Utah jury awards $2M to mother of man denied medication
Key Takeaways
Jeremey Aus had been taking prescription Klonopin for 10 years before his 2013 incarceration in Salt Lake City.
Jail nursing staff declined to give Aus his prescription. Aus reported withdrawal symptoms to staff.
Jeremy Aus died while incarcerated in the Salt Lake County Jail in 2013.[] Aus, who was awaiting trial for misdemeanor charges, had been taking clonazepam (Klonopin) for nearly a decade.[] However, contracted nursing staff at the jail reportedly did not provide Aus with his prescribed medication. After just over a week in the Salt Lake County Jail, Aus passed away. In 2021, his mother, Janis Aus, filed a medical malpractice lawsuit alleging that the nurse’s refusal to give Aus his benzodiazepine caused his death.[] Last week, a Salt Lake City jury awarded Aus’s mother $2 million.
Jeremey Aus was arrested on November 16, 2013, after an altercation with his brother led to charges of aggravated assault.[] During his booking at Salt Lake County Jail, he had a complete nursing assessment that included a review of his prescription medications. Aus listed his current prescriptions as clonazepam, atenolol, triamterene, and tizanidine. All medications and doses were verified with his pharmacy by jail staff.
Aus’s incarceration at Salt Lake County Jail
Salt Lake County Jail’s policy was to have all prescriptions looked over by medical providers so that they could assess and then reorder them—or not—for the course of an individual’s incarceration. Aus’s clonazepam prescription was sent to Paula Braun, APRN. Braun declined to order clonazepam or any other benzodiazepine for Aus, and she placed no order for a taper.
On the second day of his incarceration, Aus submitted a sick call request form to staff, noting that he had not received his prescribed clonazepam since arriving at the jail two days before. The next day, a triage nurse met with Aus and explained that benzodiazepines were generally not given at Salt Lake County Jail. According to court documents, the nurse provided Aus with a worksheet on managing anxiety.
On November 13, Aus submitted another sick call request form. This time, he stated he was experiencing “all the symptoms on the paper I received.” Once again, a triage nurse followed up with Aus the next day and explained that benzodiazepines were typically not given at the jail. During this meeting, Aus told the nurse that he had only slept three hours the previous night.
Aus’s symptoms intensify
On the evening of November 16, Aus told Officer William Lawrence that he hadn’t eaten all day and that he did not feel well. Aus’s cellmate, Justin Bane, told Officer Lawrence that Aus hadn’t been receiving his anxiety medication. Officer Lawrence later recalled that Aus appeared to be experiencing “muscle spasms” or “seizures” as they talked.
About seven minutes later, Aus was no longer responding verbally. He was drooling, seizing, and being held up by Bane. Officer Lawrence called the medical staff to the cell. The nurse who responded administered smelling salts, checked Aus’s vitals, and rolled Aus to his side. Aus could still not respond verbally, but his vitals were reportedly normal. The nurse concluded that no further action was needed.
At 10 pm, Bane used the intercom in his cell to report that Aus was no longer breathing. An ambulance was called and multiple onsite officers attempted to perform CPR on Aus. Aus was declared deceased while en route to a local hospital.
A malpractice suit
Aus’s mother filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the Salt Lake County Jail and Wellcon, the company that provides healthcare staff to the jail. The suit alleges that Wellcon caused Aus’s death by abruptly discounting his prescription benzodiazepine.[] It also claims that nursing staff breached standards of care in their response to Aus’s symptoms on the night of November 16, 2013.
In July 2024, a jury heard the case against Wellcon and agreed that the nurse breached standards of care by not monitoring Aus for signs of withdrawal. However, the jury determined that there was not enough evidence to conclude that the nurse’s breach caused his death. It awarded Aus’s mother $2 million for pain and suffering.
On safe benzodiazepine withdrawal
The Aus case is centered on benzodiazepine withdrawal. As is true of most types of chemical withdrawal, the severity of benzodiazepine withdrawal can vary depending on factors such as dosage and length of use. Brian Hurley, MD, MBA, FAPA, DFASAM, Medical Director of the Division of Substance Abuse Prevention and Control for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, tells MDLinx that, “Benzodiazepine withdrawal goes from mild withdrawal where you’re a little more anxious and you have trouble sleeping, but there’s no particular medical risk, to pretty extreme medical risks, including delirium, seizures, changes in blood pressure, and even death.”
Dr. Hurley explains that factors other than dosage and length of use can play a role in the severity of withdrawal symptoms, saying, “Comorbidities and medical complexities play into it. Do you have high blood pressure? Do you have a seizure disorder? And then there’s other substance use. Stopping alcohol use at the same time can increase the risk of severe withdrawal symptoms. Using any stimulant can increase the risk of seizure.”
When it comes to taking a patient off benzodiazepines, Dr. Hurley says, the plan of care needs to be highly individualized.
“How long to taper depends on how long someone has been taking it. If it’s been decades, I could be looking at years of a taper. [If] it’s been years, I could be looking at months. If it’s been months, I could be looking at a week,” Dr. Hurley says. “But not everyone can self-regulate their use to do kind of taper. So then we’re looking at residential or intensive outpatient treatment programs to monitor that process.”
What this means for you
Patients who are reducing or stopping their use of a prescribed or self-acquired substance can experience severe side effects during withdrawal. Risks can be reduced with steps such as highly individualized withdrawal care plans, patient education, and close patient monitoring.