Inmate accused of faking staph infection now needs a colostomy bag, Oregon suit says

The symptoms started in June 2018 for an inmate at the Oregon State Penitentiary — “stomach pains, cramps, diarrhea, and bloody stools,” according to a lawsuit filed in Marion County.

After months of the symptoms getting worse and going untreated by the prison’s medical staff, doctors had to replace Carl Spieler’s colon with a colostomy bag, court documents say. Now he is seeking $975,000 in damages from the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC), according to the complaint.

Spieler was admitted to Salem Hospital in July 2018, documents say. Tests revealed Spieler had colitis, a condition that “can be debilitating and can sometimes lead to life-threatening complications,” according to the Mayo Clinic. He also had a staph infection, which “can lead to sepsis ... an infection of the bloodstream,” the lawsuit says.

In August 2018, Spieler returned to the prison where, despite visiting the infirmary multiple times, his illnesses were ignored by jail staff and he was accused of “faking” his symptoms, according to court documents.

The hospital provided the prison’s medical staff Spieler’s lab results revealing he had a staph infection, but Spieler “was unaware of the staph infection diagnosis,” according to documents. The nurses at the jail did not provide any “follow-up testing to see if the staph infection had cleared,” the complaint says.

Lab results from Aug. 4, 2018 “showed no improvement” and actually revealed he still suffered from infection as well as malnourishment, according to the complaint. Medical personnel did not tell Spieler about his results, the complaint says.

“Although a nurse practitioner ordered IV fluids for him on August 8, 2018, the nurses were unable to start the IV after six unsuccessful attempts because his ‘poor venous access has deteriorated to non-existent,’” court documents say. “He was sent back to general population without IV fluids.”

The symptoms got to the point where Spieler had to use diapers because he could not “control his bowels,” according to the complaint. He lost 50 pounds between June and September 2018.

An officer at the prison ordered a nurse “to do something,” the documents state.

“The nurse was annoyed that a Sergeant was yelling at her, and at first was rude to Mr. Spieler,” the complaint says. “Mr. Spieler broke down and started to cry due to his massive pain, emaciated state, incontinence of his bowels, constant diarrhea, weakness, elevated heart rate, and generally feeling that he was dying.”

The nurse realized Spieler was “gravely ill” and sent him to the hospital, telling him to complain of chest pains, according to the complaint. Another nurse called an ambulance and “probably saved Mr. Spieler’s life,” documents say.

In September 2018, doctors diagnosed him with “a perforated bowel and gangrenous colon,” and performed a colostomy, documents state. A colostomy is a surgery that involves bringing the end of the large intestine through the abdomen and attaching it to a bag to collect feces, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Spieler’s attorney, Lynn Walsh, declined to comment and ODOC declined to comment as well, the agency told McClatchy News in an email.

Spieler was admitted to the state penitentiary in May 2018 for assault and eluding arrest, according to ODOC. He is scheduled to be released in December.

This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 2:08 PM with the headline "Inmate accused of faking staph infection now needs a colostomy bag, Oregon suit says."