A jury awarded a diabetic man, who suffered severe brain damage after being denied his insulin while incarcerated, Tuesday won a $17.5 million judgment against New York City, the New York Daily News reported.
Jose Vargas, 43, was so disabled that he was baredly aware that the jury found in his favor, according to the News. He is now confined to a wheelchair and is living in a nursing home.
Vargas was arrested on a drug charge in September 2006 and put in a holding cell. A Type I diabetic, Vargas didn’t have his insulin or needles with him, and police wouldn’t get them for him.
As a result of going without his medication for 60 hours, Vargas had multiple seizures, went into a coma for eight days and was then hospitalized for 30 days.
Vargas had repeatedly told police that he needed his insulin, and the jury determined that authorities were in violaton of New York’s policy that prisoners be provided with proper medical care.
The city told the News that it plans to appeal the award.
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