October 23, 2024
Provided Image/Jung Family
Loius Jung Jr., pictured second from left with his three songs, died Nov. 6 of diabetes complications while in a Philadelphia jail. His family has filed a lawsuit, alleging staffers failed to give him necessary medical care.
Jacob Jung said learning last year that his father had died of complications from diabetes in a Philadelphia jail was a "nightmare."
"It made me really angry, really angry at life, really angry with the city, really angry with the systems we're in," he said Monday.
MORE: Infant death rates were higher than expected after U.S. Supreme Court's abortion ruling, study shows
Jacob, 23, and his brother James, 19, claim the death of their father, Louis Jung Jr., on Nov. 6 was preventable and are suing the city, the Philadelphia Department of Prisons and the company that provides health care at the city's jails.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court, alleges "grossly inadequate policies and practices" led to "a preventable medical catastrophe that should have been avoided through adherence to basic medical standards of care for Type I diabetes."
Louis Jung Jr., 50, of South Philly, died at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Holmesburg after a 23-month, pretrial confinement that included hospitalizations at Nazareth Hospital and Norristown Psychiatric Hospital. He reportedly was being held on charges stemming from a 2021 robbery, and mental health evaluations were being conducted to determine whether he could stand trial.
The Abolitionist Law Center, a public interest law firm that is representing the Jung family, alleges the jail failed to monitor Jung's blood glucose levels, administer insulin and send him to the hospital when his blood glucose levels became dangerously high. Jung returned to Curran-Fromhold from Norristown Psychiatric Hospital 10 days before his death.
"The City is reviewing the complaint and declines to comment," a spokesperson the city's law department said in an email.
The city is facing a similar lawsuit filed by the mother of Rahsaan Chambers, a 22-year-old who died April 6, 2021 of complications from diabetic ketoacidosis – a condition that develops when the body doesn't have enough insulin to help sugar enter cells. Ebony Chambers claims her son died because of medical neglect at Curran-Fromhold.
According to records obtained by the Abolitionist Law Center, 62 people have died in city jails over the last five years.
They include Amanda Cahill, 31, who died at Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center in Holmesburg while under assessment for withdrawal related to opioid use disorder. Cahill's family said she went unchecked for hours, and the Abolitionist Law Center said several incarcerated people told the organization that other inmates made noise in hopes of getting Cahill medical assistance. Cahill's family has hired an attorney.
One week after Cahill's death, Michael McKinnis, 61, died at Curran-Fromhold, prompting his family to question whether his death was preventable. At the time, the prisons department said a "routine investigation" into his cause of death was underway.
Rupalee Rashatwar, one of the attorneys who is representing the Jung family, said they are suing to hold the city accountable for the "callous indifference" that the prisons department "has shown people inside the jail."
In 2020, 10 incarcerated people filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court against the Philadelphia Department of Prisons and the city over inhumane conditions and other civil rights violations. A 2022 agreement in the case appointed a federal monitor to oversee the city's implementation of specific improvements in the prison department including addressing a job vacancy rate of more than 40% among corrections officers. In April, a judge found the city in contempt for violating the 2022 agreement and ordered it to prioritize filling staff vacancies and pay $25 million into a fund to be used for improvements at the jails.
"When you have that many staff who are just simply not present, it becomes very difficult to actually operate and maintain a safe facility," Rashatwar said. "It's really across all the jails, not just at (Curran-Fromhold)."
Jung was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as an adolescent. The chronic condition is caused by the pancreas making little or no insulin. Type 1 diabetes has no cure. Treatment aims at managing the amount of sugar in the blood through the regular use of insulin, as well as diet and lifestyle measures to avoid complications. When blood glucose levels get too high, diabetic ketoacidosis, caused by an overload of ketones in the blood, can be life threatening if left untreated.
The lawsuit claims Jung only received 7 of 16 insulin doses while he was in intake housing from Oct. 28-31 and that his glucose levels only were checked 5 of 8 prescribed times. The insulin dosages Jung received were not documented, nor were his glucose levels when they were checked, the lawsuit says. It also claims no reason was documented for the missed insulin doses.
From Nov. 1-6, Jung was not given any insulin or glucose checks, the lawsuit says.
YesCare, the private-equity backed prison health care contractor named as a defandant, formerly Corizon Health, is currently under bankruptcy proceedings. A 2023 story by The Marshall Project said the company lost more than 25 contracts between 2016 and 2021 "amid lawsuits alleging subpar care."
"YesCare has not yet been served the complaint and as a matter of policy does not comment on pending litigation," a company spokesperson said in an email. "We are prohibited from commenting on specific patient care due to state and federal privacy laws."
Jung's ex-wife, Evelyn Tyson, said she is now caring for their third son, Louis III, 30, who has cerebral palsy, by herself.
"The reality is we will be grieving this forever," Tyson said. "My kids will never be the same again. I will never be the same again."
