Douglas County Jail

Though the cause of Rachel Hammers’ death inside the Douglas County Jail remains in dispute, one defendant in her ongoing, wrongful death lawsuit has offered to settle the matter privately.

The Douglas County Visiting Nurses Association, who until this year provided medical services to the jail, filed a motion in federal court on Tuesday requesting a hearing for a judge to approve their settlement offer. The deal was negotiated confidentially between the VNA and Hammers’ father, Joe Harvey, who filed the lawsuit in April 2015.

As of Thursday morning a hearing had not yet been scheduled regarding the settlement offer. The hearing is also meant so the case’s judge, Carlos Murguia, may designate portions of the offer to Hammers’ children, who are minors, the filing says.

If approved, the settlement will dismiss all claims against the VNA, the filing says.

However, the lawsuit will continue for the remaining defendants: the Douglas County Commission, Sheriff Ken McGovern, then-Undersheriff Kenneth Massey, then-Undersheriff Steve Hornberger, Dr. Dennis Sale and three anonymous men alleged to have been involved in Hammers’ death.

Harvey, who is an oral surgeon in Lawrence, seeks $1.35 million from the county, alleging that his daughter’s death was needless and painful and could have been prevented.

Douglas County officials have declined to comment on the ongoing lawsuit. However, they deny Harvey’s claims through court filings.

Harvey has also declined to comment, previously saying only: “My family and I have great faith in our legal team.”

This year Harvey’s legal team brought in several high-profile experts who argued that a simple visit from a nurse or a doctor could have prevented Hammers’ death. The assertions are in stark contrast to those made by the defendant’s witnesses.

Initially, Coroner Erik Mitchell wrote in Hammers’ autopsy report that her death was likely related to severe alcoholism.

Harvey’s lawsuit says Hammers often drank a liter of rum each day, putting her at risk of serious injury in the jail if she didn’t receive the proper medication to treat withdrawal symptoms.

With her incarceration and medical history, jail and medical staff should have known about the risks to Hammers’ health and could have prevented her death, the lawsuit says.

Officially, Mitchell, who performed Hammers’ autopsy, diagnosed her death as sudden death due to a “seizure disorder probably related to acute ethanol withdrawal.”

The seizure, Mitchell said, could be attributed to “chronic ethanolism.”

However, four years later Mitchell changed his report, writing that alcohol withdrawal likely did not contribute to her death.

Medical experts for the plaintiffs argue, however, that Hammers’ death was due to an alcohol-withdrawal-induced seizure, which could have been prevented.

“No one questioned (Hammers) or appeared to be concerned about the consequences of suddenly stopping her drinking a quart of rum per day,” wrote Dr. Michael Baden — on behalf of the plaintiff — in a report filed in federal court. “There were no such outward signs or symptoms of alcohol withdrawal recorded because no nurse or doctor spoke with Mrs. Hammers or examined her.”

In all, Harvey’s lawsuit claims the defendants are at fault on six points, including lack of supervision and failures in training.

The Douglas County Jail houses 186 inmates and employs 94 staff members. However, the county is considering moving forward with a $30 million jail expansion which would add 120 beds to the facility.

Hammers is the only inmate to have died in the Douglas County Jail, which opened in 1999.

The jail’s contract with the VNA and Dr. Dennis Sale ended on July 1. Advanced Correctional Healthcare now provides medical services for the facility.

A jury trial in Harvey’s lawsuit is scheduled to begin on Oct. 23, 2017.