She was found dead in her cell and her daughter blames the sheriff and medical director Dr. Antony Abdullah for not implementing policies for dealing with addicted inmates and training staff among other things.
“Defendants county, Jones and Dr. Abdullah knew that failure to provide appropriate medical care to inmates suffering from drug and alcohol withdrawal put such prisoners at substantial risk of serious harm or death,” attorney Jennifer Branch wrote.
The suit claims civil rights violations, negligence, medical malpractice and wrongful death. The daughter is seeking unspecified damages.
Jones and Abdullah filed motions to dismiss, but Magistrate Stephanie Bowman, for the most part, refused. She did dismiss the negligence/malpractice claims against Jones because he is not a doctor, and the wrongful death claim against the sheriff in his official capacity but not individually.
“Plaintiff’s complaint alleges that ‘defendants knew that Ruby Farley was suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms and knew improper management of this condition could lead to Ms. Farley’s death,’” Bowman wrote. “This factual allegation pertains to all defendants, including individual defendants Jones and Abdullah and is sufficient to overcome defendants’ (dismissal) motions.”
The case is pending a ruling from the judge on the magistrate’s recommendation on the dismissal motions. The attorneys in the case could not be reached for comment.
About the Author