A Former Prisoner Whose Staph Infection Led to an Abscess with Parasite Eggs at Tulsa County Jail Files a Civil Lawsuit
In March 7, 2018, news out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a former prisoner at the Tulsa County Jail in Tulsa has filed a civil lawsuit and made a shocking claim. Zachary Plunkett was jailed in June 2016, and he claims that he informed Tulsa County Jail staff at the time of booking that he had an injury on his tailbone/buttocks area. Allegedly due to the jail’s unsanitary conditions and the refusal of the jail staff to provide immediate medical attention, Plunkett developed a staph infection on his buttocks within about 18 hours. After 10 days without needed medical care, he was finally transported to a nearby hospital. There, according to the lawsuit, a physician in the emergency room said Plunkett’s condition was something you only typically see in a third-world country. An abscess had formed, and it was brimming with eggs from parasites. Plunkett alleges in the lawsuit that the seriousness of his medical condition was ignored by medical staff and jail staff for several days. He was only offered codeine and ibuprofen, which were inadequate for what he was going through and what was needed. The former prisoner says that while waiting for the needed assistance, the infection got worse, with severe bleeding, discharge of pus, and swelling. He made repeated pleas for medical treatment and was in continuous, debilitating pain.
The abscess which had formed from the staph infection was near the rectal area and had to be surgically removed.
Those being sued in the lawsuit include the medical care provider for the jail, three of the employees of the medical care provider, the Board of County Commissioners, and the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office. The lawsuit claims delay of treatment that was both callous and inexplicable, resulting in a permanent injury.
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