You Ask, I Answer/In The News: Heart Disease

In the May 28, 2008 Willamette Week Murmurs column there's a story about a man doing 25 months in state prison for assault.

He's suing Multnomah County and a Philadelphia-based food distributor for serving food he says led to a near-fatal heart fibrillation.

He claims he was subjected to “criminal inhumanity” in 2007 at the county’s Inverness Jail, where he says food did not comply with the low-fat diet prescribed by his cardiologist.

Do you think this lawsuit has any merit?

-- David Brown
Kalispell, MT

Very coincidental timing! A friend sent me a link to that story 15 minutes before I received your question.

I was very intrigued and planned on sharing it here.

I have looked for more details on this case but have been unable to get anything beyond a short paragraph with the most basic information.

(NOTE: I called the Sheriff's Office and left a message with Deputy Travis Gullberg, who handles press inquiries. Let's see if I hear anything!)

What would help me determine the "merit" of this lawsuit is this man's cardiac health upon being admitted to prison.

If he already had heart disease, it is important that he follow a prescribed low-fat diet plan in order to help reverse some of the damage.

If there is no diagnosis of heart disease in his past, it will certainly be a very hard case to win.

Of course, there are other legal issues here (i.e.: was the jail notified of his special diet needs by his cardiologist?) but this will be an interesting case to keep an eye on.