Harvey Weinstein was taken to Bellevue Hospital for “emergency treatment due to an alarming blood test result that requires immediate medical attention,” according to his lawyer.
“It is expected that he will remain there until his condition stabilizes,” attorney Imran Ansari said in a statement.
The test was taken at Rikers Island, where the disgraced movie mogul, who was diagnosed with leukemia in October, is awaiting a new trial for multiple sexual assault charges.
Ansari told TMZ the “condition is treatable.”
Weinstein’s “been suffering from a lack of adequate medical care and enduring deplorable and inhumane conditions on Rikers Island,” according to Ansari.
“His deprivation of care is not only medical malpractice, but a violation of his constitutional rights.”
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An aerial view of the Rikers Island prison complex. (Photo by Debra L. Rothenberg/Getty Images)
Weinstein sued the Department of Corrections last week over his medical treatment and the unhygienic conditions at Rikers, claiming his condition has worsened at the facility.
“Mr. Weinstein, who is suffering from a number of illnesses, including leukemia, has been deprived the medical attention that someone in his medical state deserves, prisoner or not,” spokesman Juda Engelmayer said in a statement. “In many ways, this mistreatment constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.”
Weinstein, 72, was transferred to Rikers from the Mohawk Correctional Facility in July after contracting pneumonia and COVID-19 and was previously rushed to Bellevue in September for emergency heart surgery. His past diagnoses have been for diabetes, coronary artery disease and sleep apnea.
Weinstein was originally convicted of sexual assault in New York City in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years; that conviction was overturned on appeal in April. He is also currently appealing a rape conviction in Los Angeles, where he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Weinstein is next due in court in New York on Jan. 29.
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