Harvey Weinstein threatens to sue for medical neglect while in jail, 'feared for his life'
Harvey Weinstein's lawyers have accused Rikers Island and Bellevue Hospital staff of failing to provide him with proper medical care while he's in jail.
According to a claim notice that attorney Imran H. Ansari filed with the New York City Comptroller's Office on Tuesday, which was reviewed by Paste BN, Weinstein's medical problems include chronic myeloid leukemia (bone marrow cancer), diabetes, coronary artery disease, obstructive sleep apnea, thyroid issues, obesity, high blood pressure and chronic back pain.
"While in the custody of Rikers Island Correctional Facility, (Weinstein's) medical conditions deteriorated significantly, unreasonably, and dangerously, leading to multiple instances where (Weinstein) feared for his life," Ansari's filing reads. "Respondents were on notice of (Weinstein's) medical condition yet intentionally, recklessly, and/or negligently, failed to render proper medical treatment to (Weinstein)."
The notice names the City of New York, the New York City Department of Correction, Rikers Island Correctional Facility and Bellevue Hospital among liable parties. Ansari requests $5 million in damages.
In a statement shared with Paste BN, Ansari said, "Harvey Weinstein has suffered considerably from the deplorable conditions on Rikers Island."
"Rather than receiving the medical care he needs, he remains without critical medication, adequate treatment by competent physicians for complex and serious medical conditions, and is deprived of even the most elemental humane treatment," he added. "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 and susceptibility to illness.
Ansari continued: "I questioned whether I was in a prison facility that is supposed to be managed in accordance with our constitution, or a gulag where the prisoners are treated like animals."
Jeanette Merrill, assistant vice president of communications & external affairs for NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services, said in a Wednesday statement to Paste BN that "NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services continues to work with the Department of Correction to ensure people in custody have access to high-quality health care on Rikers Island, including individuals who have complex medical and mental health needs. We do not comment on pending litigation or individual patients."
Paste BN has reached out to the Department of Correction for comment.
TMZ was first to report the news.
Harvey Weinstein went "several months" without cancer medication, lawyer says
In his filing, Ansari claimed correction officers and medical personnel failed to manage Weinstein's thyroid conditions as well as white blood cell counts, which led "to crashes and destabilization." He says Weinstein contracted pneumonia earlier this year due to "being housed in freezing cold environments" and also COVID-19 due to "failure to provide a medically safe and sterile environment."
Weinstein also allegedly suffered from "life-threatening buildup of fluid around (Weinstein's) heart and lungs and required "emergency heart procedures." "Ongoing failures" also led to Weinstein going "several months without any cancer medication," Ansari said.
He also claims Bellevue Hospital discharged Weinstein "prematurely, sending him back to the Rikers Island Correctional Facility before he had fully recovered, i.e., returning him to an environment that had previously led to multiple successive readmissions to Bellevue Hospital."
In September, Weinstein was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency heart surgery. In July, he was transferred to Bellevue Hospital for "myriad" health conditions and tested positive for COVID-19 and contracted double pneumonia while he was hospitalized.
Weinstein has been transported to New York City's Bellevue Hospital several times since he was sentenced to 23 years in prison following his conviction on rape charges in February 2020. New York Court of Appeals judges threw out the conviction in April.
The Miramax studio co-founder will be retried in the case while at the same time facing a new sexual assault charge for allegedly assaulting an unnamed woman in 2006. He has not begun serving a separate 16-year sentence for his sex crimes conviction in California.