Kohchise Jackson
Kohchise Jackson
A federal jury in Detroit on Thursday awarded former Michigan inmate Kohchise Jackson a $307.6 million verdict after a prison health care contractor refused to pay for surgery to reverse his colostomy as a cost-cutting measure. The bag was leaking and foul-smelling.
His attorney, Jon Marko, told WDIV that his 44-year-old client was only supposed to have a colostomy bag for six to eight weeks, but the prison health care company, Corizon Health, refused to pay for the surgery to reverse the colostomy, which would have cost $919.35.
Jackson went two years without the surgery, which he eventually received after his release from prison. He was in St. Clair County Jail in Port Huron in 2016 while awaiting trial on charges that included assault with a dangerous weapon. He spent 2017 and part of 2019 in state prison where he was supposed to have the reverse surgery.
The jury awarded $300 million in punitive damages against defendant CHS TX, Inc., the company that purchased Corizon Health after its 2023 bankruptcy, and $100,000 in punitive damages against Dr. Keith Papendick, who was Corizon's "director of utilization management" while Jackson was in prison from 2017 to 2019, according to the Detroit Free Press. The jury also awarded $7.5 million in compensatory damages against CHS TX.
“It was a horrible experience for me,” Jackson, 44, told WDIV. “Shame on you,” he added. “I’m still a human being at the end of the day.” He said inmates gave him a hard time because of the smelly, leaky bag.
The Detroit Free Press reports that Adam Masin, a New York attorney representing defendants CHS TX and Papendick, argued in court that at least 1 million Americans live with colostomy bags and that there is no medical consensus on how quickly a colostomy should be reversed, and that performing the surgery carries medical risks.
Jackson's surgery after prison was successful.
