Harvey Weinstein’s legal professionals filed a authorized declare Tuesday in opposition to New York Metropolis, alleging that he’s receiving substandard medical remedy in unhygienic circumstances whereas in custody on the infamous Rikers Island jail complicated.
The discover of declare, which is step one in submitting a lawsuit in opposition to the town, accuses the power of failing to handle the previous film mogul’s medical circumstances, which embrace persistent myeloid leukemia and diabetes, and negligence starting from “freezing” circumstances to an absence of fresh garments.
The town’s regulation division and Division of Correction didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
“When I last visited him, I found him with blood spatter on his prison garb, possibly from IV’s, clothes that had not been washed for weeks, and he had not even been provided clean underwear – hardly sanitary conditions for someone with severe medical conditions,” Weinstein’s lawyer, Imran H. Ansari, stated in an announcement, evaluating the power to a “gulag.”
Weinstein, 72, has been in metropolis custody since earlier this 12 months, after the New York Court docket of Appeals overturned his 2020 rape conviction within the state.
The case is ready to be retried in 2025. Weinstein has denied any wrongdoing.
Weinstein was briefly hospitalized in April and once more in July for well being issues. His group has stated he’s been handled for diabetes, hypertension, spinal stenosis, COVID-19, and fluid on his coronary heart and lungs.
The authorized declare, which seeks $5 million in damages, argues he’d been returned to Rikers every time earlier than he had totally recovered.
Weinstein’s movie manufacturing firm went into chapter 11 proceedings after his convictions, establishing a $17 million fund for a sexual misconduct claims fund.
The Rikers Island jail is slated to be closed in 2027, however the metropolis has pushed again deadlines to take action.
