Oct. 2—MINNEAPOLIS — A man incarcerated in the Rochester Federal Medical Center is accusing the facility of violating his civil rights by denying or not providing adequate medical care, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District of Minnesota.
The lawsuit, first filed on July 11, 2023, and amended on Sept. 28, by Joel Spigelman, 70, claims he may have to get his foot amputated after the facility failed to properly treat an infection or provide him with a medical device that fits correctly. FMC's Warden, Jared Rardin, along with Bureau of Prisons employees, Gabriel Langseth, Kevin Herzo and Peggy Moore are named in the lawsuit.
FMC declined to comment on the lawsuit and the facility has yet to submit a response in court. The earlier version of the complaint also named Limb Labs, a medical device company that has a Rochester office. Limb Labs was not named in the amended complaint.
According to court documents:
In filings with the court, Spigelman alleges a "deliberate indifference" by prison staff regarding a foot condition and claims the staff failed to properly dress a wound, denied him proper medical care and failed to secure him a medical device for his foot that was not ill-fitting.
In a series of emails between Spigelman and FMC staff, submitted to the court by Spigelman, staff members repeatedly rebuked Spigelman's claims of improper treatment, saying in part that he has received on-site care by qualified professionals.
A staff member in September 2023 emailed Spigelman that the medical device he has for his foot has been replaced and repaired several times and the staff member could not find any confirmation of a bone infection.
Two medical reports from 2022 submitted by Spigelman to the court, state that Mayo Clinic doctors determined a diabetic Spigelman has osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone, in his foot.
Osteomyelitis can develop in the feet of people with diabetes if they have foot ulcers,
according to the Mayo Clinic.
Spigelman's lawsuit claims he will have to get a foot amputated due to the lack of care.
"I will never be able to walk normal again," Spigelman wrote in a court filing.
Spigelman's lawsuit also claims the facility has given him the runaround regarding any remedies to his complaints and that antibiotics given to him made him sick.
"There is no follow-up or oversight here," he wrote in a court filing. "We have no way to seek help because of retaliation that goes on here. I have tried every way and my rights get violated more ways than one."