Jefferson Hospital patient claims security guard dragged him out of cafeteria

PHILADELPHIA - A Jefferson Hospital patient says he went to the cafeteria to grab lunch, but instead he claims he was grabbed by a security guard and dragged out.

"I had no strength to defend myself,” Jemel Minor told FOX 29. “I was already in a lot of pain going down to get my lunch, so there's no way I could have posed a threat or anything.” 

Minor says he was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia at a young age. He is frail and thin to this day. He says he had been seeing doctors at Jefferson for 16 years.

“How is this allowed to happen to a patient at a hospital?” asked attorney Donte Mills.

Mills gave FOX 29 the hospital surveillance video after he filed for it in a Philadelphia court. He says nurses were looking for the patient and asked a security guard to bring him back to his room. 

“The officer grabs my client. You see him throw him down, drags him by his shirt to a blind spot in the video camera,” Mills said. “And starts to assault him, punches him multiple times.” 

Mills says the cafeteria was full of witnesses when it happened in April of 2016. Minor was waiting for a procedure, but after the incident, the hospital discharged him the very next day. Now, they have filed a lawsuit for excessive force. 

A spokesperson for the hospital tells FOX 29, "The security officer is still employed at Jefferson. We will not make a comment on pending litigation."

The patient and his lawyer want the hospital to change their protocol and protect future patients. 

“I don’t ever want to see another patient go through that, especially when you are coming in to get treatment,” Minor said.

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