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Maurice Small complaint alleges CorrectHealth Chatham failed to treat elevated blood pressure before detention death

The complaint alleges that CorrectHealth Chatham, LLC and individual correctional-health providers failed to provide adequate medical and mental-health care to Maurice Small at the Chatham County Detention Center between April 20 and April 29, 2023. According to the complaint, providers documented repeated elevated blood-pressure readings, placed Small on suicide watch after an emergent mental-health referral, failed to adequately assess or treat his medical and mental-health condition, failed to evaluate reported stomach pain, and failed to respond when video allegedly showed him collapsing in his cell before he was found unresponsive the next morning.

System
CorrectHealth Chatham, LLC
Facility
Chatham County Detention Center
Providers involved
CorrectHealth Chatham, LLC / Mary E. Hoskins, RN / Jennifer E. Sigman, RN / Carolyn Rivers, LPC / Doreen Godbee, MA / Simone C. Branton, LMSW / Danielle C. Edwards, LPC / Jane Doe RN/MHP/MA 1-5
Pattern
Alleged failure to treat elevated blood pressure, assess mental health crisis, and respond to acute deterioration in detention
Harm
Alleged death from hypertensive cardiovascular disease during detention

Overview

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that CorrectHealth Chatham and individual correctional-health providers failed to assess and treat Maurice Small’s elevated blood pressure, mental-health crisis, and acute medical deterioration while he was detained at the Chatham County Detention Center.

Chronology

  1. According to the complaint, Maurice Small was booked into the Chatham County Detention Center on April 20, 2023, and an intake documented elevated blood pressure.
  2. The complaint alleges that on April 21, 2023, staff documented elevated blood pressure, prior psychiatric hospitalization, antipsychotic medication use, and an emergent mental-health referral related to suicide-watch status.
  3. The complaint alleges that on April 22, 2023, a medical assistant recorded blood pressure of 168/108 and a mental-health provider assessed Small as agitated and cognitively impaired.
  4. The complaint alleges that vital signs were not recorded on multiple later days and that records attributing the absence to refusal lacked signed refusal forms.
  5. According to the complaint, on April 28, 2023, Small reported stomach pain and later appeared on video collapsing and writhing in his cell, but no medical or jail staff entered the cell to respond.
  6. The complaint alleges that Small was found unresponsive on April 29, 2023, transported to Memorial Hospital, and pronounced dead, with an autopsy report cited by the complaint indicating hypertensive cardiovascular disease.

Alleged failures

  • The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to properly assess Small’s mental-health symptoms during detention.
  • The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to refer Small for neurological evaluation related to his mental-health crisis.
  • The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to treat repeatedly documented elevated blood pressure.
  • The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to evaluate Small’s April 28 stomach-pain complaint.
  • The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to respond promptly when Small allegedly collapsed in his cell and showed signs of acute distress.

Entities and tags

Maurice SmallCorrectHealth Chatham, LLCChatham County Detention CenterHypertensive cardiovascular diseaseElevated blood pressureSuicide watchMental health evaluationMemorial HospitalFailure to treat hypertensionFailure to assess mental healthFailure to respond to acute deteriorationCorrectional healthcare monitoringCorrectional healthcareNursingMental healthDetention medical care

Questions this example answers

What does the CorrectHealth Chatham hypertension death complaint allege?

The complaint alleges that CorrectHealth Chatham, LLC and individual correctional-health providers failed to provide adequate medical and mental-health care to Maurice Small at the Chatham County Detention Center between April 20 and April 29, 2023. According to the complaint, providers documented repeated elevated blood-pressure readings, placed Small on suicide watch after an emergent mental-health referral, failed to adequately assess or treat his medical and mental-health condition, failed to evaluate reported stomach pain, and failed to respond when video allegedly showed him collapsing in his cell before he was found unresponsive the next morning.

Who is identified in this public case example?

This public case example identifies CorrectHealth Chatham, LLC, Mary E. Hoskins, RN, Jennifer E. Sigman, RN, Carolyn Rivers, LPC, Doreen Godbee, MA, Simone C. Branton, LMSW, Danielle C. Edwards, LPC, and Jane Doe RN/MHP/MA 1-5. It also tags the source-supported entities Maurice Small, CorrectHealth Chatham, LLC, Chatham County Detention Center, Hypertensive cardiovascular disease, and Elevated blood pressure.

What alleged failures are summarized here?

The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to properly assess Small’s mental-health symptoms during detention. The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to refer Small for neurological evaluation related to his mental-health crisis. The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to treat repeatedly documented elevated blood pressure.