- File
- Madelyn Linsenmeir
Attorneys for Linsenmeir’s family notified the U.S. District Court in Springfield of the settlement on April 3 but did not disclose its terms. The Springfield City Council will vote on the agreement next week, federal court documents say. The Boston Globe first reported on the proposed settlement.
Linsenmeir, a Burlington native who suffered from opioid-use disorder, died in police custody after repeatedly asking for medical care. Printed in Seven Days, her obituary spurred the paper’s award-winning “Hooked” series, which was penned by Linsenmeir’s sister Kate O’Neill.
Related Lawsuit: Denial of Medical Care Led to Madelyn Linsenmeir's Death
Lawsuit: Denial of Medical Care Led to Madelyn Linsenmeir's Death
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Linsenmeir was arrested on a probation violation warrant in Springfield on September 29, 2018. During her booking interview, which was recorded on a surveillance camera, she repeatedly said she was sick and needed medical care.
"I have a really, really bad chest, like I don't know what happened to it. It feels like it's caving in," Linsenmeir said. "I can't breathe."
Related Hooked: A Love Story From Vermont's Opioid Crisis
Hooked: A Love Story From Vermont's Opioid Crisis
Writer Kate O'Neill reflects on what she's learned since her sister Madelyn Linsenmeir's death in October 2018. "Since my sister died," she writes in the final installment of her yearlong series, "I've been asked over and over what people can do to help others with opioid-use disorder. A year ago I didn't have an answer. Now I have many."
Opioid Crisis
On October 4, 2018, prison staff summoned an ambulance after finding Linsenmeir in her cell “in severe distress,” the lawsuit says. Hospital staff diagnosed her with endocarditis — a heart infection common in people who use intravenous drugs — gave her antibiotics and eventually placed her on a respirator. She died on October 7 at age 30, leaving behind a 3-year-old son.
Related Opiates, Love and Loss: A Vermont Woman's Obituary Strikes a Global Chord
Opiates, Love and Loss: A Vermont Woman's Obituary Strikes a Global Chord
Health Care
The settlement, if approved next week, would leave open the family's remaining claims against the Hampden County Sheriff's Department and two of its staff, court records say.
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