Island County commissioners rejected a $10.2 million claim filed by former inmate of the county jail who alleged he had received improper medical care that led to the loss of vision in his left eye.
On a 2-0 vote Monday, commissioners Mike Shelton and John Dean rejected the claim for damages. Commissioner Mac McDowell was absent.
Richard Earl Pallaske, a former Oak Harbor resident, filed the claim — a necessary first step before a lawsuit can be filed — in November 2006.
Pallaske, now an inmate at the Monroe Corrections Complex, the state prison in Snohomish County, was held in the Island County jail on methamphetamine-related charges in November 2003. He later pled guilty to charges of possession of anhydrous ammonia with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, and possession of stolen property in the second degree, and received a prison term of roughly four years.
In his claim, Pallaske said he was taken to the emergency room at Whidbey General Hospital in Coupeville for treatment of chemical exposure to his left eye after he was booked into the county jail. Pallaske alleged the emergency room doctor set up a follow-up appointment with an ophthalmologist for two days later, but a jail nurse said the doctor’s appointment was “too expensive and the jail was not going to pay for it, so she cancelled the appointment,” according to Pallaske’s claim.
Pallaske said he was given eye drops, but lost all vision in his left eye.
Pallaske also alleged an ophthalmologist examined his eye later and discovered that a severe infection had led to scarring tissue on his optic nerve. The injury has since left him blind in his left eye.
County officials disputed Pallaske’s allegations, and said a thorough review of his claim showed there was no request by the doctor for a follow-up visit. The county said jail personnel followed all medical directions and that Pallaske received his prescribed medications.
The county also said Pallaske’s injuries were the result of an accident caused by Pallaske when he was handling noxious chemicals.
