December 16, 2005  

Jury Awards Family $28.5 Million

Jail's Health Care Provider Ordered To Pay Majority In Wrongful-Death Trial

By Crystal Owens
Item Staff Writer
cowens@theitem.com

A Sumter County jury awarded $28.5 million from Eastern Health Care, the agency contracted to provide health services for the Sumter County Correctional Center in 2001, to the family of the Rev. Ronel Huggins on Thursday following almost two weeks of testimony in a wrongful-death trial.

In addition, three other defendants — Sumter County, Tuomey Regional Medical Center and Tuomey physicians Luis Muniz, Martha Cushman and Richard Alexander — settled their cases for a reported $1.7 million.

"In South Carolina, nonprofit hospitals cannot be assessed more than $350,000 in damages per claim," Tuomey spokeswoman Brenda Zilch said Thursday. "... I'm not specifically commenting on this case. We have not received any official word from our attorneys or the judge in the case. We have not heard the case is officially over."

Sumter County Council unanimously voted to settle its portion of the case at a special meeting Monday. Details of that settlement have not been released.

Huggins, 43, was found dead about 2:25 a.m. on Dec. 27, 2001, by the staff of what is now Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center. Rigor mortis had already set in.

Huggins, a clergyman and pastor at Oaks AME Church in Summerton who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and Type II diabetes, was treated at Tuomey Regional Medical Center three times beginning Dec. 23, according to testimony.

He was arrested for indecent exposure on Dec. 25 after taking off his pants in the hospital's waiting room.

The suit was filed in 2003 in the Sumter County Court of Common Pleas by Virginia H. Fisher on behalf of Huggins' estate.

"I think that we're obviously disappointed by the verdict. ... The jury has spoken," said attorney Bill Hopkins, representing Eastern Health Care. "You know, unfortunately it's just a tragic case. Mr. Huggins' death was unfortunate and a lot of factors played a role in his death. We felt like the factors and the actions of our client — Eastern — played a very small part in that death and that the actions of some other parties played a substantial role in his death, so that was our defense."

Hopkins said there is a "good possibility" of an appeal.

"We'll confer with our client, make some post-trial motions to the judge and see after that," he said.

"We've said from the beginning this was a case of disturbing facts and disturbing consequences," said attorney Ed Bell, who represented Fisher. "Clearly the jury believed that as well. Not only that, they saw that a man's value is not necessarily gauged on what he makes financially in his profession, but what he gives to other people. Mr. Huggins was a minister that gave his time and his life. This should never have happened to anyone in our county. Hopefully, people will learn from this and maybe his life won't be in vain."

Jurors began listening to testimony in the trial on Dec. 6 at the Sumter County Courthouse before 3rd Circuit Judge Howard P. King.

Authorities said it's thought that Huggins died of ketoacidosis, a state of absolute or relative insulin deficiency aggravated by ensuing hyperglycemia, dehydration, and acidosis-producing derangements in intermediary metabolism. The most common causes are underlying infection, disruption of insulin treatment and new onset of diabetes.

In his closing arguments Thursday, Bell called the case "disturbing."

"... This is a story that should have not had to be told," he said. "... In the end the nurse, the doctors and the health care system out there failed."

Eastern Health Care, he said, violated every policy the company had in place to care for inmates.

"If they would have followed them, Mr. Huggins would still be alive. ... He would be getting ready for his Christmas sermon," Bell said.

Witness testified that a naked Huggins was observed at least 70 times by jail employees during 3½ shift changes, but they never interacted with him.

Bell said Rachel Joe, a nurse with Eastern Health Care who was assigned to work on the day Huggins was brought to the jail, knew that the inmate was naked in "the tank."

"... She had to walk past the tank to get to her office," Bell said. "Not once did she check on him."

Bell said that when the nurse was told that Huggins had died she said, "'I don't know what you're talking about.'"

In his closing arguments, Hopkins agreed with Bell that the case was a "tragedy."

But he told jurors that it was the hospital and jail's responsibility to ensure Huggins was taken care of prior to placing him in a cell.

It's the jail's policy, he said, to screen an inmate and contact the nurse before locking someone up, which they failed to do.

The hospital, Hopkins said, gave negligent medical care combined with negligent administrative work.

"I would just like to thank my attorneys, Mr. Bell and his staff, for representing us, and also I'd like to thank the court system for hearing our cry and hearing our case," Fisher said after Thursday's verdict. "I wish that this would not happen to anyone else."

Contact Staff Writer Crystal Owens at cowens@theitem.com or 803-774-1270.