Gayton v. McCoy
| Decision Date | 28 January 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. 08-2187.,08-2187. |
| Citation | 593 F.3d 610 |
| Parties | Lester GAYTON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Michael D. McCOY, et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Richard L. Steagall (argued), Attorney, Nicoara & Steagall, Peoria, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Peter R. Jennetten (argued), Attorney, Quinn, Johnston, Henderson & Pretorius, Peoria, IL, for Defendants-Appellees.
Before FLAUM and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and LAWRENCE, District Judge.*
India Taylor, a thirty-four-year-old recent college graduate, entered Peoria County Jail on October 15, 2003 complaining of chest pain. Despite knowledge that Taylor had a serious heart condition and elevated blood pressure, she was never provided with any medication and, against the jail's written protocol, a doctor was never contacted to examine her. Less than three days later, she was dead due to non-specific heart failure brought on by an elevated pulse. Her estate's executor brought suit against the three nurses who examined Taylor, claiming that they violated her due process rights by failing to provide her with adequate medical care. The plaintiff also brought suit against a variety of prison officials, claiming that inadequate prison medical policies contributed to Taylor's untimely death.
The district court excluded the plaintiff's expert witness, Dr. Corey Weinstein, finding that he was unqualified and that his opinions were not reliable. It also granted summary judgment to the defendants after determining that none of them exhibited a deliberate indifference to a serious medical need of Taylor's. Because Dr. Weinstein conceded that he has no specific training or education regarding the short-term efficacy of Taylor's heart medications, we affirm the district court's exclusion of his opinion that she might have survived if prison officials had provided her with these medications in the days before her death. However, Dr. Weinstein's medical training, examination of Taylor's medical records, and use of differential diagnosis support his conclusion that the nurses' failure to quell Taylor's vomiting could have led to her tachycardia, and his opinion on this issue should have been admitted. Likewise, his examination of the record in this case coupled with being one of the leading experts on prison medical care support his conclusion that the jail officials did not provide Taylor with the minimum standard of prison medical care expected in this country, and to the extent that it remains relevant at trial, it should be admitted.
The district court was correct that, as the plaintiff conceded at oral argument, the prison's medical policies were adequate and therefore did not contribute to Taylor's death. So, the district court properly awarded summary judgment to Peoria County, Advanced Correctional Healthcare, Inc., and the individual defendants who did not have contact with Taylor during her incarceration. As to the nurses, although she failed to follow prison protocol in treating Taylor, Nurse Olivia Radcliff took steps to obtain Taylor's cardiac medications and put a note in Taylor's file to have her seen by a doctor if the medications were not delivered. So, it cannot be said that she acted with deliberate indifference, and the district court correctly granted summary judgment in her favor. Taylor visited Nurse Patricia Mattus complaining of nausea, and, because she thought Taylor was drug seeking, Nurse Mattus did not provide Taylor with any medication, put her on the sick call list, and sent her back to her cell. Because Taylor did not complain of chest pain during the visit, however, Nurse Mattus was not faced with a serious medical need that required immediate treatment. So, the district court properly granted summary judgment in her favor.
On the other hand, Nurse Pam Hibbert was presented with ample evidence that Taylor needed medical treatment. While participating in a video-bond hearing, Taylor began to vomit. The guards were so concerned about Taylor's condition that they collected her vomit in a bag and immediately called Nurse Hibbert requesting that she examine Taylor. Nurse Hibbert knew about Taylor's heart condition, and if per prison protocol, she examined Taylor's chart, she would have seen that her cardiac medications should have been delivered, that she had recently complained of chest pain, that she had high blood pressure less than twenty-four hours earlier, and that she should have already been examined by a doctor. But instead of calling a doctor or examining Taylor, Nurse Hibbert concluded that Taylor was drug seeking, and told the guards that her shift was coming to an end. Based on these facts, a jury could find that Nurse Hibbert was deliberately indifferent to Taylor's serious medical need, and that Nurse Hibbert's inaction caused Taylor to suffer harm. Therefore, we reverse and remand this matter for trial against Nurse Hibbert.
In April 2003, thirty-four-year-old India Taylor's doctors diagnosed her with congestive heart failure ("CHF"). CHF is a serious heart condition characterized by a swelling on the lining surrounding the heart, which weakens the heart and impairs the heart's ability to pump blood to the body's organs. Taylor's doctors prescribed a regimen of six medications, generally consisting of diuretics and ACE inhibitors. They also informed her that she had a mortality risk of forty to sixty percent if she failed to take her medications on a consistent basis, but less than ten percent if she took them as instructed. Over the course of the next few months, Taylor took her medications sporadically and missed several doctors' appointments.
On July 1 and July 17, 2003, respectively, Taylor was arrested. During both arrests, Taylor complained of chest pain and was transported to the emergency room. Both times, doctors provided her with her prescribed CHF medications, after which she was taken to Peoria County Jail ("PCJ"). When Taylor arrived at PCJ on July 2, 2003, Nurse Patricia Mattus made contact with Taylor's doctors to ascertain her medical history. This history and a list of Taylor's necessary medications became a part of Taylor's medical records at PCJ. During her second incarceration, Taylor vomited violently as a result of heroin withdrawal. The medical staff treated her with Donnatal (to calm her nausea) and Vistaril (a sleep aid).
On July 20, 2003, the day after she was released from her second detention at PCJ, Taylor went to the emergency room complaining of chest pain. She presented with an elevated blood pressure, and her doctors prescribed thirty days' worth of CHF medications with an additional refill. Walgreens's records show that she filled these prescriptions shortly after she was released from the emergency room.
On August 2, 2003, Taylor was arrested again. This time she had her medications with her. Dr. Norman Johnson, a prison physician, examined her and recommended that she continue taking her CHF medications while incarcerated. Dr. Johnson is employed as president and CEO of Advanced Correctional Healthcare, Inc., a private, for-profit company that provides medical care in prisons, including PCJ. During Taylor's month-long incarceration at PCJ, she did not suffer from heroin withdrawal and did not vomit. She was released on August 28, 2003.
October 15, 2003, Taylor was arrested again and detained at PCJ. During the booking process, she complained of chest pain. After she was processed, the guards took her to medical intake. During intake, Nurse Olivia Radcliff examined Taylor. Taylor completed a medical questionnaire, on which she listed her treating physician and medications. Nurse Radcliff acknowledged that the jail had copies of Taylor's medical records and knew of the medications that she was prescribed to treat her CHF. The back of the form, on which the nurse was supposed to record her observations and findings, has never been found.
Nurse Radcliff checked Taylor for head lice but did not take her vital signs. Taylor called her brother, Lester Gayton, and asked him to refill her medications and bring them to PCJ. Nurse Radcliff made a note on Taylor's chart that if the medications were not brought to the prison by the following day, Taylor was to be seen by Dr. Johnson.
Gayton could not retrieve Taylor's prescriptions due to complications with her insurance, but failed to inform the jail that he would not be delivering the medications. Around 4:30 A.M. the next morning (October 16), Taylor complained to the guards of nausea and told them that she was suffering from heroin withdrawal. The guards saw her vomit and took her to see Nurse Mattus. Taylor requested drugs to help her stop vomiting, but Nurse Mattus concluded that Taylor must have forced herself to vomit in order to receive drugs and refused to provide her with medication to reduce her vomiting. Nurse Mattus also claimed that she was unable to take Taylor's vitals and sent her back to her cell after putting her on the sick call list to be seen later that morning.
Around 9 A.M. that same morning, Nurse Pam Hibbert saw Taylor during PCJ's sick call. Taylor's blood pressure was elevated and she complained of nausea. Nurse Hibbert sent Taylor back to her cell. During Taylor's video-bond hearing at 3 P.M., Taylor vomited violently. The guards were worried about her condition. They collected her vomit in a plastic bag and called Nurse Hibbert. Nurse Hibbert told the guards that she thought Taylor was seeking drugs, refused to allow the guards to bring Taylor in for an examination, and stated that Taylor should just fill out a sick request form in order to be seen by the next nurse because Hibbert's shift was almost over (Nurse Mattus took over at 8 P.M.). The officers took the sick request form to Taylor and helped her fill it out. Taylor said she was feeling better, but she completed the form, which the guards submitted for her at...
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