A new Santa Barbara County Grand Jury report said there have been some preventable medical-related deaths in the county’s jail system.
The Grand Jury investigated three medically related deaths.
It says in one case, a 41-year-old woman used a telephone cord in a cell to take her life. The report says jail medical personnel didn’t know she had a history of mental health issues.
In a second case, a 57-year-old woman died as a result of a perforated gastric ulcer. The Grand Jury said that even though the woman reported she was in pain, staff thought it was due to withdrawal from opioids. A doctor never saw her before her death.
In the third report, a man in custody died after having a seizure and hitting his head on the ground. The Grand Jury was critical of the health screening process and communicating information about the 40-year-old man to custody staff.
Some of the issues identified by the grand jury have already been addressed through improvements to medical staffing and monitoring in the jail system. They were already in the works well before this week’s report.
