A former inmate at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln recently lost a lawsuit against the state after, he says, prison officials defied the recommendation in every erectile dysfunction ad ever aired: Get medical help if an erection lasts more than four hours.
In this case, inmate Richard Walters wasn’t suffering because he took such medication. He was suffering from a natural affliction known as priapism, defined as a spontaneous and relentless erection.
And his suffering didn’t last just four hours — it lasted at least 24.
Though no one disputed those facts, the Nebraska Court of Appeals this month rejected Walters’ lawsuit, upholding a district court judge’s decision to throw it out.
Part of the reason the appellate court ruled that the inmate couldn’t collect: He didn’t expressly indicate what his problem was. In other words, he didn’t divulge that he had a painful bulge.
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And though the case was filled with euphemisms for the area affected by priapism — read: generous use of the terms “down there” and “that region” — the case was no laughing matter.
The lawsuit against the state had joined a long list of lawsuits alleging that those inside jails are not being provided with adequate health care. In Omaha, 13 inmates have sued Douglas County after they say they were denied care by the county’s then-contractor, Nashville-based Correct Care Solutions. Many of those cases still are pending.
One of those inmates suffered from chlamydia that he had contracted just before entering jail. Despite his discomfort, Correct Care didn’t diagnose the sexually transmitted disease for six months, according to the lawsuit.
The current case involved another painful groin condition.
According to the court file:
On July 8, 2015, Walters was an inmate in Lincoln, serving time for first-degree sexual assault.
About 10:30 a.m., he approached a correctional officer. “I seen them,” he later told attorneys. “I never had it before — and so I say I got groin issues, something, it ain’t going away. It’s hurting.”
Walters said he motioned toward his pitched-tent prison khakis.
“Walters acknowledged he pointed in the direction of his groin but never specifically indicated that the medical issue he was experiencing had to do with an erection or his penis,” Judge Lawrence Welch Jr. wrote on behalf of a three-judge panel that reviewed the case.
Walters said the staff member told him he would contact medical personnel, but none responded.
Eight hours later, about 7 p.m., Walters notified a different staff member about his condition.
“When you’re telling this person about your problem, did you use the word ‘erection’?” asked Walters’ attorney, Matt Aerni of Lincoln.
Walters: “No.”
Aerni: “Did you use any slang?”
Walters: “No.”
Aerni: “OK. I presume you did not use the word priapism?”
Walters: “No. I didn’t know what that was ... (until) way later.”
Instead, Walters said he told the correctional officers: “I mean, I got a problem down here (indicating), it’s been like that since about 8 o’clock this morning and it won’t go away. And, man, can you please call medical.”
Asked how forceful he was, Walters said: “I was trying to be (discreet) about it ... He says, ‘Oh, I’ll say something, I’ll call medical, see what I can do.’”
Again, no one responded.
About 10 p.m., he notified a third worker that he was experiencing groin pain and again pointed in that direction.
“Walters explained he did not want to further elaborate on the specific nature of the condition because of his embarrassment and desire to remain discreet because the presence of other inmates,” the court wrote.
Walters said he could not sleep because of the pain.
At 4 a.m. July 9, Walters saw the third correctional officer again and asked what happened with his last report. The officer said “he called medical staff but they had not yet responded because Walters’ condition was not a serious issue.”
“Walters stated he disagreed in that his condition had been ongoing since 8 a.m. the previous day with no relief,” the court wrote. The officer told Walters he would have to wait until a nurse performed rounds.
At 6:30 a.m., the inmates assembled for breakfast. Walters said a case worker “asked him why he was walking funny.” Walters said he knew the case worker better than the previous staff members with whom he had dealt interacted. So he confided in him. A nurse finally attended to him and arranged for Walters to be transported to see a doctor.
The doctor determined he was suffering from priapism, which, if left untreated for more than 4 to 6 hours, can cause permanent erectile dysfunction. The doctor arranged for Walters to be taken to a hospital.
Doctors performed surgery. And Walters endured a painful recovery. A trial judge later determined that Walters would “likely experience permanent damages as a result of his priapism.”
An attorney for the state questioned why Walters did not go through a written grievance process available to inmates. Walters said he had done so before and believed that it would take too long to get help.
A Lincoln doctor testified that prison officials should have asked Walters more about his condition.
“When someone says something is wrong down there, that’s a whole big bucket for me to start (asking questions),” Dr. Robert Rhodes said.
The judge reviewing the case noted that a nurse had scribbled in Walters’ prison medical chart that he was suffering “groin pain,” but that groin pain did not constitute a medical emergency under prison guidelines.
Lancaster County District Judge Robert Otte said the record was clear that Walters “was not communicating effectively … enough to convey his critical needs.”
“In summary, Walters had a serious medical condition,” Otte wrote. “He failed to convey that condition to (DCS) staff despite having numerous opportunities to do so. He has not met his burden of proof accordingly and his complaint should be dismissed.”
The Court of Appeals ultimately agreed, saying “Walters’ failures to openly and willingly discuss his specific medical condition and his obtuse references and gestures to ‘groin pain’ and ‘down there’ did little to convey the extent of his condition, much less its urgency.”
In turn, the appellate court said, it could grant Walters no relief.
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