A Utah woman's family is suing the Salt Lake County jail in federal court, claiming she died in custody because medical staff failed to provide adequate care when she was suffering withdrawal from a heroin habit.
Court papers filed Jan. 13 in Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court say Lindsey Goggin died in August, five days after being arrested and booked into jail.
The documents say that during an initial medical exam, Goggin, 25, told a jail nurse that she had been using 2 grams of heroin daily. Staff noted Goggin was a risk for withdrawal symptoms and placed her in quarantine for two days, where she suffered nausea and vomiting, court papers say.
When a heroin user takes the drug regularly, the brain cells adapt by becoming less responsive to the drug. During withdrawals, the brain's activity rebounds, producing a surge of adrenaline that triggers the symptoms.
After two days, Goggin complained that she could not breathe and said she was "throwing up and my heart is beating out of my chest," the documents state. A doctor prescribed anti-nausea medication and Goggin was given Gatorade, according to the lawsuit.
On Aug. 15, Goggin asked to see a doctor for a second time, again stating that she continued to vomit and have an irregular heartbeat. Court papers say she was given more Gatorade and placed in a holding cell, where she was later found by medical staff on the floor.
Court papers say Goggin was not breathing and staff performed CPR and chest compressions for 23 minutes but failed to immediately call for an ambulance. Goggin was then transferred to a local hospital where doctors pronounced her dead.
"Despite her persistent and severe vomiting over that five day period and defendants' knowledge that she was suffering heroin withdrawal and severe vomiting, defendants failed to intervene and failed to provide reasonable and necessary medical assistance to Lindsey," court papers state.
A statement from the jail Wednesday said officials couldn't comment at length about the pending lawsuit, but they defended staff members' actions.
"We feel strongly that our staff acted appropriately in response to this incident, making every life-saving effort to prevent the unfortunate death of Ms. Goggin," the statement said.
The lawsuit, which claims staff was deliberately indifferent to Goggin's condition and needs, seeks unspecified financial damages. Attorneys for Goggin's family also contend jail staff was inadequately trained and that the jail lacked the policies and procedures "to ensure the medical safety of pretrial detainees and inmates such as Lindsey Goggin," court papers say.
The Utah medical examiner's office found Goggin's death was the result of severe dehydration due to prolonged vomiting episodes following heroin withdraw, according to court documents.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are the county, Sheriff Jim Winder, the jail commander, doctors, nurses and other jail staff along with Wellcon Inc., a private company contracted to provide medical services at the jail.
