Brickbat: Compassionate Care
The Hillsborough County, Florida, sheriff's office and a private company that provides health care for county prisoners have agreed to pay $1 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit by the family of Allen Daniel Hicks Sr. A sheriff's deputy and a Florida State Trooper found Hicks in his vehicle stopped by the side of the road speaking incoherently and unable to move his left arm. The deputy arrested Hicks on charges of obstruction after he did not respond to orders to leave his vehicle. Hicks was booked into a county jail cell and not taken to a hospital until 36 hours later. There, he was diagnosed as having suffered a stoke. He fell into a coma and later died.
