A private medical company running health care in Delaware's prisons has settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Anthony Pierce, a 21-year-old inmate known by cellmates as "the brother with two heads."

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Pierce was serving 14 months for a parole violation stemming from a burglary charge when a small lump appeared on the back of his head. At the time, a prison doctor employed by St. Louis-based Correctional Medical Services said the marble-size lump was most likely a cyst or an ingrown hair.

The tumor kept growing, though, and on March 22, 2002, Pierce died from a "brain tumor, due to osteosarcoma of the skull," according to an autopsy report.

On behalf of Pierce's estate and his daughter Sardia, Dover attorney Steve Hampton filed suit against CMS on Sept. 29, 2004. The lawsuit had been scheduled for a jury trial next month.

Hampton said Monday the case was "resolved to the satisfaction of all parties."

"We'll get the necessary court approvals and the case will be finalized," Hampton said.

In a story about the case published by The News Journal on Sept. 25, the first day of a four-day series on inmate health care, Ken Fields, a spokesman for CMS, said the company "vigorously" disputes the claims made by Hampton in the suit.

"We can affirmatively tell you that [Pierce] was seen frequently by health care staff that took his care seriously," Fields wrote in a statement faxed to The News Journal. "To view it retrospectively, using information that was not available to the caregivers at the time, takes this out of context."

Reached late Monday, Fields said: "I have no information on that particular matter, however health care providers often resolve litigation to avoid the ongoing cost of litigation and the resources that may be required to fight litigation."

Earlier this year, Delaware Correction Commissioner Stan Taylor awarded CMS a no-bid $25.9 million contract to replace outgoing prison medical contractor First Correctional Medical of Tucson, Ariz. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner approved the deal, although she called the CMS deal an extension of the old contract.

Near the end of Pierce's life, the tumor stretched the skin around his face, pulling his right eye closed, causing muscle spasms and crippling pain.

Pierce's death was never reported to the public or to federal prison regulators by the Department of Correction because he was released to his family before brain cancer killed him.