Family of
deceased HIV-positive prisoner files suit

The family of an HIV-positive man who died while in prison in Wilmington, Del., has filed a lawsuit against the prison's health care provider and two of its doctors, alleging that they did not provide proper medical care. Louis Chance, 37, died of cryptococcal meningitis--an AIDS-related opportunistic infection--while serving a six-month sentence at Gander Hill Prison. The lawsuit claims prison doctors ignored Chance's complaints of health problems and did not order tests that could have detected his meningitis at an earlier stage. The lawsuit also claims that prison health care providers were unaware that Chance was HIV-positive and that they should have screened him for the disease and offered antiretroviral treatment. Officials from First Correctional declined to comment on the lawsuit.