Man Denied Meds in Dallas Jail Awarded Nearly $1 Million in Lawsuit

A jury has awarded nearly $1 million to a man left partially paralyzed from a stroke after being denied proper medical care in the Dallas County Jail.

The $900,000 judgment Tuesday is thought to be the largest jury verdict for a neglect lawsuit against the troubled Dallas County Jail.

According to the lawsuit, jail officials denied prescription blood pressure medication to plaintiff Stanley Shepherd and then falsified records to indicate he had received the medicine.

In January 2004, Shepherd was found having a seizure in his jail cell. A nurse took 15 minutes to arrive, and Shepherd was not transferred to a hospital until an hour after the seizure.

He spent 26 days in the hospital and another 100 days in physical therapy. His lawyer told The Dallas Morning News that Shepherd remains in a wheelchair with a loss of function in the left side of his body.