$3 Million Settlement for Mentally Ill Oregon Prisoner Who Died From Untreated Flu

Michael Barton was 54 years old and serving a 30-month sentence at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem when he contracted influenza B in January 2018. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, a brain injury, and hallucinations. Those conditions made him unable to perform basic tasks independently, including turning off faucets or opening unlocked doors.

Barton asked repeatedly for medical care as his illness progressed. Prison staff denied him infirmary admission. According to the lawsuit and a subsequent Disability Rights Oregon investigation, staff documented diminished lung sounds, low oxygen saturation, and falling blood pressure but wrote no treatment notes. Instead, staff characterized his distress as defiance and manipulative malingering. ODOC also failed to offer him the 2017-2018 flu vaccine. He never received antiviral treatment.

By February 6, 2018, Barton was unresponsive and incontinent in his cell. He was transported by ambulance to Salem Health, where he was pronounced dead. The medical examiner attributed his death to influenza B progressing to MRSA pneumonia, empyema, sepsis, septic shock, and multi-system organ failure. No autopsy was ordered by the prison, and the lawsuit alleged that the state disposed of his body and destroyed evidence surrounding his death.

Barton's brother, Stephen Brown, retained Bryan Dawson of Dawson Law Group. In January 2020, Dawson filed a $15 million wrongful death complaint in Marion County Circuit Court, alleging negligence, civil rights violations, disability discrimination, and evidence spoliation. The case was later removed to federal court. Disability Rights Oregon, which had investigated and documented Barton's death, supported the litigation.

On August 19, 2020, the parties reached a settlement totaling $3 million: $2.75 million from the State of Oregon and $250,000 from physician's assistant Karyn Guido personally. Oregon Corrections Director Colette Peters issued a public apology, stating that Barton's death was "needless and preventable" and should never have happened to anyone in state custody. Dawson noted that ODOC managers testified his death prompted internal reforms, though inmates reported they had not seen meaningful changes on the ground.

The $3 million total was, at the time, the largest settlement ever paid by the Oregon Department of Corrections.