Saturday, October 23, 2004

GHB dealer dies from GHB; jail sued

Even though it's easy to think this guy got his just deserts, it shows how little some medical and law enforcement personnel know about treating GHB.

FAILURE TO TREAT GHB WITHDRAWAL ALLEGED
Tampa Tribune 10/19/04

The family of a 28-year-old Pasco County jail inmate who died eight days after his 2002 arrest has sued the sheriff's office, alleging wrongful death and violation of civil rights.

James Michael Chaney died after corrections officers and jail medical staff failed to properly treat his withdrawal from gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB, also known as a date rape drug, alleges the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Tampa.

When Chaney, accused of trafficking in GHB, was booked into the Land O' Lakes jail Nov. 13, 2002, he told deputies he was addicted to the drug and that he had used GHB and ecstasy immediately before his arrest, the lawsuit states.

Jail nurses failed to conduct a "sufficient medical screening" of Chaney, didn't note that the inmate was shaking and failed to provide any medical treatment, according to the lawsuit. At one point a delusional Chaney was forcibly placed in a cell and later, on his way to the medical unit when he began acting "irrational," was thrown to the ground by a corrections officer, the suit says.

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