BENTONVILLE -- The Quorum Court will discuss a $652,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed against the Benton County sheriff's office after an inmate died of pancreatic cancer. The disease went untreated while she was in jail.
Faith Whitcomb, 52, died May 3, 2012. The cancer spread to her liver, lungs and lymph system. She filed numerous medical complaints about stomach trouble during her eight months in jail. Whitcomb was being held in jail awaiting space at the Arkansas State Hospital in Little Rock.
The Quorum Court will be asked to approve the settlement at a special meeting at 6 p.m. today.
"We would again like to extend our condolences to the family of Faith Whitcomb," said Keshia Guyll, spokesman for the sheriff's office. "We are relieved that a settlement was reached in this matter by working with Whitcomb's family and a legal representative."
A lawsuit was filed in federal court in Fayetteville in August 2013. Whitcomb's family claimed she didn't receive adequate medical care while in jail. The lawsuit claims medical personnel at the jail never took a proper medical history and never ordered tests to find out what was wrong with Whitcomb.
Rogers attorney Doug Norwood, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Whitcomb's family, said Wednesday he wouldn't comment on the settlement until after the meeting.
County Judge Bob Clinard said he was aware of the settlement. Clinard attended a negotiation session concerning the settlement.
Clinard supports the settlement, but he doesn't have a vote. Justices of the peace will have to make the decision, he said.
"If asked, I'll say, 'Yes, I'll take the settlement,"' Clinard said.
Clinard wouldn't comment on the specifics of the negotiation, but he believes resolving the lawsuit through a settlement is in the best interest of the county.
"The downside is that this could possibly cost the county a lot more," Clinard said of not settling. "No one really knows how much. Going to trial is unknown."
Whitcomb died while former Sheriff Keith Ferguson was in office.
"Through this journey we've taken preventive measures to ensure a tragedy like this one doesn't happen again," Guyll said. "We have around-the-clock medical staff conducting immediate health screenings for each person entering the facility in hopes of catching any medical or mental health problems on the front end."
Jason Owens, a Little Rock lawyer with Rainwater, Holt and Sexton, represented the sheriff's office in the settlement, Clinard said.
Tracy M. Neal can be reached by email at [email protected] or Twitter @NWATracy.
NW News on 02/05/2015