ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Video shows an inmate at the Arapahoe County jail struggling until she later fell into a diabetic coma, all because she did not receive care while in custody, according to her attorney.
That happened in February 2022, and now a lawsuit has been filed against health provider Wellpath Care and the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
Melissa Lammert is the woman seen in distress in the video provided by her attorney, Adam Frank. The video shows her visible struggle through the night, with her ultimately lying on her back as she is tended by nurses and deputies.
“Everything could have been avoided if the intake nurses had simply given Ms. Lammert antiacids,” Frank said.
FOX31 reached out to Wellpath and the sheriff’s office for comment but had not gotten a response as of Thursday night.
Lawyer: Woman not given diabetes treatment in jail
Lammert, a diabetic, was in the Arapahoe County jail on a warrant in February 2022, and she complained of health problems while there. Frank said she had her dinner that night.
“(She) starts vomiting so much that it actually causes tears in her esophagus so that she’s vomiting blood,” Frank said.
She was given medication for nausea and not for her diabetic condition, according to Frank. Lammert spent the night in visible pain, and she then called her partner from the jail cell.
“(She) is telling him goodbye, is telling him, ‘I’m going to die in here, and I just want you to know this is not random, this is not bad luck. This is because they will not treat me,’” Frank said.
Lammert’s pain turned worse, according to Frank, and she began having trouble breathing.
“That trouble breathing is, again, a telltale symptom of progressing diabetic ketoacidosis, showing that it’s getting worse,” Frank said.
The night goes on, and Lammert is seen dragging herself to the sink in the jail cell. After a while, she holds herself up until later that morning.
“Collapses face first and just doesn’t move,” Frank said. “That, of course, scares the living hell out of her cellmates, who, again, call for assistance. And at that point, deputies and medical come.”
‘She would have died in that cell’
Frank said Lammert was seen several times that night by nurses at the jail, yet eventually, she fell into a diabetic coma that night.
“Ultimately, Ms. Lammert only gets to the hospital because, later, a deputy decides to call, overriding the nurses,” Frank said. “If it had been left up to these nurses, she would have died in that cell.”
Lammert’s attorney said as a result of her stay in jail that night, she will now require insulin — a medication she didn’t need before — for the rest of her life.
Rogelio Mares
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