NEWS

Results of state death investigation of teen disputed

Doctor who studied autopsy says boy who was held at STAR Academy did not die how state says he died

Jonathan Ellis
jonellis@argusleader.com
Brady Folkens

A boy who died while in state custody was likely killed by a reaction to a medication that the state gave him, a finding that contradicts the state’s death investigation, according to a doctor who studied the autopsy.

Brady Folkens died in December of 2013 after being flown to Sioux Falls from Custer, where Folkens had been incarcerated at the State Treatment and Rehabilitation Academy. Folkens, 17, was in trouble for skipping school and using marijuana.

Less than two months later, the South Dakota Department of Corrections announced that Folkens died from lymphocytic myocarditis caused by parvovirus B19. The virus, according to the department, is common, usually causing a rash and cold-like symptoms. But in Folkens’ case, the infection spread to his heart, damaging the organ and causing his death.

But Dr. Lars Aanning, a retired surgeon from Yankton who frequently serves as an expert witness on medical cases, reviewed Folkens’ autopsy and medical records. Aanning says the evidence does not point to parvovirus B19 causing the heart damage. Aanning says the heart damage was most likely caused by an autoimmune reaction to minocycline, a medication that Folkens was taking because of acne.

“It’s important for the mother’s closure to get an accurate cause of death – to at least not have a wrong cause of death,” Aanning said.

Infection killed boy at Custer juvenile corrections program

Dawn Van Ballegooyen, Brady’s mother, alleges that the state put him on minocycline, even though Folkens had a bad reaction to the medicine a year earlier.

“I didn’t even know he was on the medication until after he passed,” she said.

Van Ballegooyen researched parvovirus B19 and requested that Dr. Stanley Radio of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, an author of a paper on the subject, to repeat the McKennan autopsy. Radio repeated the autopsy and sent the results to McKennan and Van Ballegooyen. She paid the the bill for his services.

Van Ballegooyen has filed an action against state officials in federal court. But she has not found a lawyer to take the case. A May 25 deadline is approaching for the case to proceed.

Regardless of how he died, Folkens has become a rallying point here and nationally for advocates who argue that people shouldn’t be imprisoned for smoking marijuana. Folkens had also been incarcerated at the State Treatment and Rehabilitation Academy a year earlier, before being sent back in October of 2013 by a judge.

“I begged them to send him to rehab,” Van Ballegooyen said. “They told me that wasn’t an option.”

Michael Winder, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, referred questions to Sioux Falls lawyer Gary Thimsen, who is representing the state. Thimsen said he was prevented by federal law to discuss specifics about Folkens’ medical issues, but he said the state has turned over medical files, counselors’ notes and all other records Van Ballegooyen has sought related to her son.

“There is no record she has sought to which we have said no,” Thimsen said.

Folkens had already been complaining that he wasn’t feeling well in the days before his mother arrived from Brookings for a visit on Dec. 21, 2013. He had suffered from nausea, vomiting and fever. He had been prescribed minocycline on Dec. 10.

On Dec. 21, Folkens’ health quickly deteriorated. After taking a morning dose or minocycline, he was taken to the emergency room at the Custer Regional Hospital. He appeared yellow and his liver was failing.

He ended up on a helicopter to Avera McKennan and he arrived there in critical condition. He was intubated and, as he faded, efforts were made to revive him. Folkens was dead by the time Van Ballegooyen, who had followed the helicopter in her car, arrived at Avera.

The following February, the state announced the cause of death as lymphocytic myocarditis caused by parvovirus B19. The autopsy was performed by Dr. Raed Sulaiman.

Aanning’s review of the autopsy found that a key antibody that should have been present with a parvovirus B19 was not in Folkens’ case. He also found evidence that the results from one test were substituted for the results of another test.

Sulaiman declined to comment on the autopsy.

“I can’t comment on those,” he said.

Teen becomes sick while in custody, dies in hospital

Aanning also noted that the autopsy was conducted without the consent of Folkens’ mother, which should have been required because the state had released custody of Folkens to Van Ballegooyen earlier that day as his health worsened.

In his report, Aanning said that he took the findings to two experts on parvovirus, including a doctor in Germany who agreed with Aanning that if the test for the key antibody was negative, than parvovirus would not have caused Folkens’ heart to fail.

“I think nobody thought that anybody with a tooth’s comb would look over that autopsy report carefully,” Aanning said.

It’s unclear if the report will help Van Ballegooyen in her efforts to bring a lawsuit against the state. She has already won continuances to keep her lawsuit alive while she looks for an attorney, but she’s up against a final deadline in May.

“I just don’t know how to go in and represent myself,” she said.

Follow reporter Jonathan Ellis on Twitter @argusjellis.