By Vanessa Blum
Sun-Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Broward Sheriff’s Office and its prison healthcare contractor have resolved two federal lawsuits brought by former inmates who said they were denied HIV drugs during their incarceration.
An attorney for Richard Hardwick, 53, and Kevin Sauve, 38, would not disclose the terms of the settlement Monday, saying his clients were bound by a confidentiality agreement.
Notices of the settlement were filed last week in federal court.
Hardwick and Sauve, both HIV-positive, spent time in Broward jails in 2007. The men accused the Sheriff’s Office and Armor Correctional Health Services of showing “callous indifference” by refusing for months to give them antiretroviral drugs.
Defense attorneys responded in court filings that it would have been irresponsible to start the men on medication without assurance they would stick with the treatment once released. Both Hardwick and Sauve had drug abuse and mental health problems that made them bad candidates for the drugs, the attorneys said.
Hardwick and Sauve reached settlement agreements directly with Armor Correctional and will dismiss their claims against the Sheriff’s Office, said Jim Leljedal, an agency spokesman.
Yeleny Suarez, a spokeswoman for Armor Correctional, would not discuss the terms of the deal. The firm works “tirelessly to meet the often extensive and complicated health needs of incarcerated persons,” Suarez said.
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