Attorney: Dead inmate was denied use of asthma pump

RAYMONDVILLE - An attorney claimed in a statement Wednesday that an inmate who died here in June was denied the use of his asthma pump.

Thomas Detric Adderson, 32, an inmate at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Willacy Unit in Raymondville, died on June 10 because "his asthma pump was not provided to him," according to a statement released by attorney Juan Angel Guerra, who is representing Adderson's family.

But TDCJ officials and an incident summary released Thursday state that Adderson was given an Albuterol inhalation treatment by nurses using a special breathing machine and was also allowed to use his personal oral inhaler before he went into shock and died about two hours later.

Although the jail is a state prison in the TDCJ system, it is operated by Corrections Corporation of America, a private prison company.

The TDCJ summary stated that Adderson's preliminary cause of death was "severe asthma attack."

Guerra's press release stated that Adderson was asthmatic since childhood.

According to the TDCJ summary, the incident began about 4:20 p.m. on June 10 when a correctional officer sent Adderson to the jail infirmary for treatment of breathing difficulty.

Officials say Adderson arrived in the infirmary at 4:30 p.m. and began an Albuterol treatment by machine but asked for his own inhaler.

"He managed to pump one treatment of his oral inhaler before beginning to panic and going into shock," the TDCJ release stated.

Officials said he became unresponsive about 5:45 p.m. and was taken by ambulance to Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen about 6:15 p.m.

Willacy jail administration was notified of Adderson's death by an emergency physician about 7:09 p.m.

But Guerra, the former Willacy County district attorney and a critic of private jails, said it is unlikely that Adderson could die of an asthma attack if he had been given proper treatment.

"I've talked to doctors and they've said that nowadays it is very rare for people to die of an asthma attack," Guerra said. "I've just been talking to (Adderson's) parents. I haven't started investigation inside (the jail) but everything indicates that he died of an asthma attack."

Mae Fields, Adderson's mother, said about eight empty inhalers were among her son's belongings, which were returned to her after his death.

"He would not throw them away," Guerra said. "I know people who have asthma and they don't throw away the old pumps because ... if you're really having an attack you grab all the pumps and see if it has just a little bit (of medication).

"So that means he was not being provided daily with (medication) because he kept all the old pumps," he said.

Guerra said he would "go after" CCA since it was operating the jail under contract from TDCJ. He did not elaborate on the action he could take.

"We haven't got the autopsy but I know that that's what it's going to show," Guerra said.