 2016 while in custody. The challenge was filed on behalf of the York Daily Record.
In Bucks County, Freitag, 57, was a first-time offender with a history of recent suicide attempts, and major depression in 2018 when he completed suicide in his cell the day after a judge sentenced him to six to 12 years in state prison.
His family alleged in its lawsuit that PrimeCare employees and Bucks County corrections officers failed to appropriately evaluate and monitor Freitag leading up to his sentencing and immediately after, despite clear signs his mental health was deteriorating, putting him at increased risk for suicide.
Insurance covered Bucks County's portion of the settlement, after a $250,000 deductible was met; the county's legal bills for the case, which were more than $470,000, counted toward meeting that deductible.
Under the PrimeCare agreement finalized last year, the Freitag estate received roughly $407,000 after legal fees and litigation costs which totaled more than $267,000.
Family of inmate sues over 2014 death Parents of second Bucks County inmate file wrongful death suit in heroin detox death
Before Freitag, the only publicly available settlement involving PrimeCare in Bucks County was a 2017 case for Marlene Yarnall, 49, of Bensalem, who died in custody in 2014.
PrimeCare settled its claims with her family for $250,000 in 2017. Bucks County was also named a defendant in the case, but later dismissed.
Under the agreement, the court awarded $87,500 in attorney fees plus $22,090 in litigation costs to the law firm representing the family, another $5,835 went into escrow for funeral expenses and $335.39 to settle a Medicare lien on the estate.
The remaining money, $134,218.85 was released to the family.
What prison settlements have cost Bucks Bucks County has settled 4 inmate death lawsuits since 2016. Here's what it costs
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: PrimeCare Medical settled inmate lawsuit at Bucks County jail
