By Brian Bowling
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
GREENSBURG — The insurer for the Allegheny County Jail’s former medical provider has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit by the parents of a former inmate, an attorney for the parents said Tuesday.
Debra and Earl Black sued the county and Allegheny Correctional Health Services, a defunct subsidiary of the Allegheny County Health Department, over the death of their son Derek Black.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Paradise Baxter says in the case file that the parties reached an agreement Monday. The statement provides no details of the agreement.
Allegheny County agreed to pay $90,000 to settle the case, and the insurer for Allegheny Correctional Health Services agreed to pay $2 million, said W. Charles Sipio, one of the parents’ attorneys.
He released a statement from Wayne A. Ely, the lead attorney in the case, saying that their firm was privileged to represent the estate of Derek Black and “it is his hope that this settlement brings some closure to the family.”
Lawyers for the insurer couldn’t be reached for comment. County spokeswoman Amie Downs said she couldn’t comment until the settlement receives final approval.
Derek Black, 28, of Bethel Park died May 6, 2012, in UPMC Mercy. He was injured during a fight with another inmate, the lawsuit said.
Black and guards at the jail repeatedly asked the medical staff to examine him, the lawsuit said, but doctors and nurses ignored the requests from April 14 to April 30, when he was transferred to the hospital.