A diabetic woman who was caught smoking pot in the Lower East Side has won a $125K settlement from the city because police refused to let her administer insulin after her blood sugar rose to dangerous levels in lockup. Cops at the Seventh Precinct confiscated 30 year-old Jaime Rutkowski's glucose meter and her insulin, and only called EMTs after her blood sugar rose higher than three times the normal level. "Any endocrinologist will confirm that this is enough for a Type-1 diabetic to go into shock, slip into a coma, and die," her attorney tells the Post. Rutkowski was treated at Bellevue for the October incident, and discharged from police custody.
Rutkowski, who was smoking pot outside a club on Ludlow where she was attending a bachelorette party, tells City Room "They could have killed me over a joint. Something needs to be done." Her attorney says that the police have "no protocol" for arresting diabetics, and, “Police officers need to understand that when they arrest a diabetic, there are potentially life-threatening effects."
Unfortunately Rutkowski is one of the lucky diabetics who've crossed paths with an uncaring or just plain ignorant NYPD. 43-year-old Jose Vargas won a $17.5 million lawsuit against the city last year after cops refused him his insulin for 60 hours, causing him to slip into a coma that has left him brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Juan Castillo spent 30 hours in custody without insulin after the police arrested him for placing his feet atop seats on the subway. Why was he so rude as to put his feet up? He needed a better angle to inject his insulin. Castillo spent two days in the hospital as a result of the NYPD's negligence and is currently suing the city.
This has even been a problem for those of us who can afford to be arrested: Shepard Fairy told us a few years back that he was afraid of being arrested because he'd be kept from his insulin. Clearly that fear is not unfounded. Diabetics beware: if you plan on doing something illegal, make sure you check your blood sugar beforehand.
