As jury selection continued Friday for trial of a man’s claim that deputies could have prevented him from gouging his eyes out during a psychotic breakdown in the Men’s Central Jail in 2014, his attorneys announced that they had settled his claims against the doctor that allegedly prescribed him the drug Chantix.
Attorney Hermez Moreno, on behalf of plaintiff Michael Shabis, said the resolution with Dr. Philip Cogen, who worked at Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA, leaves Los Angeles County as the lone defendant in the case. Shabsis previously settled with Pfizer Inc., the maker of Chantix.
The settlement terms with Pfizer and Cogen were not divulged.
Shabsis, now 33, filed his lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court in December 2014, alleging that his breakdown occurred “in part or in whole” because he was taking the anti-smoking drug.
The jury will be tasked with deciding if sheriff’s deputies knew or should have known that Shabis was in need of medical care after suffering a hip injury before gouging out his eyes on Jan. 2, 2014. Shabsis’ lawyers maintain deputies in the Twin Towers jail were negligent and ignored his pleas for help. The lawyers further contend that if Shabsis has been assisted with his hip injury right away, he could have been prevented from mutilating himself later. They also allege his civil rights were violated.
Lawyers for the county maintain there is no evidence of negligence on the part of deputies.
Judge Daniel Murphy previously dismissed former Sheriff Lee Baca as a defendant, saying his presence in the case was “redundant” because Shabsis also is suing Los Angeles County. The judge also dismissed Shabsis’ claims against the University of California Board of Regents.