Schuylkill County Prison
HARRISBURG, Pa. – Schuylkill County has defeated a lawsuit blaming it for the death of a man who had ingested three bags of fentanyl before his arrest and incarceration.
Plaintiff lawyers have appealed Harrisburg federal judge Keli Neary’s Sept. 30 ruling, which said the government is not responsible for all potential ailments a detainee might have. Vincent Davalos had admitted to drug use before being booked at Schuylkill County Prison.
But he eventually died when one of three bags of fentanyl he had ingested ruptured. He never told staff that he had swallowed the drugs, nor did they ask if he had. His mother, Catherine Ann Cyr, sued the county, PrimeCare Medical and other individuals in 2022.
“(T)he alleged deficient policies of the County are not responsible for Davalos’ death,” Neary wrote.
“To the extent there were customs or practices of failing to abide by official policies, Cyr has failed to provide evidence of a pattern of violations necessary to make a claim against the County itself. Without repetitive violations, Cyr cannot demonstrate this was anything other than ‘an otherwise sound program [that] has occasionally been negligently administered.”
Davalos died on June 9, 2020, at only 25 years old. Earlier that day, he had fled the scene of a domestic disturbance in a U-Haul truck and crashed it.
Emergency medical staff asked him why he was sweating while in the back of a police car, and he said he had taken a few lines of meth. He asked to be taken to a hospital, then said he “wants to work out a deal.”
PrimeCare, which administers health care services at SCP, had a nurse evaluate Davalos to see if he needed hospitalization. Davalos said he had taken heroin earlier that day and that he needed his asthma inhaler.
The nurse ordered medication to treat anticipated withdrawal symptoms, but Davalos was not taken to a hospital. In his cell, Davalos was monitored during the day by guards.
An ammonia inhalant stopped seizure-like activity, and his vital signs were normal. But at 7:42 p.m., he was found lying in his cell. Forty minutes later, he was pronounced dead, and an autopsy showed a bag of fentanyl in his stomach had ruptured.
The lawsuit alleged deliberate indifference on the parts of the county, staff and PrimeCare. The latter disregarded its policy for sending all inmates who had been in a vehicle accident to a hospital, it was alleged.
“Nowhere in the record is there anything establishing Davalos had any physical ailments related to the motor accident,” Neary wrote.
“So, while (Nurse Alyssa Hysock) may have failed to follow PrimeCare policy, that failure would be negligence at worst, not deliberate indifference.
“Davalos presented with trouble breathing, potentially due to his asthma, trouble walking, and appeared intoxicated. At the same time, nothing in the record suggests he ever asked Nurse Hysock if he could be sent to a hospital due to a life-threatening condition. Instead, to Nurse Hysock, Davalos presented as someone who appeared to be under the influence.”
