AUBURN – The state’s highest court has rejected an appeal from a former inmate who claims the Androscoggin County Jail discriminated against him by refusing to give him medication five times a day.

Jon Scott, of Van Buren, filed two lawsuits against the Auburn jail in 2002.

The suits sought damages for the pain and anguish he claimed to have suffered as a result of only getting three daily doses of medication to treat his depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

He claimed that veering off his medication schedule caused him to suffer severe problems that prevented him from participating in jail programs such as recreation, outdoor exercise and meals.

The jail’s policy is to administer medication only three times a day – at 8 a.m., 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. – unless the inmate’s condition presents a proven clinical or scientific reason to do otherwise.

After consulting with medical professionals, including Scott’s physician, jail administrators refused to bend the policy for Scott, saying they had no credible evidence to prove that taking the medication three times a day harmed him in any way.

A Superior Court judge sided with the state and granted summary judgments in both cases, which means the judge ruled against Scott without holding a trial.

The judge’s decision was based in part on the jail’s argument that Scott’s claims of suffering physical withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, headaches and fatigue were unfounded, based on observations made by the jail guards.

Scott immediately appealed the decision to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

The state’s top judges issued a ruling Tuesday. They rejected the appeal after concluding that the jail took proper steps by contacting Scott’s physician. They also questioned the validity of Scott’s withdrawal symptoms.

“Because Scott does not point to facts that show he was intentionally treated differently because of his disability, or that he was treated with deliberate indifference, he failed to establish a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Maine Human Rights Act,” the ruling states.

A former paralegal for the state of Maine, Scott was convicted in October 1999 of furnishing marijuana. After that, he served three additional brief sentences at the Auburn jail for violating the terms of his probation.

His two lawsuits stemmed from his stays in July 2000 and September 2000.