Prison Officials Aren’t Liable for Withholding Epilepsy Meds

Five prison officials who were accused of being deliberately indifferent to a prisoner’s medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment were entitled to qualified immunity, an appeals court said on Monday.

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said Wade didn’t show the officials’ conduct rose to the level of “more than gross negligence.”

David Henegar sued after he went four days without anti-epilepsy medication and suffered two seizures that resulted in permanent brain damage during his incarceration at Walker State Prison in Georgia. He didn’t get the medication due to a series of miscommunications between the ...