Death of man covered with infected bedsores 'was due to prison's neglect'

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 10:35 EST, 13 January 2012

Death: Dennis Austin died of lung cancer in prison aged 48

Death: Dennis Austin died of lung cancer in prison aged 48

The death of a man covered head-to-toe in bedsores was the result of neglect by the prison where he was incarcerated, according to his sister.

When Dennis Austin died of lung cancer in a Pennsylvania state prison, he was suffering from extensive bedsores which appeared to be heavily infected.

His sister, Paula Thomas, said: 'It's just awful. Yeah, he was in prison, but he served his time all those years and yet he had to suffer like that.'

The state denied wrongdoing by prison authorities, and claimed Austin was given appropriate care and treatment for his condition.

Austin, 48, had been imprisoned in 1991 for rape and kidnapping, and was serving a sentence of up to 57 years in SCI Albion.

He was diagnosed with lung and bone cancer in 2010, and received hip surgery a few months ago.

Warning: graphic image below

Prison: Austin's sister says that SCI Albion should have taken better care of him

Prison: Austin's sister says that SCI Albion should have taken better care of him

According to Ms Thomas, it was this surgery that rendered Austin bedridden and gave him the appalling sores which covered his body when he died.

She told the Huffington Post that although her brother was supposed to receive physical therapy twice a week, the therapist visited only once, and instructed other prisoners how to take care of Austin themselves.

When she went to see him in the prison infirmary she could not tell the extent of the bedsores, but she says she suspected that there was something wrong.

'I noticed a bad odour coming from him. I knew it was not a body odour, but that it was something else,' she said.

'We were not allowed to lower his blanket and the only sores that were noticeable to us were on his elbow and ear. The ear got so bad it was literally in half and was draining green and yellow fluid.'

Sores: Austin's body was covered with infected wounds when he died. Other images of the bedsores were too graphic to display here

Sores: Austin's body was covered with infected wounds when he died. Other images of the bedsores were too graphic to display here

After Austin died the funeral home told Ms Thomas that the sores extended all over his body, and she asked them to take pictures to be used as evidence in a possible lawsuit.

The photographs were passed to the Erie County Coroner, who judged that there was no reason to suspect neglect by the prison, although he admitted that the sores 'looked very bad'.

The coroner pointed out that for a cancer patient undergoing invasive treatment it was difficult to stop the spread of ulcers and infections.

Independent medical expert Gary Peterson told the Huffington Post that Ms Thomas would find it hard to make a case against the prison.

'He was really, really engulfed in them, but I don't see anything that would suggest there is foul play here,' he said. 'Could the prison have done something? Probably not.'

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said it could not comment on the details of specific cases.

Comments (2)

Share what you think

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now