INMATE WINS $850,000 OVER UNTREATED INJURY

Prison Doctors Failed To Diagnose A Broken Neck

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The California Department of Corrections has agreed to pay
$850,000 to settle a lawsuit by a former New Folsom State Prison inmate who
claimed his broken neck went untreated while serving a sentence for drug
possession.

The state admitted no wrong-doing in paying Steven Dodson, who is now
partially paralyzed.

"It could have been and should have been avoided," said attorney Cindy L.
Robbins, who represented Dodson. "It was a very, very sad case."

Corrections Department Director Cal Terhune confirmed the April settlement.

"It seemed to me that the fairest and most appropriate course of action was
to see if we could negotiate a settlement rather than fighting the matter
out in court." Terhune said.

Dodson, 47, of Sacramento, said he isn't sure when he broke his neck, but he
began to feel pain before he was sent to prison in October 1996. The pain
increased while he was behind bars, and at one point it was so great he
couldn't walk, he claimed.

One morning, Dodson said, he woke up but was unable to get out of bed and
lay immobile in his own waste. An infection set in and ate away at his hip,
medical records show.

Prison officials and doctors who examined Dodson believed he was faking the
illness, and they prescribed ibuprofen, muscle relaxants and a neck brace.

He didn't realize the severity of his injury until the day he was released
from New Folsom in August 1997. His girlfriend drove him to Sacramento
emergency room, where doctors determined he had a broken neck.