Bakersfield faces $10 million claim after police detain man suffering stroke

[Newsjock]

Source: Bakersfield Californian

How do police tell the difference between a driver under the influence and a motorist who just suffered a debilitating stroke? That may be the $10 million question for the Bakersfield Police Department and the city of Bakersfield.

And it may be the most critical question of all arising from an incident last November during which Bakersfield police reportedly handcuffed a stroke victim and left him sitting dazed along the roadside as precious minutes ticked by.

The family of the victim, neonatal surgeon Dr. Mohamad Harb — who was still wearing surgical scrubs when the incident occurred — has filed a $10 million liability claim against the city of Bakersfield alleging police caused permanent brain damage to Harb by restraining him, possibly hitting him on the head and negligently delaying treatment for a stroke by cancelling the first ambulance crew that responded.

... Family members — Harb’s wife Fatima and their four young children — don’t want to acknowledge that he may never practice medicine again, Gibbs said. But it appears that may indeed be the reality.

Read more: http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/477737.html

[kestrel91316]

1. $10 million in actual damages, perhaps. And another $30 million

in punitive damages. At LEAST.

[varkam]

2. So the city denied the claim?

I hope the family decides to file a lawsuit, and I hope the city loses - big time.

[trashcanistanista]

3. A blood test would have detemined

whether or not he was under the influence and it could have been done/resulted within minutes of arrival at a hospital. The city is at fault and I hope he wins it all. It will be little compensation for having to give up his career.