Jury sides with sheriff's office over inmate's medical claim

A jury said the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office wasn't negligent of the treatment of an inmate who had an emergency hysterectomy in 2004 after doctors found a cancerous cervical tumor.

Karen Ramsey contended she should have been given immediate medical attention when she started urinating blood Nov. 28, 2004.

Sheriff officials contended they weren't a medical provider and relied on Prison Health Services, whom they contracted with to provide health care at the jails.

Ramsey also sued Prison Health Services. The company settled her claim for $25,000 before trial.

The verdict came late Thursday after about three hours of deliberations.

""Sheriff Gee is very proud of the actions taken by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office detention deputies in this case and is pleased that the jury agreed," said Deputy Larry McKinnon, am agency spokesman.

Mike Trentalange, Ramsey's attorney, said he and his client were disappointed with the jury's decision. He said they are considering an appeal.

"We are weighing our options," he said.

Instead of immediately sending her to the infirmary, Ramsey testified, she was put in an isolation cell for hours for disturbing other inmates.

"They should have made sure she got examined and treated," Trentalange said in his closing argument. "She thought she was going to bleed to death in that jail."

Ramsey was taken by ambulance to Tampa General Hospital on Dec. 1 after clinic officials called 911. She had blood transfusions and surgery two days later.

Deposition from the surgeons read during the trial said their treatment wouldn't have changed if Ramsey had been brought in any earlier. They said they found a tumor slightly larger than a golf ball.

Thea Clark, the sheriff's attorney, argued that the agency wasn't responsible for the medical decisions of Prison Health Services.

Trentalange argued deputies aggravated and extended Ramsey's suffering by disciplining her Nov. 28 rather than sending her to the infirmary.

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 sought unspecified damages in excess of $15,000 to cover past and current medical and psychological treatment.