NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers filed a legal claim against New York City on Tuesday, claiming he is receiving substandard medical treatment in unsanitary conditions while in custody at Rikers Island.
The claim, which is the first step in filing a lawsuit, accuses the institution of failing to manage the former movie mogul’s medical conditions, including chronic myelogenous leukemia and diabetes, and negligence ranging from ‘freezing’ conditions to a lack of clean clothing.
The city’s Law Department and Department of Correction did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“When I last visited him, I found him with blood spattered on his prison clothes, possibly from IVs, clothes that had not been washed in weeks, and he had not even been given clean underwear – hardly sanitary conditions for someone with serious medical conditions “Weinstein’s attorney, Imran H. Ansari, said in a statement, likening the facility to a “gulag.”
Legal claim says Weinstein returned to Rikers too soon after hospitalizations
Weinstein, 72, has been in city arrest since the beginning of this yearnext an appeals court ruling that overturned his 2020 rape conviction in the state. The case will be tried again in 2025. Weinstein does denied any wrongdoing.
Weinstein was was briefly hospitalized in April And again in July for health problems. His team has said he has been treated for diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, COVID-19 and fluid in his heart and lungs.
The legal claim, which seeks $5 million in damages, alleges he was returned to Rikers each time before making a full recovery.
Weinstein’s film production company went bankrupt after his conviction and set up a $17 million fund for sexual misconduct claims.
Rikers Island Jail will close in 2027but the city does deadlines for this have been postponed.
