Gutierrez v. Peters
| Decision Date | 23 April 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 93-2366,93-2366 |
| Parties | Carlos M. GUTIERREZ, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Howard A. PETERS, III, Director, Illinois Department of Corrections, George E. Detella, Warden, Danville Correctional Center, Early Laster, Assistant Warden, Danville Correctional Center, et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Roger Pascal, Neil Lloyd (argued), Schiff, Hardin & Waite, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Claudia E. Sainsot, A. Benjamin Goldgar (argued), Office of the Attorney General, Chicago, IL, Thomas S. Gray, Office of the Attorney General, Springfield, IL, for Defendants-Appellees.
Before CUMMINGS, BAUER, and FLAUM, Circuit Judges.
Carlos Gutierrez brought this suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, complaining that the allegedly inadequate medical care he received for an infected cyst while imprisoned at the Danville Correctional Center rose to the level of cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. The district court granted defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings and denied a like motion submitted by Gutierrez. 1 For the reasons that follow, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.
The district court dismissed Gutierrez' claims on the pleadings; therefore, this Court must accept the following well-pleaded allegations from Gutierrez' complaint as true. Rooding v. Peters, 92 F.3d 578, 580 (7th Cir.1996); Dell v. Board of Educ., 32 F.3d 1053, 1064 (7th Cir.1994). On June 25, 1991, while incarcerated at the Danville Correctional Center, Gutierrez met with Dr. Tanner, a prison doctor. Gutierrez asked Tanner to look at the cyst on his back because he felt as if it was infected and was experiencing "a lot of pain from it." After examining the cyst, Tanner told Gutierrez that there was nothing wrong and instructed him to return to his housing unit and take hot baths. Tanner denied Gutierrez' request for permission to come to the hospital unit for sitz baths.
One week later, on July 2, Gutierrez requested to see Dr. Tanner again because he could not tolerate the pain associated with the cyst. He was seen two days later by Nurse Steven Combs, who examined Gutierrez' back, concluded that the cyst was infected, and placed Gutierrez on "sick call" for the next day. Nurse Combs also gave Gutierrez some gauze pads apparently for attending to drainage from the cyst. For reasons not disclosed by the record, Gutierrez was not summoned for sick call on July 5 as scheduled. On July 6, he had his mother call the prison on his behalf. Gutierrez' mother spoke with a prison counselor, Joan Walls, who said that nothing could be done that day because no doctors worked at the prison on the weekend. Gutierrez' request to visit the prison health care unit on Saturday, July 6, was denied; however, he did go for night medication (apparently for an unrelated ailment) at 8:00 that evening at which time Nurse Combs asked him if everything was taken care of. When Gutierrez replied "No," Nurse Combs informed him that he was scheduled for "med-line" call the next day.
At 8:00 a.m. on July 7, Gutierrez went to the health care unit for med-line call and was seen by Nurse Joy Hancock. Upon seeing Gutierrez' cyst, Hancock exclaimed "Oh my god," and told him that he would see Dr. Tanner the next day. Hancock also assured him that she would make sure that he was seen. During the middle of that night, Gutierrez' cyst burst, causing him "excruciating pain." Despite being "in a hell of a lot of pain," at 10:00 in the morning the next day (July 8), Gutierrez went to his job in the prison law library. Later that morning he was summoned to the health care unit and seen by Dr. Tanner.
Gutierrez' complaint alleges that his cyst became infected on two subsequent occasions while he was incarcerated. Although not alleged in any detail, the complaint indicates that he experienced similar delays in treatment--approximately 15 days--on both occasions:
I was not going to sue the institution, but again this has happened to me 2 more times. For I put in requests to see the Doctor's [sic] for 15 days in a row, the next time I put in requests 13-16 times without being called to the hospital. So again, my back (Cyst) get's [sic] Infected and burst open without me going to the hospital.... Now I put in request[s] since Nov. 4, 1991, without avail. I was finally called on November 19, 1991.
Compl. at 4-5.
Defendants answered the complaint, admitting that Gutierrez had a pilonidal cyst, denying that they prevented (or conspired to prevent) him from obtaining medical treatment for the cyst, and denying that a pilonidal cyst constitutes a "serious" medical condition. Defendants also filed a motion pursuant to Rule 12(c) for judgment on the pleadings. In brief, defendants maintained that Gutierrez' complaint failed to allege sufficient (or, in some cases, any) personal involvement on the part of several defendants, that the complaint failed to allege deliberate indifference to his medical needs on the part of several other defendants, and that as to defendant Tanner, Gutierrez was simply disagreeing with the doctor's medical decisions and treatment. Defendants also maintained that Gutierrez' pilonidal cyst is not a serious medical condition that can support an Eighth Amendment claim.
When Gutierrez failed to respond to defendants' motion within 14 days as prescribed by Central District of Illinois Local Rule 2.9(B), the district judge issued a Rule to Show Cause, granting Gutierrez 14 days to show good cause why judgment should not be entered in defendants' favor. Gutierrez responded with a group filing which included an answer to the Rule to Show Cause, a supplemental brief and argument, and a motion for leave to file an amended complaint. The proposed amendment sought to add additional defendants, as well as additional factual allegations in the form of a narrative chronology of events accompanied by copies of progress notes from Gutierrez' prison medical records which were attached as exhibits. Although much of the factual information provided by Gutierrez in response to the Rule to Show Cause was redundant with the allegations of his original complaint, the materials did reveal the following additional facts which we recount in some detail because of their relevance to the proper disposition of this case. 2
In May 1990, Gutierrez was transferred to the Danville Correctional Center from another Illinois Department of Corrections facility. At that time, he informed Dr. Tanner that he suffered from a pilonidal cyst near his coccyx. Tanner told Gutierrez that all he could do for the cyst was prescribe antibiotics. In response to Gutierrez' request for permission to take sitz baths (which had been prescribed for him in the past), Tanner said he would look into it, but nothing came of it.
When Tanner saw Gutierrez on July 8, 1991, after his cyst burst for the first time, Tanner prescribed a fourteen-day course of antibiotics (Tetracycline) and daily sitz baths. Ten days later, in response to Gutierrez' request for additional sitz bath treatment, Tanner renewed his sitz bath card for one week. Four days later on July 22, Gutierrez returned to the health care unit; his cyst was observed to be improved--although still draining. A nurse ordered additional Tetracycline and another week of sitz baths. On July 31, Gutierrez was seen again in the health care unit in response to his complaint that his cyst was infected. A ten-day course of Keflex (an antibiotic) and sitz baths was ordered. Six days later on August 6, Gutierrez complained that he was having problems sitting, standing and walking, and requested pain medication. A two-week course of Motrin was prescribed. Approximately two weeks later on August 19, Tanner again examined Gutierrez. Although the cyst was draining, Tanner noted that it did not appear to be infected at that time. Nevertheless, he ordered daily sitz baths for one week.
On September 4, after submitting nine requests for medical attention, Gutierrez was seen again for his cyst. Dr. Ehrhardt prescribed sitz baths. Things were relatively calm for the next two months until November 4, at which time Gutierrez began submitting requests to see a doctor--he claims to have submitted 16 such requests. On November 18, he was seen by Dr. Tanner. Gutierrez complained that the cyst had burst again, and his medical records reveal that he had a temperature of over 100 degrees. Tanner noted some drainage and prescribed antibiotics and sitz baths.
Gutierrez again sought medical attention for his cyst in mid-December. At that time Dr. Ehrhardt examined him and prescribed two different antibiotics and daily sitz baths. In mid-January, Gutierrez asked to have his sitz bath card renewed. Dr. Tanner obliged by renewing Gutierrez' sitz bath order. On March 11, 1992, Gutierrez again complained about his cyst. Sitz baths, antibiotics, and Motrin were ordered. The final episode recounted by Gutierrez took place in early April 1992 when his cyst became infected once again. Dr. Ehrhardt ordered sitz baths three times per week for one month.
The district court denied Gutierrez' motion to amend his complaint, finding that "[t]he amended complaint merely restates the facts alleged in the complaint already on file" and that Gutierrez' desire to name additional defendants was without any basis. 3 The district court granted Gutierrez an additional 14 days to respond to defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings. After Gutierrez responded, the district court granted defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings. Principally, the district court found that Gutierrez' pilonidal cyst did not constitute a sufficiently serious medical condition to support an Eighth Amendment claim. See Order at 4-6. 4
Gutierrez appeals the district court's orders denying him leave to amend his complaint and granting judgment on the...
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