Inmate sues over brain tumor care at Oshkosh prison

An inmate at Oshkosh Correctional Institution claims in a new lawsuit he received inadequate medical care for a brain tumor.

Daniel Franzen filed a federal lawsuit last month against four health services workers. In the complaint, he says doctors identified a tumor on the back of his brain and that staff have failed to order a biopsy or provide appropriate treatment for his worsening symptoms.

The suit claims he is experiencing blackouts, weakness and blindness in one eye. Franzen is representing himself in the case but has filed a motion seeking legal counsel that says he’s reached out to four attorneys asking them to handle his case.

Online court records show the Oshkosh Correctional staff are receiving legal representation from the state Department of Justice. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Franzen is serving a prison sentence after he was found guilty of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime in 2022. According to online court records, he was sentenced in July 2022 to five years of initial confinement and five years of extended supervision.

In late August, Franzen claims he began stuttering and experiencing weakness in his left side and chest pains. He claims he was misdiagnosed with migraines.

The next month, Franzen experienced severe chest and head pain, nausea, weakness and memory loss and “still had not seen a specialist,” court documents state.

He says he was taken to the hospital several times in September.

The suit claims Franzen blacked out several times that month, with medical staff doing little to help him.

In October 2025, he allegedly lost vision in both eyes, though vision later returned in his left eye. His right eye “is still blurry to this day,” the lawsuit states. That month, the lawsuit says Franzen “was diagnosed with … a brain tumor.”

Medical records attached to the complaint show that an MRI in October 2025, identified a small, likely benign brain tumor. The records indicate that a biopsy was not deemed medically necessary, and the recommended plan was to monitor the mass with follow-up imaging.

In November, Franzen was moved to the Health Services Unit’s Short Term Care Unit, court documents say.

According to the lawsuit, prison health staff have all stated that Franzen’s brain tumor is asymptomatic. He alleges the workers have all been “deliberately indifferent” to his “serious medical needs.”

Franzen says he is now “walking with a walker” and experiencing confusion, extreme weakness, loss of vision in his right eye and hearing loss in his right ear.

Franzen claims staff have refused to order a biopsy of his brain tumor and continue to provide treatment that is not helping him, while also denying that his symptoms are caused by the tumor.

His cellmate and another inmate each filed statements in court about Franzen’s condition, claiming to verify his account of his symptoms.

“I’ve watched Mr. Franzen go from working in maintenance fixing things to not being able to stand on his own two feet without the assistance of me or a walker,” cellmate Jeffery Johnson wrote.

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections, which oversees the state’s prisons, did not immediately respond to WPR’s request for comment.

In a statement to WBAY-TV, the Department of Corrections said it cannot comment on any individual’s medical treatment but said the agency’s primary care providers “routinely perform cancer screenings.”

“If a concern is found, a DOC primary care provider will refer a person in our care to an oncologist or other appropriate specialist in the community for further testing and treatment as needed,” the statement read. “Our health care staff strives to provide the same level of care to incarcerated individuals as is available in the community.”

Franzen is asking the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to order proper treatment for his tumor, declare that the lack of care violated his constitutional rights and award $10 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages against each defendant.