CHARLESTON – A woman has filed a lawsuit saying inadequate medical care from jail staff led to the death of the father of her children.
Joyce Lynn Horner, as administratrix of the estate of Noah Lee Morris, filed her complaint August 26 in Kanawha Circuit Court against PrimeCare Medical of West Virginia and the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitiation. Horner is the mother of Morris’ two children.
“PrimeCare ignored blatant signs of Noah’s health deteriorating until he died of septic shock,” attorney L. Dante diTrapano told The West Virginia Record. “Finally, with his respirations at 40 breathes per minute, BP at 79/40, heart rate at 149, and oxygen at 66 percent, they decide to transfer to a higher care facility.
diTrapano
“This atrocious medical care killed him.”
According to the complaint, Morris was arrested August 18, 2021, on a warrant for two counts of possession with intent to deliver. He was incarcerated at North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County.
Following his intake screening, Morris was placed on an opiate detoxification program because his urine drug screen was positive for amphetamine, buprenorphine, methamphetamine, opiates, Fentanyl, tramadol and alcohol.
The following day, his vitals showed he was tachycardic with pulse readings of 106 and 116. The next day, Morris was experiencing nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. And the next day, he still was tachycardic with pulse readings of 108 and 110.
For the next several days, his vitals show he was tachycardic with extremely low oxygen saturation levels and occasional high blood pressure. One pulse reading was 152. He was sent for an EKG after that reading.
By August 27, 2021, Morris started to decompensate. He was found in his cell after another inmate reported it. Morris was in “respiratory distress, incontinent of urine, lying on his bunk with respiration of 40, a blood pressure of 70/40 and an O2 saturation of 66 percent … no verbal response and unresponsive to verbal commands.”
Emergency workers arrived to take him to the hospital at 3:20 p.m. He arrived at United Hospital Center in Bridgeport at 4:20 p.m. in overt septic shock and unresponsive. Despite efforts to resuscitate him, Morris died at 7:30 p.m. His cause of death was listed as sepsis.
Horner accuses PrimeCare of medical negligence and the WVDOC of malicious conduct. She seeks compensatory damages for her and Morris’ other wrongful death beneficiaries, dependents and loved ones.
She seeks damages for Morris’ pain and suffering before his death, sorrow and emotional suffering of his beneficiaries, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and expenses and other relief. She also seeks punitive damages from PrimeCare Medical.
Horner is being represented by diTrapano and Benjamin Adams of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston and by William C. Forbes and W. Jesse Forbes of Forbes Law Offices in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 22-C-720