Inmate files $2 million suit against hospital, doctor

By Thomas Wilson
STAR STAFF
twilson@starhq.com

   A current inmate at Northeast Correctional Complex in Mountain City has filed a lawsuit against a local hospital, a doctor and an unidentified nurse alleging his civil rights were violated while being treated at the hospital.
   Hand-written and filed in Carter County Circuit Court by Danny James McAlpin, 56, the suit names Sycamore Shoals Hospital, a physician identified as "Stanlet N. Nodges", and a nurse identified as "Jane Doe" as defendants.
   McAlpin identifies himself as a state inmate at Northeast Correctional Complex in Mountain City.
   The complaint states McAlpin was transported from the prison to Sycamore Shoals Hospital intensive care unit in mid-February where he was treated for a kidney infection. The complaint alleges McAlpin was "shock(ed)" by a medical device in the intensive care unit when an "unknown nurse" moved the bed in which the plaintiff was lying.
   The complaint alleges the plaintiff received "electric burns to the arms, (feet), and hand" and was later transported to the Johnson City Medical Center for treatment.
   McAlpin's complaint states that since the incident he has suffered nerve damage, severe headaches, loss of eyesight and muscle control.
   Sycamore Shoals CEO Scott Williams was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday regarding the lawsuit.
   In a separate affidavit attached to the lawsuit, McAlpin reported filing a previous lawsuit against the state of Tennessee and Howard Carlton, warden at Northeast Correctional Complex in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville. That suit sought relief on the basis on allegations of threats against McAlpin's life by a prison official and a "county" official, according to the affidavit.
   According to that affidavit, the claim was dismissed as "frivolous or malicious" and was not subject to review by a Grievance Committee of the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
   McAlpin alleges medical malpractice against the defendants as well as the violations of his civil rights under the 8th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment and due process.
   The suit seeks $2 million in compensatory damages and "appropriate punitive damages" stemming from the alleged incident.