© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Apple's latest iOS (17.4) is preventing our livestreams from playing. We suggest you download the free Boise State Public Radio app & stream us there while we work to troubleshoot the issue.

Idaho Inmate's Prison Heart Attack Lawsuit Moves Forward

barbed wire, prison
Havankevin
/
Flickr Creative Commons

A federal judge says an Idaho inmate can move forward with his lawsuit against the state even though he's already won a six-figure settlement from the state's prison health care provider.

William Bown, an inmate at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution south of Boise, filed the lawsuit in 2012 after he had a heart attack. Bown contended that the prison guards and the medical care providers failed to realize the seriousness of his condition and sent him to an observation cell instead of calling for emergency care.

Bown says that as a result of the delay in care, he sustained severe and irreversible heart muscle damage.

According to court documents, the medical care provider Corizon agreed to pay Bown more than $670,000 to settle its portion of the case. The Idaho Department of Correction has denied any liability in the case, but late last month judge B. Lynn Winmill said Bown could continue to pursue the lawsuit against the state.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.