New York City Department of Correction (DOC) staff are being accused of falsifying official records to make it seem like detainees in city jails refused to attend medical appointments that they were not even aware of, according to a new legal filing. The filing also claims that the staff pressured detainees to sign “medical refusal forms” or caused them to miss appointments due to lockdowns or searches, which were later falsely recorded as refusals.
Alyssa Briody, a senior attorney with Brooklyn Defenders, who filed the motion alongside the Legal Aid Society and Milbank LLP, stated that they have strong evidence of falsified records. Briody explained that DOC officers often ask detainees to sign refusal forms when there is no escort available or when the officer simply doesn’t want to take them. Due to the power imbalance, detainees often comply, not wanting to upset the correctional officers.
The motion, filed in Agnew v. Department of Correction, is asking a Bronx judge to hold the city in contempt for failing to provide medical care to detainees. It also seeks to fine the city $250 per day for each missed medical appointment, a penalty that could potentially add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The legal filing argues that the city’s failure has led to thousands of missed medical appointments for detainees from June 2022 to the present. The Correctional Health Services (CHS) and the DOC are responsible for overseeing medical care in the jails. Statistics cited in the lawsuit reveal that, even after the city was previously held in contempt, the number of missed visits continues to be alarmingly high. For instance, detainees missed 11,696 medical visits in April 2024, compared to 7,671 in October 2021.
The ripple effects of these missed appointments are severe, leading to more infections, chronic illnesses, permanent disabilities, and, in some cases, death, according to the legal papers. Veronica Vela, a supervising attorney with Legal Aid, noted that the number of refusals has now surpassed the total number of non-production incidents recorded when the case was initially filed in 2021.
The motion is supported by affidavits from 34 detainees who allege that DOC staff pressured them into signing medical refusal forms despite them not refusing treatment. The detainees’ statements also indicate that even when nursing staff escalated a request for medical attention by involving a DOC supervisor, these requests were often ignored or delayed.
The city maintains that the majority of missed medical appointments occurred because detainees refused to go. However, the so-called refusals have skyrocketed, with 9,419 refusals recorded in August 2023, a significant increase from the 6,792 refusals recorded in January 2022. Over the last 12 months, the average number of refusals has been 7,555 per month, the lawsuit claims.
Several detainees have shared their experiences in affidavits, stating that records showing they refused medical visits are incorrect. For example, Kevin Gamble, 62, was recorded as refusing 44 medical visits over seven months, a claim he denies.
Gamble was shocked to see his medical records indicating these missed visits, stating that he never refused any of the appointments. He suspects that DOC officers marked him down as refusing services to avoid taking the blame for not bringing him to his appointments. In total, Gamble missed 212 visits within 195 days from January 1, 2023, to July 15, 2023.
Similarly, another detainee, Theodore Gallo, 47, noticed rib pain and a lump in 2022. He was supposed to see a doctor at Bellevue Hospital, but it took DOC 71 days to arrange his transport. On the day of his appointment, a jail guard told him it had been rescheduled and ordered him to sign a refusal form.
Gallo refused to sign, as he had not refused the appointment. The next day, a doctor informed him that without signing the refusal form, he wouldn’t get a new appointment. Eight days later, Gallo was still waiting for his rescheduled visit.
Larry Anderson, a diabetic with a hernia and mental health issues, suspected that DOC wasn’t taking him to his appointments, but he was still shocked when he saw records showing he had missed 97 of them between August 2022 and November 2023. Anderson wrote that he never refused medical treatment and that DOC fabricated the refusals. The situation became so dire that CHS stopped scheduling appointments for Anderson after several missed visits, a practice known as “sick call closeout.”
Matthew Claire, another detainee, was supposed to visit Bellevue for a collarbone injury but was told there was no driver available on the day of his appointment. When a correction officer insisted that he sign a refusal form, Claire refused, knowing that the only reason he wasn’t being taken to Bellevue was because there was no driver.
Keith Ellis, who was recorded as missing 34 visits in 135 days between January 25, 2023, and June 8, 2023, also denied ever refusing an appointment with his CHS mental health professionals. He was surprised to learn from his records that DOC had so frequently failed to take him to his medical appointments.
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Vela, the Legal Aid attorney, criticized the city’s approach, stating that they are spending more money on litigation than it would cost to fix the problem. She believes this is indicative of a culture of apathy toward the humanity of the detainees.
