Anoka County pays nearly $2.6M to settle with man severely injured after jail allegedly denied meds

Anoka County has paid nearly $2.6 million to settle a federal lawsuit brought by Deyonta Green, a former inmate who was found unconscious and seriously injured in his cell after jail staff allegedly denied him opioid withdrawal medication for days.

When Green, of Champlin, was booked in the Anoka County jail at the age of 25 in February 2022, he informed staff he had a prescription for Suboxone due to his opioid addiction, and had injected heroin earlier in the day, according to the lawsuit filed in April. But contracted medical staffers refused to give him his medication despite several requests, including calls and emails from his family and probation officer.

Green began suffering from withdrawal symptoms, including an inability to eat or sleep, tremors, diarrhea and vomiting. After days without treatment, the suit says Green collapsed, fell from his bunk and was found lying face down in his vomit-covered cell.

No medical personnel were at the jail at the time, according to the suit, despite the county’s contract requiring full-time medical staffing for inmates. Emergency responders took Green by ambulance to a hospital.

The weeklong withdrawal, combined with the fall, resulted in Green facing severe medical issues, including multiple brain bleeds, skull fractures and acute kidney failure.

At the time, Anoka County contracted with MEnD Correctional Care, a for-profit private health care provider that later filed for bankruptcy as more Minnesota companies dropped the company amid claims it failed to provide adequate staffing or appropriate care to inmates.

Green’s attorney Katie Bennett said civil rights lawsuits against MEnD at the time, including several involving inmate deaths, should have stopped Anoka County from working with the company.

Anoka County stopped contracting with the health care provider later in 2022.

“This case serves as a stark reminder of the need for reform in correctional healthcare systems,” Bennett said in a statement, adding, “This is not just a failure of one facility but a reflection of a much larger systemic issue within the correctional system. We must demand accountability and ensure that no one, regardless of their status, is subjected to this kind of inhumane neglect.”

Among the defendants listed in the lawsuit were Anoka County, correctional officers and medical staff at the jail.

The total settlement amount was $2.75 million. According to the county, Anoka County paid nearly $2.6 million, while MEnD covered the rest on behalf of a medical employee.

Anoka County spokesman Erik Thorson said in a statement: “The health and well-being of the inmates at the Anoka County jail is a top priority for the county, and we take seriously the care of all inmates.

“After a thorough review of all the circumstances leading up to Mr. Green’s injury, we found Anoka County employees did everything possible to provide Mr. Green with the emergency care he needed, and we are confident in the abilities of our detention deputies to respond appropriately to medical issues in the jail.”