Legal RN Reporter - Vol. 8 Issue 3

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

▪ Misread CT Scan Leads to Catastrophic Spinal Injury: $15.5 Million Awarded to Estate of Medical Malpractice Victim ▪ Tragic Custody Death of Reneyda Aguilar-Hurtado Spurs $11M Settlement and Policy Reforms ▪ Summer Time Word Search ▪ Favorite Places & Events

Quote of the Month We cannot get a real satisfaction out of our work, unless we pause frequently, to ask ourselves why we are doing it, and whether its purpose is one (of which) our minds wholeheartedly approve. – Archbishop Fulton Sheen

Tragic Custody Death of Reneyda Aguilar-Hurtado Spurs $11M Settlement and Policy Reforms

On June 12, 2023, 50-year-old Reneyda Aguilar-Hurtado was found unresponsive in her cell at the DuPage County Correctional Center in Illinois. She was discovered during a routine check by a deputy around 9:35 a.m. and was rushed to Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, where she was pronounced dead a few hours later.

This case remains under scrutiny and represents a landmark wrongful death action tied to mental health negligence in custody.

Aguilar-Hurtado had been arrested on March 19, 2023, for a misdemeanor battery charge and was held on a $10,000 bond. On April 10, she was declared mentally unfit to stand trial due to schizophrenia, and a judge ordered her transfer to the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) for mental health treatment. However, she remained in county custody for 85 days , reportedly because the state never assumed responsibility for her placement. During her detention, jail records and the ensuing lawsuit described alarming signs of severe medical and psychiatric distress. Aguilar-Hurtado was observed vomiting (sometimes with blood), bleeding from the mouth, refusing food and medication, and sitting in her own vomit and feces. A doctor’s initial note upon intake flagged agitation, hallucinations, and bizarre statements—including seeing a skull in a toilet. Despite weekly weigh-ins showing a 60-pound weight loss and repeated pleas from her daughter for help, she reportedly was denied water and required psychotropic medications.

A DuPage County medical examiner later ruled that Aguilar

Hurtado died from multiple organ failure , triggered by “failure to thrive due to a psychotic disorder” and medical neglect under custodial supervision. The federal civil rights lawsuit filed by her daughter and teenage son named the county, Sheriff James Mendrick, two registered nurses, one licensed practical nurse, a psychiatrist, a medical doctor, and six sheriff’s deputies, alleging constitutional violations and deliberate indifference to her serious medical needs. SETTLEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY In March 2025 , DuPage County agreed to an $11 million settlement , later approved by a federal judge on February 13, 2025 , ending the lawsuit filed by

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