Family sues over fentanyl overdose death at Cumberland County Jail

The family of a man who died of a fentanyl overdose at Cumberland County Jail has filed a lawsuit against the sheriff and the company that provides health care in the facility.

The complaint alleges that James Mannion had been receiving medication to treat his opioid use disorder but was denied his repeated requests for the same medication by Armour Correctional Health Care Services once he entered jail. David Sinkman, the attorney representing the Mannion family, said James relapsed and overdosed in the summer of 2022.

“We hope to hold Cumberland County Jail and our health responsible for what happened and to make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” Sinkman said. “And our hope is to address the stigma that prevents necessary treatment, reaching people, some of the most vulnerable people in our population in our communities, people who need this medication and who don’t get it.”

Six weeks before his overdose and death, Mannion wrote to medical officials at the jail that he wanted help and feared he would relapse if he didn’t receive medication. Amelia Caramadre, one of the attorneys representing Mannion’s family, said stigma around opioid use contributed to Mannion’s death.

“We hope to eliminate the barriers and stigma, especially in the carceral system, to this available care that we know save people’s lives,” Caramadre said. “Every jail and prison in the country should be providing this to anyone who needs it.”

The complaint states medical personnel denied Mannion’s repeated requests for medication because he had not taken a urine drug test after entering custody.

Both Sheriff Kevin Joyce and Armor Health declined to comment.

This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public .