Diabetic inmate’s ‘preventable’ death at Philadelphia jail prompts federal lawsuit
CBS National News Desk, 10/23/24: “The children of a diabetic inmate said their father suffered “a senseless and preventable death” in a Philadelphia jail nearly a year ago after the facility repeatedly failed to give him insulin or medical care, according to a newly filed lawsuit.
Louis Jung Jr., 50, was in pretrial detention at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility when he died due to ketoacidosis, a serious complication of diabetes,on Nov. 6, 2023.
“My father had diabetes and simply needed insulin,” James Jung, who is one of Jung’s three sons, said in an online statement shared by the Abolitionist Law Center. “I cannot wrap my head around how inhumanely they treated him. How they allowed him to lie there and suffer and die.”
Now, the family is suing the City of Philadelphia, as well as YesCare, a prison health care corporation. Medical officials at the facility and unnamed corrections officers are also listed as defendants in the lawsuit.
The suit, which was filedon behalf of James Jung and his brother, Jacob, alleged that the Philadelphia Department of Prisons (PDP) did not sufficiently administer insulin to Jung, who had Type 1 diabetes.”