Courts. (Credit: Flickr/Creative Commons)
A Lansdale man living with lower-body paralysis has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that inadequate medical care at the Bucks County Correctional Facility led to a severe, infected pressure ulcer during his incarceration last year.
According to the complaint and a report from Bucks County Courier Times, Joseph Walsh entered the jail on Aug. 23, 2024, with no existing wounds but required disability-related accommodations, including a pressure-relieving mattress, catheters, incontinence supplies, bowel management support, and routine skin checks.
The suit alleges that Bucks County, its corrections department, and contracted medical provider PrimeCare Medical failed to provide those accommodations throughout his five-week stay, according to the reports.
Walsh contends he was left without preventative protocols despite his elevated medical risk and was allegedly forced to sit in urine and wound drainage for “extended” periods. The alleged neglect was so severe that Walsh developed a large, necrotic, and infected pressure ulcer on his lower back.
He was admitted the same day to Jefferson Lansdale Hospital, where emergency physicians identified the wound as the most severe classification, showing full-thickness tissue loss and exposed muscle and tendon, according to the report.
The lawsuit accuses PrimeCare staff of “deliberate indifference” to Walsh’s deteriorating condition and alleges that corrections officers and medical personnel repeatedly ignored requests for basic accommodations tied to his disability.
The federal case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, seeks damages and asserts violations of Walsh’s constitutional rights.
