County to Pay $150,000 to Ex-Inmate Who Lost Vision in 1 Eye

Supervisors agreed to pay $150,000 to a former inmate Tuesday because Pitchess jail doctors prescribed eyedrops after he was hit in the eye with a nail from a nail gun.

Pedro Gonzalez was struck by the one-inch nail after it was accidentally discharged from a nail gun. County lawyers reported that Gonzalez, who lost sight in one eye, might have won as much as $800,000 if his lawsuit had been decided by a jury.

The accident occurred Nov. 10, 1993, when Gonzalez--who was arrested on a cocaine possession charge--was working at the jail’s carpentry shop, according to the county report.

“Pedro Gonzalez pulled the nail out of his eye, and was escorted to the infirmary by the carpentry shop supervisor,” the report said. “The attending physician examined Pedro Gonzalez’s eye, stating that nothing was wrong with his eye. He was sent back to work.”

Two days later, Gonzalez was given eyedrops after complaining that his left eye “was red, painful, and that he was losing vision.” This time, “the physician gave him eyedrops, an ointment, and scheduled him to be seen by the ophthalmologist at Men’s Central Jail,” the report said.

On Nov. 16, the opthamologist at Men’s Central Jail found that Gonzalez was suffering from an eye infection and transferred him to the Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center emergency room, said the report.

Later, doctors diagnosed Gonzalez’s injury as a ruptured left eye globe that required surgery. Two surgeries failed to restore Gonzalez’s sight in his left eye.

“The delay in treatment of Pedro Gonzalez from Nov. 10, 1993, until Nov. 16, 1993, could be viewed by a jury as deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, which is a violation of his civil rights,” according to the report.