He Almost Died From A Burst Appendix. A For-Profit Jail Medical Provider Dismissed It As Heartburn.

A new lawsuit in York County, Pennsylvania, highlights a pattern of allegations of medical neglect by for-profit correctional healthcare company PrimeCare.

This story was originally published in The Appeal.

In December 2023, Willie Cunningham began to experience excruciating abdominal pain. Detained at Pennsylvania’s York County Prison after he was unable to pay bail, Cunningham went to the jail’s medical staff for assistance.

One nurse told Cunningham he had heartburn. Another said he had a stomach virus. Neither examined him, according to a lawsuit filed last year by the nonprofit legal clinic, Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, against York County, PrimeCare Medical, the jail’s for-profit healthcare provider at the time, and others.

But Cunningham didn’t have heartburn or a stomach virus. He had appendicitis. By the time he was finally taken to the hospital, his appendix had burst, and he had developed sepsis.

PrimeCare did not respond to emails seeking comment. The York County Solicitor told The Appeal in an email that “neither the Commissioners nor anyone else from York County will comment on pending litigation.” York County and PrimeCare have denied all wrongdoing in their legal filings.

“I was just hurting so bad and I wanted help,” Cunningham told The Appeal. “Why are these people in positions to take care of us and they don’t care? You get paid to do a job, you incarcerate us, and then you just say, ‘Okay, he’s a criminal, he doesn’t matter, he can die.’”

Read more at The Appeal.