Coleman v. STATE SUPREME COURT

• Decision Date: 17 March 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09 Civ. 1072(VM).,09 Civ. 1072(VM).
• Citation: 697 F. Supp.2d 493
• Parties: Jason COLEMAN, Plaintiff, v. STATE SUPREME COURT, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

697 F. Supp.2d 493

Jason COLEMAN, Plaintiff, v. STATE SUPREME COURT, et al., Defendants.

No. 09 Civ. 1072(VM).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

March 17, 2010.

Jason Coleman, New York, NY, pro se.

Bertrand Rolf Madsen, U.S. Attorney's Office, John D. Winter, Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler LLP, Jacqueline Hui, New York City Law Department, Samuel Joseph Abate, Jr., Pepper Hamilton, LLP, Andrew Ian Kaplan, Aaronson Rappaport Feinstein & Deutsch, LLP, New York, NY, for Defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

VICTOR MARRERO, District Judge.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Jason Coleman ("Coleman") brought this action alleging violations of his rights under the federal and New York State Constitutions, as well as New York common law claims, arising from his placement in a program of assisted outpatient treatment with a requirement to self-administer psychotropic drugs or accept the administration of such drugs, pursuant to a court order under Section 9.60 of the New York Mental Hygiene Law ("§ 9.60").

By Order dated February 25, 2010, Magistrate Judge Frank Maas, to whom this matter had been referred for supervision of pretrial proceedings, issued a Report and Recommendation (the "Report"), a copy of which is attached and incorporated herein, finding that § 9.60 does not violate the federal or New York State Constitutions and that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Coleman's claims against the FDA, and recommending that defendants' motions to dismiss the complaint be granted as to Coleman's federal and New York State constitutional claims. The Report also recommends that the Court dismiss Coleman's products liability claims against Eli Lilly and Company as implausible. The Report further recommends that the Court not exercise pendent jurisdiction over Coleman's remaining state law causes of action and that those claims be dismissed without prejudice. Finally, the Report recommends that Coleman's motion for reconsideration of the Court's denial of his motion for a judgment by default against defendant State Supreme Court Part of Mental Health Hygiene ("MHH")¹ be denied. Coleman has filed no objections to the Report though the deadline for such submission was March 15, 2010. For the reasons stated below, the Court adopts the recommendations of the Report in their entirety.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A district court evaluating a magistrate judge's report may adopt those portions of the report to which no "specific, written objection" is made, as long as the factual and legal bases supporting the findings and conclusions set forth in those sections are not clearly erroneous or contrary to law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b); see also Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 149, 106 S.Ct. 466, 88 L.Ed.2d 435 (1985); Greene v. WCI Holdings Corp., 956 F.Supp. 509, 513 (S.D.N.Y. 1997). "Where a party makes a `specific written objection . . . after being served with a copy of the magistrate judge's recommended disposition,' however, the district court is required to make a de novo determination regarding those parts of the report." Cespedes v. Coughlin, 956 F.Supp. 454, 463 (S.D.N.Y.1997) (citing United States v. Raddatz, 447 U.S. 667, 676, 100 S.Ct. 2406, 65 L.Ed.2d 424 (1980)); Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b). The Court is not required to review any portion of a magistrate judge's report that is not the subject of an objection. See Thomas, 474 U.S. at 149, 106 S.Ct. 466. A district judge may accept, set aside, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings and recommendations of the magistrate judge as to such matters. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b); DeLuca v. Lord, 858 F.Supp. 1330, 1345 (S.D.N.Y.1994).

III. DISCUSSION

Having conducted a full review of the full factual record in this litigation, including the pleadings, and the parties' respective papers submitted in connection with the underlying motions and in this proceeding, as well as the Report and applicable legal authorities, the Court concludes that the findings, reasoning, and legal support for the recommendations made in Report are not clearly erroneous or contrary to applicable law. Accordingly, for substantially the reasons set forth in the Report the Court adopts the Report's factual and legal analyses and determinations, as well as its substantive recommendations, in their entirety as the Court's ruling on defendants' underlying motions to dismiss Coleman's complaint.

IV. ORDER

For the reasons discussed above, it is hereby

ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation of Magistrate Judge Frank Maas dated February 25, 2010 (Docket No. 55) is adopted in its entirety, and the motions of defendants City of New York (Docket No. 14), Food and Drug Administration (Docket No. 39), Eli Lilly and Company (Docket No. 42) and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Docket No. 50), to dismiss the complaint of plaintiff Jason Coleman ("Coleman") are GRANTED in full; and that the motion of defendant Bellevue Hospital Center (Docket No. 36) is GRANTED in respect of Coleman's constitutional claims; and it is further ORDERED that Coleman's motion for reconsideration of the Court's denial of his application for entry of a default judgment against defendant State Supreme Court Part of Mental Health Hygiene (Docket No. 48) is DENIED; and it is finally

ORDERED that Coleman's remaining state law claims are dismissed without prejudice.

The Clerk of Court is directed to withdraw any pending motions and to close this case.

SO ORDERED.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION TO THE HONORABLE VICTOR MARRERO

FRANK MAAS, United States Magistrate Judge.

In this case, pro se plaintiff Jason Coleman ("Coleman"), who has been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, challenges the constitutionality of his placement in a program of assisted outpatient treatment ("AOT") pursuant to a court order issued under Section 9.60 of the New York Mental Hygiene Law ("Section 9.60"), more commonly known as "Kendra's Law." Coleman also contends that he experienced harmful side effects from the antipsychotic medications the court order required him to take. He seeks to recover a total of $245 million in damages from seven defendants: the City of New York ("City"), the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA"), Eli Lilly and Company ("Lilly"), Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Ortho"),¹ Saint Luke's Hospital ("St. Luke's"), Bellevue Hospital Center ("Bellevue"), and the Mental Hygiene Part ("MHP") of the New York State Supreme Court.² (See Docket No. 1 (Compl. ¶¶ IV-V & Attach. ¶¶ 3(5), 5)).

The City, Bellevue, and Lilly each have moved to dismiss Coleman's complaint for failure to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (Docket Nos. 14, 36, 42). Additionally, the FDA has moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1), and Ortho has moved for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Rule 12(c). (Docket Nos. 39, 50). Finally, Coleman seeks reconsideration of this Court's prior denial of his motion for a default judgment against MHP and Bellevue. (Docket No. 48). (St. Luke's has not filed any motion.)

For the reasons set forth below, I recommend that the motions filed by the defendants be granted in part and denied in part, and that Coleman's motion for reconsideration be denied. Additionally, because this disposition means that only state law claims will remain in this suit, I recommend that those claims be dismissed without prejudice.

I. Background

A. Kendra's Law

In 1999, the New York State legislature enacted Section 9.60 following the tragic death of Kendra Webdale, who was pushed in front of a subway train by a man diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia who had failed to take his medications. See N.Y.S. Senate Mem. in Supp. of Kendra's Law, reproduced in 1999 N.Y. Sess. Laws 1822, 1825 (McKinney); In re K.L., 1 N.Y.3d 362, 366, 774 N.Y.S.2d 472, 806 N.E.2d 480 (2004). The legislature subsequently extended the statute, with certain modifications, for five additional years past its original June 30, 2005 sunset date. See 2005 N.Y. Sess. Laws 137, 158 (McKinney). Section 9.60 authorizes the New York courts to require that a patient "self-administer psychotropic drugs or accept the administration of such drugs by authorized personnel." (N.Y. Mental Health Law ("MHL") § 9.60G) (4). This outpatient program has a number of components, including case management or case coordination services, medication, substance abuse counseling and testing, and therapy. See id. § 9.60(a)(1).

For a court to order AOT, an eligible petitioner—who may be a family member, director of a hospital where the patient is hospitalized, parole officer, social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, or county social services officer—must show by clear and convincing evidence that seven statutory criteria have been met. Id. § 9.60(e)(1), (j)(3). These criteria are that the individual:

• is eighteen years of age or older;

• is suffering from a mental illness;

• is unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision;

• has a history of noncompliance with treatment for mental illness that prior to the filing of the petition has:

— been a significant factor in necessitating hospitalization at least twice within the last thirty-six months, or

— resulted within the last forty-eight months in one or more acts of serious violent behavior toward himself or others, or threats of, or attempts at, serious physical harm to himself or others;

• is, as a result of mental illness, unlikely to participate voluntarily in outpatient treatment that would enable him to live safely in the community;

• is in need of AOT to prevent a relapse or deterioration that would be likely to result in serious harm to himself or others; and

• is likely to benefit from AOT.

Id. § 9.60(c). The petition also must include an affirmation from a physician (other than the petitioner) that establishes that the physician has examined the patient and recommends AOT, or has not been able to examine...