The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals announced Tuesday that Duchesne County Nurse Jana Clyde will face the wrongful death suit filed by The Estate of Madison Jody Jensen. 21-year-old Madison Jensen was booked into Duchesne County Jail on November 27th, 2016 for internal possession of drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia. Four days later at 1:28pm on December 1st, Madison was found deceased in her cell. The next day on December 2nd, the Utah Medical Examiner determined the immediate cause of death to be cardiac arrhythmia from dehydration due to opiate withdrawal. At her death, Madison weighed 17 pounds less than when she was booked into Duchesne County Jail. While Duchesne County and most of the jail personnel were granted qualified immunity in a previous judgement, the panel of 10th Circuit judges made it clear that Clyde would have to face the claims that she violated Jensen’s civil rights. In Tuesday’s decision, the judges stated that it could be concluded that Clyde “did not just misdiagnose Ms. Jensen, she completely refused to fulfill her duty as gatekeeper.” In their claims, Jensen’s estate focuses on the timeline of events, particularly that Clyde knew Jensen had been vomiting for four days and could not keep water down yet had not informed the Doctor of the situation or called for help. Tuesday’s decision from the 10th Circuit judges stated that, “given that Ms. Clyde knew she could call Dr. Tubbs when Ms. Jensen presented with these symptoms, we cannot conclude that any alleged failings by Dr. Tubbs to implement policies or provide training caused Ms. Jensen’s death.” While Dr. Kennon Tubbs had been previously denied qualified immunity by US District Court Judge Dale Kimball, the 10th Circuit panel reversed that decision and stated that Tubbs can claim qualified immunity. The panel also stated in their decision, “We believe that these circumstances — particularly [Clyde’s] self-report that [Ms. Jensen] had been vomiting for four days and could not keep down water — present a risk of harm that would be obvious to a reasonable person.” This leaves the Judge Kimball January 2020 District Court determination intact that the suit should go to jury trial.
