A lawsuit brought against NSW prisons for alleged shortcomings that led to an Indigenous inmate's asthma attack death has been settled for a confidential sum and will not go to trial.
Nathan Reynolds, who is of Anaiwan and Dunghutti heritage, died in 2018 at the minimum-security Geoffrey Pearce prison in northwest Sydney.
The 36-year-old suffered an acute asthma attack for which he received an inadequate level of medical care, according to the findings of a 2020 inquest.
His widow Karen Pochodyla sued Justice Health NSW and Corrective Services NSW alleging they failed in their duty of care and were negligent before Mr Reynolds' death.
Her NSW Supreme Court lawsuit was settled on August 6 with a confidential sum paid to Ms Pochodyla.
Neither Justice Health NSW nor Corrective Services NSW admitted liability in settling the case.
In court documents seen by AAP, Ms Pochodyla says she, her child with Mr Reynolds and several of her children from a previous relationship were partially financially dependent on him week-to-week.
In its defence, Justice Health NSW admitted several failures to manage Mr Reynolds' asthma but denied that these breaches led to his death.
The state-run prison health service also denied that Ms Pochodyla was entitled to any compensation, saying it was not responsible for the psychological anguish of her or her children.
In the hours leading up to his death in September 2018, Mr Reynolds spoke to Ms Pochodyla over the phone and told her he felt "horrible".
She asked him if he had seen a doctor, to which he replied, "you don’t see doctors around here, nobody gives a s*** about you," according to the coronial findings.
Mr Reynolds initiated an emergency alarm from his cell about 11.27pm that night, telling the corrections officer on duty he was finding it hard to breathe and requesting a nurse.
But rather than immediately contacting a nurse or an ambulance, officers followed what they believed to be protocol, requiring them to assess the situation in person first.
As a result, it took the nurse on duty 22 minutes after the initial call to arrive at Mr Reynolds' side, by which time he was no longer breathing and had no detectable pulse.
"By the time corrective services officers attended Nathan, his condition had rapidly deteriorated," the coroner found.
"The delay deprived Nathan of at least some chance of surviving his acute asthma attack."
The coroner noted it had been "profoundly distressing" for Mr Reynolds' family to hear he did not receive the care he needed.
His identity as an Indigenous man was also acknowledged in the finding, which noted much more needed to be done to meet the health needs of First Nations people in custody.
More than 540 Indigenous people have died in custody nationwide since the end of the Aboriginal deaths in custody royal commission in 1991, according to official data.
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