Harvey Weinstein accuses Rikers Island of substandard medical therapy, unhygienic situations in authorized declare

NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein’s legal professionals filed a authorized declare Tuesday in opposition to New York Metropolis, alleging that he’s receiving substandard medical therapy in unhygienic situations whereas in custody at Rikers Island.

The discover of declare, which is step one in submitting a lawsuit, accuses the ability of failing to handle the previous film mogul’s medical situations, which embody power myeloid leukemia and diabetes, and negligence starting from “freezing” situations to an absence of fresh garments.

The town’s regulation division and Division of Correction didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

“Once I final visited him, I discovered him with blood spatter on his jail garb, probably from IV’s, garments that had not been washed for weeks, and he had not even been offered clear underwear – hardly sanitary situations for somebody with extreme medical situations,” Weinstein’s lawyer, Imran H. Ansari, mentioned in an announcement, evaluating the ability to a “gulag.”

Authorized declare says Weinstein returned to Rikers too quickly after hospitalizations

Weinstein, 72, has been in metropolis custody since earlier this yr, following an appeals court docket ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction within the state. The case is about to be retried in 2025. Weinstein has denied any wrongdoing.

Weinstein was briefly hospitalized in April and once more in July for well being issues. His crew has mentioned he is been handled for diabetes, hypertension, spinal stenosis, COVID-19, and fluid on his coronary heart and lungs.

The authorized declare, which seeks $5 million in damages, argues he’d been returned to Rikers every time earlier than he had totally recovered.

Weinstein’s movie manufacturing firm went out of business proceedings after his convictions, organising a $17 million fund for a sexual misconduct claims fund.

The Rikers Island jail is slated to be closed in 2027, however the metropolis has pushed again deadlines to take action.