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San Luis Obispo County responds to lawsuit filed after inmate death

Posted at 6:21 PM, Oct 26, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-26 23:20:50-04

San Luis Obispo County is responding to a lawsuit filed against the county and San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Department.

The lawsuit was filed earlier this year by the family of a man who died in the San Luis Obispo County Jail in April of 2017. It claims jail staff didn’t provide Kevin McLaughlin, a 60-year-old inmate, with the necessary medication or a heart condition. It also says jail staff failed to provide emergency treatment for heart attack symptoms that caused his death.

Attorneys representing the defendants filed a response to the lawsuit last week, denying all of the allegations. The response says the county and Sheriff’s Department deny “generally and specifically each, every and all of the allegations in said Complaint.”

County Counsel released a statement to KSBY on Friday saying, “When the claim in this matter was initially filed with the County, we determined we would defend the case based on the facts and circumstances. The filing of the lawsuit has not changed our stance. We plan to defend the lawsuit.”