Iowa regulators have sanctioned a second state-employed nurse in the 2025 death of an inmate at the Newton Correctional Facility.
In October 2025, the Iowa Board of Nursing charged two Department of Corrections nurses — Penny Lynn Daniels of Newton and David Arterburn of Altoona — with committing an act that might adversely affect a patient’s welfare; failing to assess or accurately document a patient’s status; and committing an act that causes physical, emotional or financial injury to a patient.
According to the board, Daniels worked for the state at the Newton Correctional Facility in September 2024 when she failed to provide an inmate with adequate medical care. The board alleges other medical personnel informed Daniels of the inmate’s “worsening symptoms,” which included fever, nausea and vomiting. According to the board, she added electrolyte fluid to his medication order but did not assess his condition and informed others that the inmate had a virus. The inmate died a short time later from a perforated ulcer.
The board resolved the disciplinary case against Daniels with a settlement agreement that called for her license to be suspended for three months. Daniels was also ordered to complete educational training in the area of ethics and maintaining professional boundaries with patients.
Daniels’ license was also placed on probationary status for three years, during which her practice will be subject to monitoring.
More recently, the board agreed to a settlement in the Arterburn case. In that case, the board alleged that Arterburn did not assess or provide medical care to the inmate, even after colleagues made him aware of the inmate’s declining condition. Arterburn, the board added, also did not document any of the calls related to the inmate until after he learned of the inmate’s death.
As part of the settlement, the board has suspended Arterburn’s license for six months and ordered him to complete an unspecified number of hours of educational training on maintaining professional boundaries and ethics. After the suspension is served, Arterburn’s license will be placed on probationary status for three years.
Lawsuit alleges inaction led to death
Court records indicate the two disciplinary cases stem from the September 2025 death of Malga Harun Yanga at the Newton Correctional Facility.
A civil lawsuit filed by Yanga’s estate against Daniels, Arterburn, the State of Iowa and others, alleges Yanga had a week-long history of stomach pain, diarrhea and vomiting blood by the time he twice saw Daniels on Sept. 3, 2024.
By that time, the lawsuit claims, Yanga had “vomited such a large amount of blood, it was all over his hands and the floor of his cell and multiple inmates had to clean it up.” The lawsuit alleges Daniels was informed that Yanga continued to vomit blood, was unable to speak, had severe abdominal pain, and could not walk — and that Daniels did not perform any additional nursing assessments or request a physician assessment.
About 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2024, a cellmate of Yanga’s banged on the door and yelled for help from correctional officers, saying Yanga was unresponsive, seizing and making “jerking, twitching” movements. The lawsuit alleges a correctional officer refused the cellmate’s request for medical attention by stating Yanga had already been to the medical clinic and “we’re not taking him again.”
At 5 a.m., Yanga’s cellmate again called out for help, after which corrections officers found Yanga unresponsive. The officers allegedly initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation before pronouncing Yanga dead about 45 minutes later.
The defendants in the civil case have denied any wrongdoing. The case is scheduled to be tried on May 4, 2027.
The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach Daniels and Arterburn for comment.
