LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - The family of an alcoholic who died in jail from withdrawal will have to fix their wrongful death lawsuit if they want to hold Los Angeles County liable.
Federal judge Percy Anderson on Feb. 23 threw out federal claims made on behalf of the Estate of Amanda Bews, leaving attorneys Timothy Scott and Lauren Williams of McKenzie Scott with a March 15 deadline to file a new complaint.
The suit alleges the jail, a doctor and a pharmacist ignored Bews' withdrawal symptoms, causing her death in September 2022.
"The Court disagrees," Anderson wrote. "To the contrary, the Complaint plausibly alleges that Ms. Bews was treated and evaluated, and that a reasoned decision based on those evaluations was made to not provide medication relating to her detoxification.
"While it is true that decedent was found unresponsive during a safety check several hours later and Plaintiffs allege in hindsight that the individual defendants should have provided medication for her detoxification, these facts allege negligence or medical malpractice, and not deliberate indifference."
Federal claims for deprivation of rights included deliberate indifference and due process violations. The complaint makes other state-law claims, which Anderson will not entertain unless viable federal allegations can be added.
According to the plaintiffs' complaint, Bews was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in September of 2022 and admitted to recent heroin and alcohol use to the arresting officers. She was taken to the hospital prior to being booked into jail.
They claim the hospital summary report indicated Bews needed to be taken to an acute care facility where she could receive consistent monitoring. The plaintiffs allege that on Sept. 9, 2022, Bews, a day after being booked into the jail, was found unresponsive.
They claim that jail staff stopped treating Bews for detox and withdrawal and the medical staff failed to adequately monitor her health or administer sufficient dosages of medication, which led to her death. They further claim at the time of her death, Bews showed signs of dehydration and vomit in her airway.
The suit claimed individual defendants failed to have a proper detox protocol in place that would have provided medication or more monitoring.
"This allegation, however, also raises the question of what constitutes proper or adequate care, and does not plausibly allege deliberate indifference," Anderson wrote.
"Moreover, Ms. Bews’ decline occurred during a short time period of only a few hours after she had been checked and medically cleared. The alleged lack of a safety check during this time period, without more, does not suffice to state a claim based on a deliberate indifference standard."