A Los Angeles Jail Let a Woman Die of Withdrawal, Then a Coroner Allowed Her Body To Decompose
“I couldn’t believe it was my baby,” Amanda Bews' mother said. "She looked like she was mummified."
Amanda Bews was arrested last September after shoplifting from a Los Angeles-area liquor store. Within two days, she would be found unresponsive in a jail cell, dead from apparent alcohol and drug withdrawal.
According to a lawsuit filed this month, that wasn't the only way jail employees mishandled Bews' case. Not only did jail employees fail to treat Bews, despite numerous medical records stating she would need withdrawal medications, but once she had died, the jail mishandled her remains, leading to major decomposition that Bews' mother said made her daughter look "mummified"
After her arrest on September 7, Bews was first taken to a local hospital before booking, due to her admission of extremely heavy alcohol use and recent heroin use. According to the lawsuit, Bews told staff about her substance history and her drinking "just prior" to her arrest. Her arrest records state that she was a "prolonged heavy drinking."
When medical staff released her, they gave law enforcement medical documents that "would have included Amanda's history of alcohol dependence and heavy recent use," according to the lawsuit.
"In her ED Summary Report, the 'disposition' is listed as 'TO ACUTE CARE FACILITY,' indicating that Amanda should have received acute care (meaning consistent monitoring and inpatient treatment) at the jail she would be booked into," the complaint reads.
However, Bews didn't get this necessary treatment. Instead, she was placed into a shared cell during the afternoon of September 8th. Just after midnight on the 9th, the complaint says that staff cleared Bews "for detox and required no medications," and they "stopped treating Amanda for detoxification and withdrawal."
At 4:30 a.m., Bews was found unresponsive. Staff gave her a dose of Narcan, but she was pronounced dead at 5:29 a.m. According to an autopsy, the levels of drugs and alcohol in Bews' system were indicative of withdrawal and there was vomit in her airways.
"On information and belief, deputies also did not check on Amanda during this time, as her condition would have obviously deteriorated. Or, if deputies had, they failed to summon medical care during this time despite her deterioration."
After Bews' death, the lawsuit states that both the county medical examiner and Chapel of the Light, a private funeral home hired by the county, mishandled Bews' remains, leading to considerable decomposition of her body.
The coroners "failed to use the standard of care a reasonably careful person working at a medical examiner's office would use to handle human remains prior to transfer to their loved ones' family members. A reasonably careful employee of a medical examiner's office would at minimum properly refrigerate the remains," according to the complaint.
"Upon completion of the autopsy and transfer of the remains to Chapel of the Light, Amanda's remains had deteriorated significantly," the suit reads. "The County transferred custody of the remains to Chapel of the Light, but Chapel of the Light allowed Amanda's remains to further deteriorate."
According to The Los Angeles Times, photos of Bews show "A side-shot of a face so bloated with death it's gone flat. A close-up of skin, one patch bloodied and another so decayed it's turned gelatinous. Part of the nose is missing, and the features are bloated beyond recognition."
"I couldn't believe it was my baby," Melinda Bettencourt, Bews' mother, told the Times.
In all, the suit claims that the defendant's actions violated Bews' Fourteenth Amendment due process rights, as well as a failure to provide needed medical care and negligence.
"While Amanda was in their custody and care, Defendants had adequate time to reflect and reason prior to acting or failing to act. Because Amanda's health deteriorated over the span of more than a day, actual deliberation was practical," the suit claims. "Yet, Defendants' actions and omissions constituted objective deliberate indifference to Amanda's medical needs and unsafe conditions of confinement."
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Never heard of death from withdrawal.
Alcohol withdrawal is unique in that it can kill you. Most other drugs, to the best of my knowledge do not have deadly effects from withdrawal, just very miserable ones.
Not unique. Sudden discontinuation for heavy benzodiazipene users can be fatal as well. But it is fairly uncommon.
As I said, “to the best of my knowledge”. I know that a lot of other addictions– like heroin etc., don’t have deadly withdrawal consequences.
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Look up Tristan Nash, son of former wrestler Kevin Nash. It is a thing.
Did you hit your head and develop a case of two week amnesia? Medically speaking, “from withdrawal” means anything up to and including “Killed in a motorcycle accident.”
Edit: Ah, should’ve scrolled down.
Reading further: “there was vomit in her airways”.
After Bews’ death, the lawsuit states that both the county medical examiner and Chapel of the Light, a private funeral home hired by the county, mishandled Bews’ remains, leading to considerable decomposition of her body.
So, privatizing the funeral home part DIDN’T result in a better outcome…
Everything government touches turns to bovine excrement.
So, the non-government funeral home suffers from the same bovine excrement as you. Interesting.
The funeral home is apparently over 200 miles away from LA, meaning they “privatized” it in the stupidest way possible. Probably cronyism/nepotism at work.
Or the cost of operating in LA is so high that 200 miles away is as close as you get to be profitable and affordable.
Or palms were greased to get the funeral home the business. I’m betting on that.
Agreed. Something tells me the problem isn’t that line to take the bodies of dead addicts off the L.A.P.D.’s hands isn’t 200 mi. long.
Knowing CA, probably the size of the cell she died in was too small.
I feel like the average Los Angeleno isn’t driving 200 miles for a funeral, there are surely funeral homes operating within the city.
Died with covid
Let’s legalize all the drugs, build a nation of degenerate addicts (which have a funny way of turning into a nation of criminals), and then hypocritically complain about the consequences of substance addiction. Freedom to get high and then let’s not think about anything past that!
“The County transferred custody of the remains to Chapel of the Light, but Chapel of the Light allowed Amanda’s remains to further deteriorate.”
Wait wait wait – someone help me out here. I’m not familiar with body transfers to funeral homes. But why would a random dead addict who died in a Los Angeles jail then be transported 200+ miles to Fresno?
You have a funny way of handling basic facts and basic logic. Let me guess, you were a high school long jump champion.
Are you claiming The Netherlands is a nation of criminals? Funnily enough, crime statistics don’t support your claim.
I’m claiming that we’ve seen how America handles rampant drug abuse. Cities of zombies, destroyed/abandoned property, fleeing businesses, ramshackle encampments lining the streets, decay, destitution, squalor, disease, death – and yes, crime.
Unless, of course, we’re entertaining communist dictators. In which case we quickly sweep it all under the rug and pretend it’s not there.
OR talking about the causes of banking panics, crashes, liquidity pinches, economic collapse, and pressuring foreign governments into coercing THEIR banks and citizens at gunpoint because Herbert Hoover, Tricky Dickie, Ron Reagan, Bush Bushy or Bo Biden is building a new race. As soon as Germany imported shoot-first prohibitionism in July 1931, the economy crashed and God’s Own Hitler suddenly appeared in all the world’s newspapers.
I saw a bumper sticker today that said, “I miss Nixon.”
I won’t say I didn’t laugh.
Nixon was an amateur compared to the skunks in office now.
Like when communist girl-bulllier Ceausescu was wined and dined by Tricky Dickie and Gerald Ford? (http://bit.ly/3kxniQM)
I’m curious. What year do you think it is right now?
But why would a random dead addict who died in a Los Angeles jail then be transported 200+ miles to Fresno?
My guess is someone’s nephew owns the place.
Couldn’t get permits to operate in LA.
Maybe it happened late at night nobody in LA was working the graveyard shift.
Yeah. Because criminalizing drugs has worked so well. Folks will use them or not, and those who use will suffer the consequences. At least if they were legal, that’d remove the black market and its related violence.
After all, my body, my choice.
I don’t think the black market has been removed in California for the MJ trade has it? Heard it was stronger than ever.
And don’t say get the government out of the way. That would be great in fantasy land but will never ever happen.
You can’t get the government out of the way. Even if you eliminated all taxation and regulation, liability still remains. That is, when people kill/hurt themselves with legally manufactured and distributed drugs, the manufacturers and distributors are often responsible.That alone will strongly encourage a black market, since legitimate manufacturers need to charge a higher price to account for that liability.
Beyond the obvious, I don’t have a problem with black markets and their violence. Just like I don’t have a problem with back alleys and butchered abortion-seekers. If I ever have the opportunity to talk you out of it, I absolutely will – because of my problem with them – but if I don’t, or you ignore me and go looking for trouble in a dark place against good advice, and said trouble finds you – that’s on you.
Nobody puts that particular gun to your head and frogmarches you down to skid row. And if they do, why would you ever want anything other than their prosecution and imprisonment for it?
Because criminalizing drugs has worked so well.
Places that have decriminalized drugs haven’t done any better.
Folks will use them or not, and those who use will suffer the consequences.
In social welfare states, it is those who don’t use who suffer the consequences of other people’s drug use.
At least if they were legal, that’d remove the black market and its related violence.
There is zero evidence for that; it certainly hasn’t worked out that way.
In fact, it is implausible. Legalized recreational drugs would still be subject to taxation, regulation, and liability, adding greatly to their cost and strongly encouraging a black market. Even if government dropped all taxation and regulation of recreational drugs, liability alone would strongly encourage a black market, with taxpayers effectively picking up the liabilities of manufacturers.
How christian.
What do you mean?
I guess someone in California finally faced a consequence for shoplifting.
Stiff penalty.
With grave consequences for everyone invovled.
This will require an undertaking.
Deadly serious.
Could’ve been worse, she could’ve been sentenced to death by a 9-3 split jury.
How christian! Too bad ole Jesus wasn’t around to do a Lazarus trick on the beneficiary of mystical prohibitionist altruism. The thing about the prohibition laws that create these situations is that the perps are convinced that “it ain’t initiation of force when WE do it.”
Kissinger reportedly won’t be down for breakfast tomorrow.
Him and Charlie Munger are eating waffles somewhere.
Was munger the first to be able to “take it with him”?
And another “according to the plaintiff” transcription special from Emma Camp.
When I say “I do not care what you do, but do not demand others pay for your decisions”, this kind of thing is ALSO covered.
Want to drink yourself to death? Do not demand special medical treatments that will have to be paid for by others.
You, in the end, are responsible. It is not the job of others to protect you from yourself.
While I agree in principle, when the state puts people in jail by force, the state is not just failing to provide care, it is actively preventing the individual from seeking out/providing their own care. Additionally, she had not been convicted of anything yet. I don’t think it makes a difference in this case.
In general, though, it is difficult to evaluate statist institutions like jails and the criminal justice system from a libertarian point of view. In a truly libertarian society, her criminal behavior would have been dealt with differently.
There is no indication that she “died from withdrawal”. She apparently died from aspirating vomit:
According to an autopsy, the levels of drugs and alcohol in Bews’ system were indicative of withdrawal and there was vomit in her airways.
This article is as dishonest as people who misrepresented “deaths with COVID” as “deaths from COVID”.
Of course, the actual cause of her death is alcohol and drug abuse.
I think it’s more like someone who had a heart attack while driving and crashed their car. The crash may have killed them, but they wouldn’t have crashed but for the heart attack, just as she would not have been vomiting but for the withdrawal.
Which she wouldn’t have but for the drugs/alcohol.
Dying directly from withdrawal vs dying from aspirating vomit are two very different situations. In the former case, she would have experienced serious symptoms and police should have provided medical care; the latter cause of death is just an accident, even if related to drug use.