Philadelphia jail withheld insulin from a diabetic inmate who died, lawsuit says

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia prison caused the death of a diabetic inmate by failing to provide insulin and other medical care, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday by the man’s family.

Louis Jung Jr., 50, was a pretrial detainee at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility when he died on Nov. 6, 2023, of ketoacidosis, a serious complication of diabetes.

According to the indictment, the Philadelphia Department of Prisons did not administer insulin to Jung, who had Type 1 diabetes, during the last six days of his life. Jail medical officials also failed to conduct glucose monitoring, call emergency care, send Jung to the hospital or place him in the infirmary, the complaint said.

The plaintiffs are suing the city of Philadelphia and YesCare, a prison health care company, both of which declined to comment. Facility medical officials and unnamed corrections officers are also listed as defendants.

“My father had diabetes and only needed insulin. I can’t believe they treated him inhumanely. How they let him lie there and suffer and die,” one of his sons, James Jung, said in a statement released by the Abolitionist Law Center.

The center filed the lawsuit on behalf of Jung and his brother. It said at least two other inmates have died of ketoacidosis while in Department of Prisons custody since 2014.