An Iowa prisoner who waited months to have a knee injury treated should receive $160,000 in compensation from the state, a federal jury ruled.
Travis Dantzler injured his right knee in February 2020 while incarcerated at Anamosa State Penitentiary, according to court filings. In January 2021, he was transferred to Clarinda Correctional Facility, where he reported reinjuring the knee and repeatedly asked to be scheduled for an MRI.
As later summarized by a judge, medical staff at Clarinda did not immediately schedule an MRI, in part allegedly because Dantzler was potentially about to be paroled. Instead he was given a knee brace and painkillers.
It was not until November 2021, after Dantzler was transferred to the Iowa State Penitentiary, that he received an MRI, which found a torn meniscus and other injuries.
Dantzler ultimately received surgery on both knees, and claimed doctors told him that “due to his delay in care, a knee replacement would be needed in the next (two to three) years.”
Dantzler sued several prison nurses and doctors, claiming violations of his Eighth Amendment rights. A federal judge in 2023 allowed the case to proceed to trial against one of the doctors, finding that a “reasonable official in (Dr. Tonia) Baldwin’s shoes would have understood that a delay in referring Dantzler for an orthopedic consultation and MRI based on whether he was eligible for parole would be a violation of his Eighth Amendment rights.”
A federal appeals court affirmed that decision.
The case went to trial June 15, and on June 17, the jury found that Baldwin had been “deliberately indifferent” to Dantzler’s medical needs, awarding him $160,000 in damages for physical pain and suffering. The jury did not award punitive damages.
Attorneys for Dantzler did not return messages seeking comment.
Jen Green, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Brenna Bird, said in a statement that “the Attorney General’s Office thanks the jury for their time and attention on this case. We are evaluating further options.”
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Jury awards Iowa prison inmate $160K for untreated knee injury
Reporting by William Morris, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By William Morris, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
