TOPEKA (KSNT) – Shawnee County leaders have agreed to a settlement with the family of a Topeka man who died while incarcerated.
The family filed a wrongful lawsuit against the county and its contracted health provider earlier this year. It accuses them negligence and violating the man’s constitutional rights by causing his death after forcing him to suffer two weeks of physical and mental anguish in a jail cell without medical treatment.
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On Monday, the Shawnee County Commission voted to approve a $500,000 settlement with the family of Matthew Oliva.
In the lawsuit, Oliva is described a severely mentally ill 35-year-old man who suffered from a bipolar disorder. He had a long history of hospitalizations due to the condition, which caused him to experience delusions, bouts of psychosis and to completely lose touch with reality. His mother was his legal guardian.
On the morning of Oct. 22, 2023, Oliva experienced a mental health crisis which led to his arrest and detainment at the Shawnee County Department of Corrections. In the lawsuit, his family claimed that despite his urgent need for psychiatric and medical care, Oliva spent 14 days in a segregation cell without getting treatment for conditions that ultimately caused his death.
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The family alleged the jail and medical staff failed to give Oliva a required medical screening while at the jail due to his mental state. The lawsuit documents days of alleged neglect by jail staff during which Oliva did not receive any medical attention, despite obvious signs of untreated physical and mental illness.
On Nov. 5, 2023, the lawsuit alleges jail staff called for an ambulance after finding Oliva collapsed in his cell. He remained hospitalized until his death on Nov. 17, 2023.
The family claimed Oliva’s death was the direct result of the systemic failures of Armor Health, the county’s contracted health provider, and Shawnee County to provided him with appropriate medical and mental health care.
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Shawnee County denies the claims made in the lawsuit have any merit.
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