The High Court of Trinidad has ordered the State to pay over $350,000 in compensation to an HIV-positive man, who was left partially handicapped after he did not receive proper treatment for an abscess on his foot while he was serving a sentence at the Port-of-Spain State Prison.
High Court Judge Kevin Ramcharan ordered the compensation on Wednesday, after he upheld the case brought by the man from Port-of-Spain, whose identity was withheld due to his medical condition.
The case centred around the medical treatment he received while serving a sentence for marijuana trafficking at the Frederick Street prison between October 2017 and November 2019.
He claimed that on or about April 7, 2018, he developed a pimple-sized abscess on his right foot. He claimed that despite making multiple requests to visit the prison’s infirmary to prison officers, who knew of his medical condition, he was only taken a little over three weeks later.
However, he claimed the prisoner officers assigned to the infirmary, who he identified by their surnames, refused to treat him based on the condition.
Almost a month later, the abscess ruptured. He claimed that an infirmary officer attempted to drain it before contacting the infirmary doctor. The doctor immediately referred him to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for urgent surgical intervention.
At the hospital, he learned that the abscess was caused by necrotising fasciitis, a bacterial infection, and surgery was performed.
“While the claimant’s life and limb were saved, he lost large amounts of flesh tissue, muscles, ligaments, and nerve endings,” his lawyers, Joseph Sookoo and Abigail Roach, claimed in his court filings.
He was warded in the hospital for a month before being discharged.
Upon his return to the prison, he was kept in the infirmary for nine months.
He claimed that while doctors had advised that his wounds be cleaned and dressed every other day due to his condition, the officers did so infrequently.
His lawyers claimed that he was left permanently disfigured even after the wound healed.
“All of the toes of his right foot are permanently curled and cannot be straightened. The claimant usually experiences severe pain and discomfort whenever he walks or wears shoes,” they said.
In deciding the case, Justice Ramcharan took issue with the records provided by the T&T Prison Service to defend the lawsuit. He also pointed out that one of the prison officers, who the man claimed discriminated against him, did not testify as he was on vacation leave.
“When this is taken together with other deficiencies in the evidence, such as those outlined above with respect to the interpretation of the medical records, and others such as the failure to present outpatient records for the period immediately after his discharge from hospital, the Court is compelled to make adverse inferences against the Defendant,” Justice Ramcharan said.
While Justice Ramcharan ruled that his constitutional rights to security of the person and equality of treatment from a public authority were infringed, he noted the action/inaction of the prison officers did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment, as he stated that there was no imposition of any punishment.
He also ruled that he could not declare that the action breached prison rules, as such a relief was not sought in the case.
In assessing the appropriate compensation for the man, Justice Ramcharan dismissed his claim for loss of earnings but still ordered $200,000 for the pain and suffering he endured. He also ordered $150,000 in vindicatory damages.
