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Diabetic Man Denied Insulin by NYPD Wins $17.5 Lawsuit
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 20, 2010
Modified Oct 20, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 20, 2010
Modified Oct 20, 2010
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43-year-old Jose Vargas just won a $17.5 million lawsuit against the city, but he probably doesn't know it because he's brain damaged and wheelchair-bound and living in a nursing home. How did he get this way? He's a Type I diabetic and police denied him his insulin while he was in a holding cell for nearly 60 hours after his arrest in 2006. Vargas suffered multiple seizures, lapsed into a month-long coma, and when he came to his brain was "fried," according to a doctor who testified at his trial. Sadly, Vargas had insulin on his person when he was arrested, but cops ignored his pleas and threw it away. Chalk up another win in the War on Drugs!
Vargas was arrested in Sunset Park for facilitating a drug sale, and the officer who escorted him to Central Booking filled out a medical treatment form indicating the prisoner had diabetes but could control it with diet. "Why would aType 1 diabetic say he could control his diabetes with diet when his body can’t produce insulin?" Vargas's lawyer, Seth Harris, asks the Post. "[Vargas] now has just enough consciousness to know the state of his life." Asked during the trial what he looked forward to, Vargas replied, "Nothing. I just sit there all day in the chair."
The city has vowed to appeal the decision. But it could bode well for another diabetic who was denied insulin after his arrest last year, for putting his feet up in the subway car. In fact, denying insulin to prisoners is not at all unheard of; during our interview with artist Shepard Fairey, he told us he lives in constant fear of arrest because the NYPD has refused to let him have insulin.
Tagged
diabetes
insulin
lawsuits
nypd
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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