Ex-Alabama prison inmate gets $400K after toes amputated from medical neglect

A Mobile federal jury awarded a former Alabama prison inmate $400,000 on Tuesday after all the toes on his left foot had to be amputated because prison medical staff failed to treat his wounds, court records showed.

Dr. Manuel Pouparinaa “was deliberately indifferent to the medical needs of Canyon Moye,” the jury determined, according to court records showed.,

Moye, a resident of Uriah, in Monroe County, was an inmate at the Escambia County Jail, Kilby Correctional Facility in Montgomery and Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore.

Moye had back surgery in 2015 that led to a lack of feeling in his feet, and sustained a wound to his left toe while walking barefoot in 2016. He was treated for the injury in 2017 and 2018.

Shortly after Moye was incarcerated at Kilby in August 2019, his left foot developed blisters, which he claimed was a result of the “poor quality of shoes” he was issued in prison.

The wound deteriorated, and following complaints by his father about the conditions at Kilby, Moye was transferred to Fountain.

When he arrived at the Atmore prison in September or early October 2019, the wound worsened, his lawsuit stated.

“By late October 2019, there was a stench from the wounds on Plaintiff’s foot and there were holes in the pad of Plaintiff’s foot below the big toe and below the middle toe area,” the suit stated.

Moye was given “little to no treatment other than cleaning the wound and … some ointment to apply,” according to the suit.

“The failure to send the Plaintiff to a wound care physician and/or a general surgeon was unreasonable, harsh, and a deliberate indifference to the medical needs of the Plaintiff, given the obvious severity of his condition and the need for immediate and in-depth treatment,” the lawsuit stated. “Any qualified nurse or medical doctor would and/or should have known that an infected wound of this nature would cause sever additional injury if not quickly and properly treated. Further, the prison guards and the warden at Fountain knew or should have known that the obvious, severe injury suffered by Plaintiff needed immediate and in-depth medical treatment.”

Pouparina serves as the medical director at Fountain but is employed by Wexford Medical Services Inc., which has a contract to provide health services to Alabama inmates. He along with nurses who work for Wexford treated Moye.

Moye said he asked the prison warden “for adequate medical treatment for his deteriorating foot” but the request was ignored.

“This caused Plaintiff’s wound to worsen to the point where all of the toes on his left foot had to be amputated,” the suit stated.

After further neglect from the warden, the wound deteriorated “to the point where a significant hole on his foot developed,” according to the lawsuit.

Nurses and other medical staff who work for Wexford refused Moye’s request for medical treatment, the suit alleged.

In 2020, Moye was eventually sent for a consultation with a general surgeon who performed the amputation.

Moye was housed at the county jail during recovery and the wound healed, but again developed a hole in his foot after being returned to Fountain.

“Fountain personnel and the Wexford staff of medical personnel continued to provide inadequate treatment by not properly packing the wounds, not properly wrapping the wound, and not allowing necessary treatment modalities,” the suit stated. “The failure to adequately treat Plaintiff’s wound caused the wound to continue to fester for the additional 12-plus months Plaintiff remained at Fountain following his surgery.”

The Mobile jury, which awarded Moye $400,000 in compensatory damages, found the former inmate was not entitled to any punitive damages.