Bucks County officials this week confirmed a 28-year-old Philadelphia woman incarcerated at the county jail died of complications from opiate withdrawal in October, the third inmate death this year and the second to occur during drug detoxification.
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| Brittany Ann Harbaugh |
Brittany Ann Harbaugh died Oct. 1 of “complications of chronic substance abuse,” four days after she was jailed on a probation violation, Bucks County Coroner Dr. Joseph Campbell said Tuesday. Campbell confirmed on Wednesday that Harbaugh died as a result of opiate withdrawal complications.
The confirmation of the death comes two months after this news organization received a tip, on Oct. 17, about the death of a female inmate. County officials responded then that they had no record of a prison death “in recent days.”
Bucks County Commissioner Diane Marseglia said in an email Wednesday that the commissioners were told about the death immediately, and that she believes “all precautions and efforts were made” to treat Harbaugh.
But a Philadelphia attorney representing the Harbaugh family said that hours before her death, Harbaugh complained in a telephone call with her family that she was experiencing severe opiate withdrawal symptoms and chest pain. The attorney, David Inscho, said Wednesday that Harbaugh had an opiate addiction but he did not know if she was placed on the prison’s medical watch protocol, which triggers additional safety monitoring.
“The coroner’s report leaves a lot of things unanswered,” Inscho added. He also is representing the family of Frederick Adami, a 52-year-old Bensalem resident who died Jan. 28 of complications of opiate withdrawal one day after he was incarcerated on a bench warrant for failure to pay child support.
Harbaugh was under medical care at the prison, county spokesman Larry King confirmed. He added she had a “medical incident” in the presence of a corrections officer, and was taken to Doylestown Hospital where she was pronounced dead. King and Marseglia declined to comment further on the circumstances of the death, citing a notice of a potential civil lawsuit.
Toxicology tests showed Harbaugh had naloxone, a drug that reverses opiate and opioid overdoses, but no other drugs in her system at the time of her death, Campbell said. He added that it is common for medical personnel to administer naloxone when an inmate is found unconscious.
An autopsy showed Harbaugh had medical conditions, such as an enlarged heart, which are commonly related to chronic drug use, Campbell said.
Court records show Harbaugh was sentenced in Bucks County last year to 24 months of probation, 50 hours of community service, and continued drug and alcohol treatment after pleading guilty to misdemeanor theft and bad check charges stemming from a 2014 incident in Bensalem.
Bucks County Judge Wallace Bateman sentenced Harbaugh to 90 days to 23 months in jail on Sept. 27 for an undisclosed probation violation, according to court records. In his order, Wallace agreed that Harbaugh could serve her sentence in an approved inpatient drug treatment center.
County jails are required to report extraordinary occurrences, such as inmate deaths, to the state Department of Corrections within 30 days, according to state DOC spokeswoman Susan McNaughton. She added Bucks County did report the October death as “natural causes” on Nov. 9.
Harbaugh is the second Bucks County inmate to die of opiate withdrawal complications this year, and the fourth since 2013.
Opiate withdrawal generally is not considered dangerous for otherwise physically healthy drug users, according to medical and substance abuse experts. But it can have life-threatening consequences for individuals with chronic medical conditions — such as heart disease — because it puts significant physical stress on organs and blood vessels, according to drug treatment professionals.
There are other risks associated with withdrawal side effects, including dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, neurological arrhythmia and cardiac arrhythmia, according to medical experts.
Vallia “Valene” Karaharisis, 29, of Philadelphia died in September 2013, three days after she was arrested and incarcerated at Bucks County prison on a probation violation. Six months later, Marlene Yarnall, 49, of Bensalem died of a cardiac arrest triggered by heroin detoxification, three days after she was arrested on a probation violation. Records show Yarnall had a heart attack during heroin detoxification a year earlier when she was an inmate at the prison.
Relatives of Karaharisis and Yarnall each filed wrongful death lawsuits in U.S. District Court against the county and its prison which were settled out of court for $50,000 and $250,000 respectively, according to court records.
Since 2012, eight inmates have died while incarcerated in Bucks County, according to state Department of Corrections data.
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