CSC Finds CO Hopeful Wrongly Disqualified Due to Blood Ailment

The city Civil Service Commission has reversed a medical determination made by the Correction Department that a Correction Officer candidate was unqualified for medical reasons due to high blood pressure after concluding the test was flawed.

Attorney Jerold E. Levine, who represented David Donegan, said it was "rare" for the commission to overturn an agency ruling based on outside medical tests. "The thing that is most interesting to me is usually the agency doctor is given more weight," he said. "You almost never see a medical case go this way."

Had Elevated Heart Rate

The Civil Service Commission concluded that there were "factual issues" regarding the disqualification that needed resolving. Mr. Donegan, who works unloading trucks at Lowe's Home Improvement, registered an elevated heart rate of 106 beats per minute after physical exertion. The eight-year military veteran was diagnosed with mild eschemia, indicating he was not getting enough blood to the heart. He was not allowed to join the department.

An outside doctor performed a stress test on Mr. Donegan that is 75 to 90 percent accurate. Dr. Paul Diggs, the aspiring Correction Officer's physician, concluded Mr. Donegan had hypertension but noted that it was not particularly severe and could be brought under control with one prescription medication for more than a year. The doctor testified that the stress test was not always conclusive. A CT scan showed no blockage.

The Civil Service Commission ruled in Mr. Donegan's favor. "Although [he] has hypertension, there is sufficient evidence in the medical records and testimony that his blood pressure has been controlled for at least one year and that [Mr. Donegan] is not suffering from any side effects from the medication," the decision stated, noting that a stress test is not definitive. The panel said he was medically suited to be a Correction Officer.