South Carolina Lawsuit Alleges Wrongful Death Medical Malpractice Against Detention Center And Its Medical Provider

On January 2, 2025, a lawsuit was filed in a South Carolina state court alleging that a county detention center and its contracted medical provider, Advanced Correctional Healthcare, Inc. (“ACH”), were negligent in taking care of the medical needs of a 72-year-old inmate, which led to his death. The lawsuit states, in part:

8. Mr. [Frank] Livingston was detained at Defendant Detention Center due to an arrest that occurred on January 3, 2023.
9. Upon arriving at Defendant Detention Center, he was seen by Defendant ACH for an initial medical assessment.
10. Mr. Livingston initially refused the treatment offered by Defendant ACH.
11. Defendant ACH did not make any further interventions or attempt to provide further treatment to Mr. Livingston at this time.
12. From January 3rd to January 15th, 2023, Mr. Livingston was seen daily for check-ups and treatment. During these visits, it was noted that Mr. Livingston had no medical complaints or unusual behavior.
13. On January 12, 2023, Defendant Detention Center received prior medical records of Mr. Livingston that indicated he was prescribed medications including but not limited to Eliquis for blood clots, Cephalexin to treat a urinary tract infection, and Metronidazole to treat an unspecified infection.

14. Defendant Detention Center’s medical records indicate that Mr. Livingston was administered Eliquis on January 13 two times.
15. According to Defendant Detention Center’s medical records, Mr. Livingston was not given any further medication besides the administration of Eliquis.
16. According to Defendant Detention Center’s medical records, Mr. Livingston was not seen by any of the medical staff at the detention center from January 15 to January 19.
17. On January 18, 2023, Mr. Livingston was found acting erratically on the floor. Defendant Detention Center and Defendant ACH both failed to take any action or provide medical assistance to Mr. Livingston after finding him acting erratically on the floor.
18. On January 19, 2023, Mr. Livington was found unconscious in his cell and was then transported to Prisma Richland Memorial Hospital.
19. While at Prisma Richland Memorial Hospital, it was determined that Mr. Livingston was hypothermic and septic.
20. Mr. Livingston remained hospitalized at Prisma Richland until his death on January 22, 2023.
21. The Richland County Coroner determined Mr. Livingston’s cause of death was septic shock due to acute Pneumonia.

. . . .

27. As described above, the Defendant Detention Center was negligent, grossly negligent, careless, willful, wanton and reckless and deviated from the accepted medical standards of care, constituting a breach of their duty owed to Plaintiff in the following particulars:
    a. Did not properly evaluate, assess, and/or respond to Mr. Livingston’s conditions while incarcerated from January 3, 2023, to January 19, 2023.
    b. Did not properly evaluate, assess and/or respond to Mr. Livingston’s prior medical conditions once presented with his prior medical records on January 12, 2023.
    c. By other actions and inactions as discovery and/or trial may reveal.
28. The above-described negligence, gross negligence, carelessness, willfulness, wantonness, recklessness, and deviations from the accepted medical standards, by Defendant Detention Center and their employees, agents, and servants combined and concurred as proximate causes of the injuries sustained by and death of Mr. Livingston.
29. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant Detention Center’s negligent, grossly negligent, careless, reckless, willful, and wanton conduct, as set forth above, Plaintiff suffered in the following particulars:
    a. physical injury; b. pain and suffering; c. impairment of health; d. mental and emotional anguish; e. loss of life; and f. other damages that may be proven at the trial of this case.

. . . .

32. The injuries to Mr. Livingston were the direct and proximate result and were caused and occasioned by the negligence, carelessness, willfulness, and wantonness on the part of Defendants, in failing to possess and exercise that degree of medical training, competency, and skill ordinarily and customarily possessed and exercised by physicians and skilled nursing facility owners, managers, and staff under similar circumstances and thereby rendered inappropriate medical care to Mr. Livingston by deviating from and falling below the prevailing and acceptable standards of care in one or more of the following particulars:
    a. In failing to properly assist Mr. Livingston with activities of daily living;
    b. In failing to provide timely and comprehensive monitoring of Mr. Livingston’s condition and any changes thereto;
    c. In failing to timely evaluate and assess Mr. Livingston’s risk factors with which he presented in order to design an appropriate plan of care; d. In failing to implement and follow an appropriate plan of care and act on changes in Mr. Livingston’s condition; and e. In failing to implement appropriate intervention to promote the prevention of falls and injuries from falls.

. . . .

36. This action is brought for the wrongful death of Mr. Livingston pursuant to the provision of South Carolina Code Ann. § 15-51-10 and is brought for the beneficiaries of Mr. Livingston who died January 22, 2023.
37. The Defendants’ negligence, gross negligence, recklessness, willful and wanton conduct was the direct and proximate cause of Mr. Livingston’s injuries.
38. The injuries sustained by Mr. Livingston were the cause of his death on January 22, 2023.
39. Due to Mr. Livingston’s untimely death, his beneficiaries have been deprived of all the benefits of his society and companionship and have been caused great mental shock and suffering by reason of his death. They have and will forever be caused grief and sorrow by the loss of Mr. Livingston’s love, society, and companionship. They have been deprived of his future experiences and judgments and have incurred expenses for his funeral and final expenses.
40. As a result of Mr. Livingston’s death, they have suffered damages in the following particulars:
    a. mental shock and suffering;
    b. wounded feelings;
    c. grief and sorrow;
    d. loss of support;
    e. loss of companionship; and
    f. deprivation of the use and comfort of Mr. Livingston’s society and loss of his experience, knowledge, and judgment.

Source

If you or a loved one suffered serious harm as a result of detention center medical negligence in South Carolina or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a South Carolina medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your detention center medical negligence claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a detention center medical malpractice case, if appropriate.

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