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A Georgia resident claimed on Wednesday that he experienced profound trauma due to extreme medical neglect at an Atlanta jail, notorious for its unsanitary conditions. This neglect allegedly resulted in the amputation of his fingers and lower legs.
Rashaad Muhammad was detained in August and taken to the Fulton County Jail, where he asserts that medical personnel neglected to provide necessary antibiotics and other medical supplies, despite his repeated requests, according to his legal representatives.
Within a mere two weeks, his health had worsened to the point where he could no longer stand. He was then transferred to a hospital, where doctors informed him that amputation was essential to save his life.
“I’m not okay. Every day is a battle, a struggle,” Muhammad shared, speaking from a wheelchair at a press briefing outside the jail following a discussion with Sheriff Pat Labat.
Accompanied by his attorney Ben Crump and other legal team members, Rashaad Muhammad addressed the media outside the Fulton County Jail. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Muhammad, said the meeting with the sheriff at the jail was like “coming back to a nightmare that you pray every day isn’t real,” adding that the treatment Muhammad received was “the very definition of deliberate indifference” and violated his constitutional rights.
The Fulton County Jail has faced numerous issues over the years, which led the U.S. Department of Justice to initiate a civil rights probe into jail conditions in 2023. The investigation revealed prisoners were housed in filthy and unsafe conditions that violated their constitutional rights.
The DOJ and county officials announced a year ago that they had entered into a court-enforceable consent decree. An independent monitor has been visiting the county’s jails and recording the issues and any progress in resolving them.
Crump argued that the Fulton County Board of Commissioners bears significant blame for what happened to Muhammad since its members were made aware of the problems but did not take action.
He suggested the county needs a new jail, a move the sheriff has supported.
Earlier this month, the board of commissioners voted to borrow up to $1.3 billion for jail improvements, including a new special purpose facility and renovations at the current main jail.
Crump also blamed the jail’s medical provider, NaphCare, alleging that its employees, as well as jail guards, ignored Muhammad’s calls for help.
Rashaad Muhammad rests his hands with amputated fingers in his lap during a news conference outside the Fulton County Jail. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)
He said NaphCare should not be providing medical services at the jail after another man held at the facility died in a bedbug-infested cell in 2022.
Muhammad said his meeting with the sheriff was “productive” but “not enough.”
Crump said he and his client asked for a criminal investigation into the events leading to the amputations.
Muhammad’s legal team is collecting details and exploring “every possible legal remedy” to secure justice for Muhammad and to hold those responsible accountable, Crump said.
Another one of his attorneys, Liza Park, said he uses a catheter for a chronic bladder condition that makes him very susceptible to infection and that he constantly brings necessary antibiotics and other medical supplies with him.
Muhammad was in jail in connection with a shooting on Aug. 11. He called 911, according to Park, but when police arrived, they arrested him on aggravated assault and gun possession charges. He told officers as he was being taken into custody that he required the antibiotics and medical supplies that were in his car, Park said.
He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was cleared to be taken to the jail, his lawyers said. He repeatedly told the medical staff at the jail that he needed antibiotics and other medical supplies. As his condition worsened, other inmates also urged jail and medical staff to help him.
Attorney Ben Crump, left, speaks alongside his client, Rashaad Muhammad, during a news conference outside the Fulton County Jail. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)
Muhammad was in “severe medical distress” when he was moved back to the hospital on Aug. 22, according to Crump.
After he woke up from a coma a couple of weeks later, Muhammad’s hands and legs had become so infected that doctors told him that his fingers and lower legs would need to be amputated, saying it was a matter of “life over limbs,” Crump said.
Muhammad spent months in the hospital and had multiple surgeries.
The criminal charges against him were dropped while he was in the hospital, Park said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
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