Harvey Weinstein’s attorneys filed a authorized declare Tuesday towards New York Metropolis, alleging that he’s receiving substandard medical therapy in unhygienic circumstances whereas in custody on the infamous Rikers Island jail advanced.
The discover of declare, which is step one in submitting a lawsuit, accuses the power of failing to handle the previous film mogul’s medical circumstances, which embody continual myeloid leukemia and diabetes, and negligence starting from “freezing” circumstances to a scarcity of fresh garments.
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, mentioned in a press release, evaluating the power to a “gulag.”
Weinstein, 72, has been in metropolis custody since earlier this yr, following an appeals court docket ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction within the state. The case is about 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 crew has mentioned he is 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, organising 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.
