Harvey Weinstein seeks USD 5 million in damages for lack of medical care in jail

Harvey Weinstein, 72, has been in city custody since earlier this year after the New York Court of Appeals overturned his 2020 rape conviction in the state

Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers filed a legal claim against New York City, alleging that he is receiving substandard medical treatment in unhygienic conditions while in custody at the notorious Rikers Island jail complex. The Tuesday’s notice of claim, which is the first step in filing a lawsuit against the city, accuses the facility of failing to manage the former movie mogul’s medical conditions, which include chronic myeloid leukemia and diabetes, and negligence ranging from “freezing” conditions to a lack of clean clothes.

The city’s law department and Department of Correction did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “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,” Weinstein’s attorney, Imran H Ansari, said in a statement, comparing the facility to a “gulag.”

Weinstein, 72, has been in city custody since earlier this year, after the New York Court of Appeals overturned his 2020 rape conviction in the state. The case is set to be retried in 2025. Weinstein has denied any wrongdoing. Weinstein was briefly hospitalised in April and again in July for health problems. His team has said he is being treated for diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, COVID-19, and fluid in his heart and lungs. The legal claim, which seeks USD 5 million in damages, argues he had been returned to Rikers each time before he had fully recovered.

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