Lesley Overfield, the mother of Nicholas Overfield, noticed a stark change in her son’s health during her visit to the El Dorado County Jail. While he had been active and healthy during her earlier visits, on April 22, he appeared in a wheelchair, unable to even lift the phone to communicate with her. Tragically, Nicholas Overfield, a 38-year-old HIV-positive individual, passed away due to not receiving his necessary HIV medication while in custody, according to a lawsuit filed by his family. His mother is seeking justice and accountability for her son’s untimely death. Nicholas Overfield had been arrested in February 2022 for missing a court date. His mother’s lawsuit, filed in federal court for the Eastern District of California, alleges that he was not provided with his HIV medication during his time in jail. Despite his and his mother’s efforts to ensure that he continued to receive treatment in jail, he reportedly did not receive the necessary medication throughout his detention. It wasn’t until after his mother spoke with a nurse at the jail about his condition that he was finally taken to a local hospital for medical treatment. However, it was too late, and he tragically passed away in June 2022.
The lawsuit names the county of El Dorado and Wellpath Community Care, a company responsible for providing medical treatment in correctional facilities, as defendants. The lawsuit alleges that Wellpath has a history of providing inadequate care for inmates in correctional environments, citing a 2021 investigation by the Department of Justice into a facility where Wellpath provides healthcare services. The investigation found that the facility had failed to provide HIV antiretroviral medications to certain patients, which can lead to treatment failure and other serious health issues. The company has faced investigations in multiple states and has been the subject of a Reuters investigation that found inmates held in jails where the company operated were more likely to die than at county-controlled facilities. Wellpath and the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit and the allegations it contains.
