HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) has filed a civil rights complaint on behalf of a man who says that a misdiagnosis nearly led to his death. The lawsuit alleges that Federal Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) employees incorrectly identified Edward Kavanaugh, 39, as a Type II Diabetic in 2011, rather than acknowledging his previous diagnosis of Type I Diabetes.

According to the suit, medical staff throughout the BOP, including at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Allenwood and USP Lewisburg, then proceeded to gravely mishandle his condition for eight years, causing him frequent pain and discomfort, as well as long-term, permanent health consequences.

“The defendants in this suit flat out disregarded Mr. Kavanaugh’s many concerns that his health was declining and deliberately ignored years of test results that showed his Diabetes was wildly out of control,” said Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz, Managing Attorney of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project. “Even had the BOP’s diagnosis been correct, the medical care that Mr. Kavanaugh received was grossly below medical standards.”

Mr. Kavanaugh was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes in 2007. Since his diagnosis, he has required insulin multiple times daily. Records indicate that the BOP knew he was a Type I Diabetic up until July 26, 2011. On July 29, 2011, prison staff incorrectly changed Mr. Kavanaugh’s diagnosis to Type II Diabetes upon his transfer to USP Victorville. 

“For almost a decade, Mr. Kavanaugh has regularly experienced dangerously high blood sugar levels that show long-term grave mismanagement of his diabetes,” said Grace Harris, Staff Attorney with the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project. “He was withheld necessary insulin and subjected to malicious taunting at the hands of medical staff, and he has suffered greatly as a result.”

In April 2019, Defendants at USP Lewisburg removed Mr. Kavanaugh from insulin completely and prescribed him a non-insulin substitute instead.  He became violently ill and was only rushed to the emergency room when his blood sugar level was too high for a glucometer to provide a specific reading. At the hospital, Mr. Kavanaugh was informed for the first time that BOP records had incorrectly identified him as a Type II Diabetic. Medical records confirm that this near-death experience due to diabetic ketoacidosis was caused by the switch in medications.  He has suffered extensive permanent damage, including vision loss due to chronic hyperglycemia.

Mr. Kavanaugh released the following statement:

“In 2007 I accepted the fact that I'm a Type 1 Insulin Dependent Diabetic. I just wish that the BOP would accept that fact and provide adequate medical treatment for those of us with this serious disease."

Mr. Kavanugh is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 1:21-cv-0454. Named as Defendants in the lawsuit are United States of America; Dr. Andrew Edinger; EMT-P Matthew Barth; EMT-P L. Potter. The plaintiff is represented by Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz and Grace Harris of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project. A copy of the complaint is available here.