Cynthia Goodman
Cynthia Goodman was a kidney dialysis patient who used a wheelchair while held at Lowell Annex, a Florida state prison, where she died on April 5, 2013. A woman held with her told the Miami Herald that Goodman had complained of bleeding from her dialysis port for more than a month, and that she bled heavily in a prison bathroom while staff did not respond quickly. The Marion County Medical Examiner listed the death as natural, citing a ruptured infected hemodialysis shunt. The witness disputes that explanation and says Goodman asked for help repeatedly before she died.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed; neglect alleged). The Marion County Medical Examiner ruled the death natural from a ruptured infected dialysis shunt, but a fellow inmate says Cynthia complained of bleeding from her dialysis port for over a month, bled heavily in a prison bathroom, and that staff did not respond quickly, and she disputes that Cynthia was picking at the port.
Reported by: Florida Department of Corrections (the agency that held her); Marion County Medical Examiner (medical examiner or coroner); fellow inmate.