Bucks County has settled 4 inmate death lawsuits since 2016. Here's what it costs

Bucks County and its corrections health care provider have paid at least $2 million since 2016 to families of defendants who died while incarcerated at the Doylestown Township jail.

The payments, which ranged from at least $50,000 to more than $1 million, were made to settle wrongful death lawsuits where the county, PrimeCare Medical Inc., or both, were named as defendants. 

The amounts PrimeCare Medical, a Harrisburg-based corrections health care provider, has paid out are likely higher as some of its settlement amounts are under court seal.

This year, Bucks County is paying PrimeCare $8.2 million for medical and mental health services at the jail and youth detention center in Doylestown Township. The for-profit corrections health care company has provided medical care since July 2013 and mental health services since March 2018.

The most recent settlement involving Bucks County occurred earlier this month when the county commissioners approved a $337,000 award to the family of Charles Freitag Sr. The county’s insurance carrier will reimburse the award.

More:Did Bucks County jail fail to protect Charles Freitag? Documents show 'atmosphere of indifference'

Since 2013, at least 19 inmates have died while incarcerated at the county jail, county, state and newspaper records show. All but four of those deaths have occurred since 2018.

Here is a look at the other wrongful death cases involving Bucks County Correctional Facility.

Frederick Adami

Frederick Adami, 52, a father of five, died less than one day after he was incarcerated in January 2018 following his arrest on an outstanding domestic relations bench warrant in Bensalem. 

An autopsy ruled the death as related to an enlarged heart, a common condition among chronic drug users. 

His family sued the county and PrimeCare in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia in 2019, alleging they failed to properly monitor and treat Adami despite signs of worsening medical distress.

The lawsuit also alleged the county failed to address known weaknesses with its treatment and monitoring policies for inmates experiencing substance withdrawal, despite prior deaths. 

It accused the county of attempting to cover up its alleged negligence by erasing security camera video from the cell outside where Adami was housed, after it was informed to preserve the footage.

Earlier this year the Bucks County Commissioners approved a $625,000 payout to settle the family’s claims. PrimeCare settled its claims for $750,000, according to the family. The PrimeCare settlement is under court seal.

Combined, the $1.3 million award was the largest known settlement payout in recent memory for a wrongful death case in Bucks County’s jail. 

Adami case settled:Family of Bucks man who died in jail to receive $1M in settlement with county, medical provider

Marlene Yarnall

Bensalem resident Marlene Yarnall, 49, died of a fatal sudden cardiac arrest during heroin detoxification in March 2014.

Yarnall was on medical watch during the three days after she was picked up on a probation violation. At the time officials said she was taking recommended medications designed to ease withdrawal symptoms.

Her family alleged in a 2016 lawsuit that the jail failed to take proper medical precautions with Yarnall, who previously suffered a heart attack in 2013 while in the county jail.  

The suit alleged that the jail had prior knowledge of Yarnall’s medical history and it failed to require more aggressive monitoring and follow up treatment for her withdrawal symptoms. 

Bucks County was terminated as a defendant in 2017, but PrimeCare settled its claims with the family in 2017 for $250,000, records show.

Vallia 'Valene' Karaharisis

Philadelphia resident Valene Karaharisis, 29, was found dead in her cell on Sept. 29, 2013, three days after she was incarcerated on a probation violation.

An autopsy showed she died as a result of “sudden death during heroin withdrawal.” 

In September 2015, Loretta Lopez, Karaharisis’ mother sued the county and PrimeCare alleging they failed to provide inadequate detox treatment and monitoring.

The suit contended that medical professionals at the jail failed to adequately assess her daughter, and there were no records that vital signs were taken or medication observations done between Sept. 26 and 29, 2013.

The suit also alleged that Karaharisis should have been physically checked on 64 times during the overnight hours before her death, but instead, written corrections records show she was observed only 13 times, a violation of the jail policy.

Bucks County settled with the family for $50,000 in 2016. PrimeCare settled for an undisclosed amount.

Britany Harbaugh

In addition to these cases, another wrongful death lawsuit is pending in the U.S. Eastern District Court in Philadelphia, filed by the family of Brittany Harbaugh, 28, of Philadelphia.

Harbaugh died in the jail in October 2018, the result of complications from opiate withdrawal four days after she was incarcerated on a parole violation. The family alleges that Harbaugh complained in a phone call hours before her death that she was experiencing severe opiate withdrawal symptoms and chest pain.