Woman who peed blood says jailers ignored pleas

When Karen Ramsey started peeing blood while incarcerated in the Hillsborough County Jail, she thought she would be given immediate medical attention.

Instead, she testified, she was put in an isolation cell for hours for disturbing other inmates.

"Those people did me wrong," said Ramsey, who is suing the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and its then-medical provider, Prison Health Services. "You wouldn't do a dog like that."

Testimony began Tuesday and is expected to be completed by week's end.

The sheriff's office and Prison Health Services officials deny they were negligent.

Ramsey, 50, was transferred to the Orient Road Jail from Orange County on Nov. 1, 2004, on a felony prostitution warrant. She testified she told the intake nurse that she had a history of cervical problems and vaginal bleeding. Ramsey said she had planned to seek private medical help but never did because of her arrest.

Records show that about three weeks later a PHS obstetrician found a large mass extending from Ramsey's cervix. He planned to send her to a clinic for a biopsy, but it never happened. Ramsey was returned to her cell.

Ramsey said that on Nov. 28, 2004, she noticed a steady stream of blood when she went to the bathroom. She said she begged a deputy for emergency medical treatment.

"I was afraid for my life," she said. "I was scared."

Ramsey said she was placed in the "blue room" for "a time out" and then was returned to her bunk after lights out in her jail pod.

She said she continued bleeding and finally was taken to the clinic early the next morning.

Ramsey was later taken to Tampa General Hospital where doctors found a 2-inch mass of dying tissue. She underwent a hysterectomy and needed blood transfusions.

Ramsey also contends her post-operative care plan wasn't followed by jail officials. She was transferred to state prison a few weeks later.

Ramsey is seeking unspecified damages in excess of $15,000 to cover medical and psychological treatment.