Suit filed in 2006 death of Daviess County jail inmate
Complaint says man died after not receiving proper medical care
By Joanie Baker
MESSENGER-INQUIRER
Saturday, January 5, 2008
3C
A Henderson attorney filed a wrongful death suit Friday alleging that the Daviess County Detention Center was negligent in the care of inmate Nealy F. Glaze.
Glaze, 33, died at Owensboro Medical Health System in January 2006 of diabetic shock and kidney failure a week before his scheduled trial in Vanderburgh County in Indiana.
The suit was filed exactly two years after Glaze's death.
Jailer David Osborne declined comment Friday because he said he has not been served with the complaint and doesn't know the particulars of the case.
According to attorney Curtis J. Hamilton III, Glaze complained repeatedly to jail staff when his abdomen became distended, he developed a coating on his tongue and felt extreme thirst.
On Jan. 3, 2006, Glaze suffered a seizure, Hamilton said, and was taken to the hospital for kidney failure and diabetic shock before he went into a coma.
Hamilton alleges the man's symptoms were indicative of diabetic ketoacidosis and were ignored by jail staffers.
According to WebMD, ketoacidosis is a disease caused when fatty acids, known as ketones, enter the bloodstream once the body begins breaking down muscle and fat for energy because a lack of insulin is keeping it from getting sugar.
Glaze died from "complications arising from his undiagnosed and untreated medical condition which began at the Daviess County Detention Center," the complaint said.
Osborne, the jail and Daviess Fiscal Court "failed to properly train and supervise... employees and staff to enact policies and procedures which would provide appropriate medical training for the Detention Center staff," the complaint said.
The lawsuit says Glaze was being held in the Daviess County jail because of overcrowding in the Vanderburgh County jail.
Hamilton filed for constitutional violations, negligence, medical malpractice and negligent supervision of jail staff. He is seeking punitive damages from the jail for pain and suffering and gross neglect on behalf of the Glaze estate.
