LAS VEGAS — The American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action suit against the governor of Nevada and other state officials Thursday, alleging that they had failed to rectify "a pervasive pattern of grossly inadequate medical care" at the state's maximum-security prison in Ely.
"These deprivations are so extreme that they subject all the men confined there to constant significant risk of serious injury, medical harm [and] premature death," according to the suit filed in federal court in Reno by ACLU lawyers from Washington and Nevada.
In December, a Los Angeles Times investigation based on records and interviews described how prisoners at Ely had been denied care for heart problems, diabetes and other serious medical conditions. Last year, a nurse was fired after complaining about substandard care at the facility, which she said led to one inmate needlessly dying of gangrene.
At the time, the ACLU submitted to prison officials a scathing report about inadequate medical care at the facility written by Dr. William K. Noel of Boise, Idaho.
Noel, who had reviewed medical records of 35 inmates at the prison, concluded that the conditions at Ely amounted to "the grossest possible medical malpractice, and the most shocking and callous disregard for human life and human suffering that I have ever encountered in my 35 years of practice."
After Noel's report, ACLU lawyers said they met with state officials seeking swift change, but none came.
Amy Fettig of the ACLU's National Prison Project said the lawsuit was necessary because "the state just hasn't shown a sense of urgency in addressing the crisis at Ely. They assured us that they were going to carry out far-reaching reforms to address the problems . . . but that was months ago, and they've made only half-hearted gestures to fix their broken system."
Greg Smith, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Corrections, said prison officials had been attempting to respond to the ACLU's concerns and were blindsided by the suit.
"Frankly, we're shocked by this development," Smith said. Nonetheless, he said, prison officials think the medical care at Ely is "more than adequate."
A spokesman for Gov. Jim Gibbons did not comment on the suit.
The suit names six inmates as plaintiffs but was filed on behalf of every inmate at the prison, including 60 men on death row. It alleges that Nevada officials have violated the inmates' right to due process and have inflicted cruel and unusual punishment on them.
