INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Medical Examiner’s Office has determined that a reaction to a prescription medicine led to the death of a man who was found unconscious and non-responsive in the Sheriff’s Office transport van after being taken from the courthouse to the jail two months ago.
Mitchell Brad Martinez, 37, was taken to Indian River Medical Center and later died. The Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that Martinez had an adverse reaction to a prescription medication, Adderal, which caused him to suffer a cardiac event.
“Our condolences go out to the family,” Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Eric Flowers said at the time of Martinez’s death. He said then that the Sheriff’s Office was continuing its investigation into what happened during the 8-minute ride between the courthouse and the jail. That investigation remains ongoing.
Martinez was placed in an isolated cell in a transport van taking him and seven inmates who were in the larger van hold from the courthouse to the jail on May 29, when Martinez seemingly collapsed and became unresponsive, according to the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.
Though medical personnel began CPR and administering an automated electronic defibrillator – AED – upon finding him unresponsive and unconscious, Martinez was taken to the Indian River Medical Center’s ICU where he was placed on life-support.
