Mercy Health lawsuit closer to final after Board of Commmissioners vote Friday

Lorain County officials took another step toward finalizing an agreement to bring to an end a lawsuit by Mercy Health Hospital in Lorain against the county, several of its current and former officials, the city of Lorain and several of its current officials. The Board of Commissioners on Friday voted unanimously to sign documents settling the lawsuit. The board is not alleged to have done anything wrong and doesn't have to pay anything as part of the settlement, but still has to sign off on it. Even with Friday's vote, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Leigh Prugh told the board the suit "is not quite settled yet." "We are trying to work out the details of the settlement to the degree there's no disparagement of the parties," she said, declining to comment further publicly. "I wish all the suits were that quick and easy," Commissioner David Moore, a Republican, said with a chuckle. "We did have a magistrate who worked very hard to make sure that the matter did end up getting settled," Prugh told him. "We did spend about 15 to 16 hours in a courtroom at one point. That's about all I want to say though." The hearing Prugh referenced was March 3 in U.S. District Court in Cleveland and lasted 15 hours, according to federal court records. U.S. Magistrate Judge Reuben Sheperd held an in-person meeting with Mercy Health Lorain representatives, including hospital President Dr. Gil Palmer, Dr. Alok Jain and their attorneys; city of Lorain representatives, including Police Chief James McCann, Safety/Service Director Rey Carrion, Law Director Patrick Riley, Assistant Law Director Joseph LaVeck and their attorneys; Prugh, attorney/former assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Nicholas Hanek, former county prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson and Assistant Prosecutor Matt Kern, according to court records. "The parties, after extensive discussion and negotiations, were able to reach an agreement in principle in all matters," according to federal court records. The parties were ordered to let the court know they had reached a final agreement within 30 days, or by April 3. A copy of the full settlement agreement has yet to be released by any of the parties involved in the dispute. The Chronicle-Telegram has officially requested public officials do so when it is finalized. Background The lawsuit regarded the city of Lorain and McCann's reaction to the hospital's alleged failure to comply with two search warrants ordered by Common Pleas judges in August 2024. Tony Harris was in police custody, and they suspected he had drugs hidden in his rectum. He was taken to Mercy Health Hospital in Lorain and over the next two days officers served hospital staff with the search warrants. Citing medical ethics and the advice of its legal counsel, Mercy Health refused to honor the warrants signed by former Judge James Miraldi and Judge Christopher Rothgery. No drugs were found, nor was it ever confirmed there were any drugs inside Harris, who was released on a summons to appear in court. He has since pleaded not guilty in Common Pleas Court to charges of felony evidence tampering and obstructing official business in connection with the case. Mercy Health, Palmer and Jain sued McCann, the city of Lorain and Lorain County alleging violations of its right to free exercise of religion, due process and equal protection violations and retaliation, among other claims. McCann then terminated the hospital's seven-year-old security police operating agreement with the city effective Jan. 1 — allegedly in retaliation for its refusal to comply with the search warrants, though McCann and other city officials denied that allegations and the other allegations in Mercy Health's lawsuit. Last year, Kern asked Miraldi to hold the hospital and its doctors in criminal contempt for refusing to comply with the search warrants. The hospital fought back, and newly elected Judge Giovanna Bremke heard legal arguments during a six-hour hearing Feb. 27. Kern and the Prosecutor's Office asked Bremke to dismiss the criminal contempt charge on March 4, and she did without issuing a ruling in the case. The Prosecutor's Office and Mercy Health reached an agreement March 6 on how to handle future body cavity search requests. When it receives a search warrant, Mercy Health will figure out if it has the bed capacity to do body cavity searches, and doctors will have the sole discretion on the best way to do the search — as well as whether it conforms to medical standards of care or ethical and religious directives. That separate agreement also requires doctors to get informed consent from a person before any cavity search. "Informed consent" is defined by the American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics as a process that "occurs when communication between a patient and physician results in the patient's authorization or agreement to undergo a specific medical intervention." If Mercy Health or one of its doctors finds those requirements can't be met, its chief medical offficer and legal counsel will be told. Hospital legal counsel will then tell the county prosecutor, who will contact the judge that issued the search warrant, according to the agreement. Mercy Health is a private, Catholic Church-affiliated health system that operates the only hospital in Lorain. It also has a hospital in Oberlin. Mercy Health and its doctors or officials will not be held liable in court for exercising a conscience-based objection to a body cavity search, according to the March 6 agreement. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.