Sex Offender Inmate Sues Over Amputated Penis

**countybear** · 01-19-08, 03:58 PM

With the seemingly constant negative news we read, I decided to add a positive article from this week's news...

Former inmate sues jail over medical care

BAYOU BLUE, La. -- Inadequate medical care at the Terrebonne Parish jail led to a delayed diagnosis of cancer and the amputation of a former inmate's penis, the inmate claims in a lawsuit filed against parish government.

Christopher Medice, 40, said he first noticed symptoms while serving a six-month term for failing to register as a sex offender. He said he reported the pain, discharge and bleeding to correctional officers and medical staff. After he was released, he said, doctors at the LSU system hospital in Houma diagnosed penile cancer and told him that amputation was necessary.

He sued Terrebonne Parish Consolidated government in state district court, claiming damages for physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, permanent scarring and disfigurement. Under state law, the suit cannot give a specific figure for damages claimed. Medice said he hopes he can have reconstructive surgery if he wins the suit.

Attorney Danna Schwab, who represents the government, was not immediately available Wednesday for comment. Medice's attorney, Vincent DeSalvo of Houma, refused to comment last week.

Medice, who served four years after pleading guilty in 2000 to carnal knowledge of a 16-year-old girl (he said she told him she was 17) said he was not eager to sue, but it was his only recourse.

I just spoke with a deputy who wound up transporting this "man" back to jail last week. During the transport, the inmate became verbally profane and abusive, while the deputy maintained his composure very well. The deputy said that he was able to grin throughout the entire transport simply by thinking everytime the guy cursed him, "So what... you still don't have a dick."