14-03-2025
Man files lawsuit against several individuals, county for allegedly denying chemo pill while in CJC
(EL PASO COUNTY, Colo.) — A man who was incarcerated at the El Paso Criminal Justice Center (CJC) in 2023 is now suing El Paso County, private medical provider Wellpath, LLC, and several other individuals for 'deliberately failing' to provide him his chemotherapy medicine while he was in jail, according to the lawsuit.
Stuart Patrick McLaney was in custody at the CJC from March 23, 2023, until July 24, 2023. According to the lawsuit, McLaney has chronic myeloid leukemia, a type of cancer that involves the uncontrolled, irregular production of white blood cells in an individual's blood marrow.
He's had cancer for over three years and takes a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) chemotherapy pill, which he had been prescribed, to keep his cancer from progressing and becoming life-threatening. According to the lawsuit, McLaney notified the CJC and its staff from the moment of his arrival.
'But that day, and every day after, Defendant El Paso County sheriff's deputies andDefendant Wellpath staff consciously and intentionally denied Mr. McLaney his medication,' the lawsuit states. 'They denied Mr. McLaney his medication despite his numerous pleas communicating both about his immense pain and long-term health risks, and their own documentation thereof.'
According to the lawsuit, McLaney reached out to multiple people at CJC several times about his declining health, including Wellpath staff at the jail. On May 18, 2023, he was taken for an appointment outside of the CJC where a medical professional noted McLaney needed to continue taking his TKI pill, among other medications to continue the treatment plan his doctor had provided him. Around that time, McLaney also allegedly heard Wellpath staff discussing the situation and heard an individual say that it was just too expensive.
However, documents say that even after that, none of the defendants took any actions to ensure McLaney was provided his medication.
Weeks later, on June 13, 2023 a defendant acknowledged that she knew McLaney's CML needed to be treated, but there was an insurance problem while he was at CJC and noted that it was a different daily oral pill than he had been on in the past. The lawsuit stated that it might require special monitoring that they were unequipped to provide at the CJC.
'Despite his continued communications to Defendant Dobyns and other Defendant El Paso County sheriff's deputies and Defendant Wellpath staff about his CML and the immediate and long-term consequences of it going untreated, Mr. McLaney was still not given his medication.'
To read the full lawsuit:
1-McLaney-ComplaintDownload
Four months later, he was released and the lawsuit states that he was not given his 'life-saving daily oral TKI chemotherapy pill or other critical medicine while he was at the CJC.' The lawsuit also states that McLaney experienced 'immense physical pain and severe emotional distress' while at the CJC.
Upon his release, McLaney immediately resumed taking the TKI pill, but the four months without it have had devastating impacts, per the lawsuit. Furthermore, lapses in the treatment of CML are associated with a shorter life expectancy, in the context of cancer.
'Stuart was in pain for months in the CJC because his suffering was the price El Paso County and Wellpath were willing to pay to pad their pockets,' said Attorney Madeline Leibin. 'And now he faces devastating long-term consequences. What happened to Stuart is not only illegal, it's inhumane and immoral.'
When asked for a comment, El Paso County, El Paso County Sheriff's Office, and Wellpath said they do not comment on pending litigation.
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