COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – The daughter of a 72-year-old veteran detained in Richland County has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit over her father’s death.
According to the lawsuit, Frank Livingston died in January 2023 from pneumonia and septic shock that went untreated while he was at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
Livingston was incarcerated on Jan. 3, 2023, and died at a local hospital on Jan. 22. The lawsuit, filed in Richland County on Thursday, said Livingston was seen daily for medical check-ups for a period of time, but was not seen by medical staff from Jan. 15 to Jan. 19.
On Jan. 18 he began “acting erratically,” the lawsuit said. The next day, he was found unconscious in his jail cell and was transported to Prisma Health Richland Memorial Hospital.
While at Prisma, doctors determined Livingston was hypothermic and septic, the lawsuit said. He was declared dead three days after being transported to Prisma Health and the Richland County Coroner’s Office determined his cause of death was septic shock due to acute pneumonia, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit was filed against Richland County and Advance Correctional Health, Inc., which the lawsuit said provided him with medical care at the jail.
There are several filings associated with this case prior to the lawsuit filed on Thursday, including Livingston’s daughter’s notice of intent to file a lawsuit.
Along with that notice, his daughter’s attorneys filed an affidavit from Dr. Edward C. O’Bryan, a medical doctor from Tennessee, who reviewed Livingston’s case.
O’Byran said in the affidavit, “It is my opinion proper care and treatment would have most probably reduced the severity of Mr. Livingston’s injuries. But for sad deviations, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, Mr. Livingston would not have died on Jan. 22, 2023.”
Another filing said his daughter’s attorneys are willing to produce evidence of a Prisma Health bill of more than $112,000.
Richland County Administrator Leonardo Brown declined to comment on the lawsuit because it has not yet been formally served to the county.
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Medical malpractice lawsuit filed against Richland County jail over 72-year-old veteran’s death
