The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is the Tennessee company, Prison Health Services. They get the award for the following.

TAMPA - Three years ago, Kimberly Grey's infant son died after being born over a toilet in Falkenburg Road Jail.

On Wednesday, the former inmate accepted a $1.25 million settlement from Prison Health Services, the Brentwood, Tenn.-based company that provided health care at the jail at the time.

Grey gave birth in an infirmary cell March 4, 2004. Records show she complained for 12 hours of labor pains but that PHS staff did not send her to a hospital. Nearly three months premature, the baby died from an infection in his lungs, according to an autopsy.

As jurors deliberated Wednesday after hearing two weeks of testimony, Grey accepted the medical company's offer.

"We had discussions [of a settlement] throughout the trial," said her attorney, Mike Trentalange. "We were finally able to do that with the imminent return of the jury."

Trentalange said he was unsure what jurors would decide after attorneys finished closing arguments Tuesday, and so he talked to Grey, 37, about the offer.

"I thought that it was in her best interest, and she agreed," he said. "I hope she's able to move along and that she can turn things around."

PHS spokeswoman Susan Morgenstern said the company had no comment on why it chose to settle the case.

The original federal civil court complaint named the defendants as PHS; the sheriff's office and the jail's administrator; and a PHS-employed doctor and two nurses.

The sheriff's office settled its portion of the case in November for $350,000. Most of that payment covered the cost of expert witnesses, case consultants and attorney fees. In a federal civil rights case, a plaintiff's attorney is prohibited from receiving more than 40 percent of a settlement as payment.

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Grey was in jail at the time of the birth on drug-related charges. She since has been rearrested twice on similar charges. In November, she left prison after serving two years on a prostitution conviction.

This is pretty clear cut. The woman was pregnant, Prison Health Services didn't see to her health care and a baby died because of it. Life is precious, more so than the dollar bill. Then we have hypocrites out there, who do the reverse of what they preach or are paid to do. For failing to care for an expectant mother, Prison Health Services is today's Knucklehead of the Day.

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