WA to pay $4.5M after inmate dies of untreated bladder cancer at Stafford Creek

Washington has agreed to pay $4.5 million to the estate of a 69-year-old man, Gordon Crockett, who died from bladder cancer while incarcerated at Stafford Creek Corrections Center.

Crockett was in prison for first-degree murder, but endured symptoms of bladder cancer for roughly two years before officials at the prison diagnosed him with the disease, and found it had spread to his spine, according to The Seattle Times.

“DOC never provided Mr. Crockett with timely anti-cancer treatment,” according to a lawsuit filed last year, obtained by The Seattle Times. “If not for DOC’s negligent acts, Mr. Crockett would have survived to see his release from prison.”

Crockett’s death follows a pattern of cancer cases mishandled in WA prisons

Crockett’s death occurred despite a review of prison healthcare and cancer deaths by the state corrections ombuds in 2021. Eleven cases were reviewed where treatment had either been delayed or not provided, which led to prisoners’ deaths.

One case in 2024 resulted in Washington paying a $9.9 million settlement to a woman who had cervical cancer, which grew terminal after prison doctors failed to diagnose and treat the disease.

The state paid $3.75 million in 2022 to the family of a man who died at Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC). This individual’s cancer was left untreated despite urgent requests to be examined. In 2025, $6 million was paid by Washington to the family of a man who died of liver cancer at MCC.

“The Department of Corrections has known for years that its approach to diagnosing and treating cancer in prison is ineffective,” Crockett’s Seattle attorney, Dan Fiorito III, told The Seattle Times. “And Gordon Crockett is one more person who paid for that with his life.”

Crockett sought medical attention for his symptoms of bladder cancer in March 2021. His symptoms included frequent urination, pain during urination, and intermittent lower urinary tract symptoms, according to court documents.

Nearly one year later, in February 2022, medical records documented moderate to large amounts of blood in Crockett’s urine on various occasions. Prison healthcare providers attributed his symptoms to benign prostate enlargement and did not refer him to a urological specialist for months, according to The Seattle Times.

Months of dismissed symptoms gave way to a diagnosis that came too late

In October 2022, imaging discovered a bladder mass “concerning for transitional cell carcinoma,” and it took roughly three months for him to receive a cystoscopy. In January 2023, by the time Crockett was diagnosed with cancer, he was suffering from back pain from the cancer, which had spread to his spine.

“Mr. Crockett endured months of excruciating metastatic spinal pain, underwent emergency spinal surgery […] and developed a postoperative septic spinal wound infection, contracted hospital-acquired pneumonia, and died in palliative care,” Fiorito said, according to The Seattle Times. “All of this suffering should have been prevented. With timely diagnosis and treatment, he would more likely than not have lived at least another five years.”

Fiorito also said a prison mortality review committee uncovered “systemic failures” during its review process, which included the prostate enlargement and delays in treatment after the suspicions of cancer arose.

“The DOC’s own committee admitted that its systems and providers failed catastrophically, turning a curable cancer into a death sentence,” Fiorito told The Seattle Times.

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