A judge has found the Cayuga County Jail responsible for a man’s injuries that he incurred while incarcerated.
On Wednesday, Acting Supreme Court Justice Mark Fandrich ordered the county to pay Richard T. Andrews approximately $300,000 in damages.
According to the lawsuit filed with the county, Andrews was arrested and admitted to the Cayuga County Jail on May 2, 2009; he ultimately spent four days in custody before being officially released May 7.
During that time, Andrews had been prescribed Xanax, a benzodiazepine, which he had been taking three times a day since the late 1990s. However, upon his arrest, Andrews claimed that the jail chose to replace his prescription with two other medications.
As a result of the “abrupt discontinuation” of benzodiazepines, Andrews allegedly suffered severe withdrawal symptoms, including multiple seizures, on May 6. He then needed several surgeries after sustaining bilateral shoulder fractures and dislocation from his seizures.
The Citizen:
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