A recent federal lawsuit accuses the Oregon Department of Corrections of a consistent practice of denying or delaying care to people in custody, citing the case of a man who went three years before receiving care despite an X-ray’s confirmation of multiple wrist fractures.
Filed last month on behalf of Denis Krivosheenko, the suit claims administrators at the department have a practice of “slow-playing requests for medical care,” which “causes adults in custody to experience unnecessary pain and suffering while waiting for care.”
Krivosheenko's attorney, Lynn Walsh of Portland, in the suit described a detailed timeline for Krivosheenko, 34, and stated that he did not receive needed surgery until he petitioned a court to order the state to provide care.
“People in prison should not have to obtain court orders to force prison medical providers to provide care,” according to the suit.
Asked for comment, a corrections department spokesperson shared a statement by email: “Our dedicated health care professionals work tirelessly to meet the needs of our population, and we are continuously evaluating and improving our services to align with best practices. We cannot comment on current litigation.”
A few months before entering state custody Krivosheenko was diagnosed with Kienbock’s disease, a wrist condition that threatens bones due to a lack of blood supply. He might need surgery in the future, he was told, according to the suit.
Nearly a year after entering the state prison system he reported to his doctor that his right wrist didn’t bend correctly, that gripping caused pain, and he couldn’t lay his hand flat, the suit alleged.
Three weeks later, on Feb. 5, 2019, he received an X-ray that showed multiple fractures of his carpal lunate bone, which is part of the wrist. For a year, he made repeated requests for care, according to the suit. In March 2020, a nurse told him the pandemic meant no care was available.
In Jun 2021, after being transferred, he complained to staff at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution about worsening pain, only to be told it would be “monitored,” the suit claims. It adds that his repeated requests were ignored or denied, with doctors at times citing the pandemic.
A new X-ray confirmed the fracture as well as osteoarthritis in the wrist, and he was referred to an outside surgeon, who conducted a CT-scan. In November 2021, climbing down from his top bunk with his broken wrist, he hurt his right elbow, tearing a tendon, according to the suit. Meanwhile, his grievances to receive the recommended hand surgery were twice denied wrongfully, according to the suit.
He received an MRI confirming the tendon tear in February 2022 and asked for surgery on his elbow as well. That month, he filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus to receive care. He finally received surgery on his wrist in July 2022, but was not granted the recommended level of physical therapy by the prison, the suit claims.
In April 2023 an outside doctor recommended elbow surgery and new wrist surgery, which did not occur until the following July.
In December 2023 a judge in the habeas case issued an order finding that the state’s failure to provide the level of physical therapy recommended “not medically acceptable and demonstrated deliberate indifference,” according to the suit.
More than a month later, the suit said, Krivosheenkos attorney had to file a new motion to enforce the December order to provide care.
