The mother of a man who died while he was in custody at the Cuyahoga County jail last year has filed a lawsuit against the county and MetroHealth Medical Center, claiming they neglected to provide medical care before his death.
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Linda Ruffin said her son Robert Sharp did not receive proper treatment after jail official learned that he had ingested drugs brought into the jail by another inmate.
Sharp died on March 26 after being transported to Lutheran Hospital in full cardiac arrest. According to the lawsuit, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner listed cause of death as "acute intoxication by the combined effects of heroin, diphenhydramine, and hudroxyzine."
The lawsuit claims the county and the hospital "failed to institute adequate policies, procedures, customs, usages and protocols regarding identification, referral and treatment of inmates who use, take, ingest, or stuff heroin and are therefore at risk of overdosing."
Sharp was arrested by Cleveland police for an incident in December 2014 on aggravated vehicular assault and other drug related charges.
