Former Anoka County inmate reaches multimillion-dollar settlement with county, medical staff
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Anoka County has settled a lawsuit over allegations it denied proper medical treatment to an inmate in 2022. Under the agreement, the county will pay $2.55 million to Deyonta Green, who was denied his prescribed medication for opioid withdrawal, according to the lawsuit.
Green’s attorney Katie Bennett said that after Green was booked into the Anoka County jail on Feb. 5, 2022, he suffered from severe symptoms from heroin withdrawal, including uncontrollable diarrhea and vomiting. Bennett said that although her client had a valid prescription for Suboxone, jail staff withheld it.
On Feb. 12, Green was found in his cell, covered in vomit, after an apparent fall. He was taken to a hospital, where doctors determined he had suffered a fractured skull, brain bleeds and acute kidney failure, according to the lawsuit.
Bennett said Green is no longer incarcerated and the settlement will help him move on with his life.
“He’s glad to have it done, in the rearview mirror for him. He’s doing his best and doing a good job moving forward with his life. He’s working. He has a second kid on the way, he has a fiancé, and, you know, it’s hopeful that this will just, you know, make things easier for him,” Bennett said.
Anoka County said in a statement that it’s glad to have reached the settlement and that it no longer contracts with MEnD Correctional Care, the medical provider that had been taking care of inmates when Green was jailed.
The full settlement is $2.75 million dollars. Anoka County said the rest was paid for by MEnD’s bond company and the insurer for one of the nurses.
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