Michael Tarver filed a federal lawsuit alleging that he lost his left leg due to negligent medical treatment by the prison doctor and the state of Georgia settles the case for $550,000.
Tarver is a 55-year-old diabetic inmate serving a life sentence for murdering a convenience store clerk in 1994. He says he plans to donate most of the money to family members.
Tarver’s federal lawsuit claims that the medical director at Macon State Prison, Dr. Chiquita Fye-65, was deliberately indifferent to his injury as he suffered for months in the prison infirmary, which violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting governments from imposing cruel and inhuman punishment.