Named as defendants are Utah Department of Corrections Warden Scott Crowther; Richard Garden, the department's Clinical Services Bureau director; medical workers at the prison; University of Utah Health Care, which provides dialysis at the prison through the South Valley Dialysis Center; and clinic employees, including two technicians who allegedly were involved in a scheduling mix-up.

Brooke Adams, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, said Thursday that she could not comment.

"We have not officially received nor had a chance to review the filing since we just learned about it tonight," Adams said. "In addition, our internal investigation is still ongoing."

Ramon Estrada, 62, died April 5 of apparent cardiac arrest due to renal failure, according to a statement by the Department of Corrections.

The inmate, who missed scheduled dialysis, was just weeks away from being released on parole after nearly a decade in prison on a rape conviction."

He talked about the importance of his dialysis treatments in a 2008 parole hearing.

"I'm getting very sick and very ill," Estrada said, "and if I hadn't gotten into that program, I wouldn't be here right now."

Six other inmates also missed their on-site dialysis treatments and were taken to a hospital for evaluation. One was hospitalized overnight, three received dialysis and returned to the prison, and two were found to not need dialysis immediately.

A University of Utah Health Care investigation found that a technician had agreed to switch shifts with a co-worker and take the April 3 and 4 appointments. But although the techs both noted the change on a communications log at the prison, the tech who agreed to cover the shifts failed to note the change on his personal calendar, investigators found, and did not go to the prison.

Then, prison nurses apparently did not try to contact the dialysis center for at least two days after the tech began missing appointments, according to the investigation.

University of Utah Health Care did not have a comment on the law suit but has previously said that it deeply regrets the scheduling error and that the relationship between the missed dialysis session and Estrada's death is under investigation.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC

...