Pretrial Detainee Alleging Deliberate Indifference to His Medical Needs Must Show Defendant Was Actually Aware of Risk of Harm
In Caiozzo v. Koreman, 581 F.3d 63 (C.A.2 (N.Y.)), the plaintiffs decedent died while in custody as a pretrial detainee at Albany County Correctional Facility (ACCF). The cause of death was ascribed to seizure due to acute and chronic alcoholism. It was alleged that the defendants failed to provide him with alcohol withdrawal treatment that they knew or should have known he needed, resulting in his fatal seizure. The timing of a detainee's last drink is important in assessing the need for and timing of alcohol withdrawal treatment. The error of the defendant nurse who examined the plaintiffs decedent was in believing that his last drink was the evening on the date that she examined him, when in fact it was the evening before. A deliberate indifference claim can lie where prison officials engage in a policy of deliberately igno