Martinson v. S. Health Partners, Inc., Case No.: 5:21-cv-01144-MHH

• Court: United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. United States District Court of Northern District of Alabama
• Writing for the Court: MADELINE HUGHES HAIKALA, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
• Citation: 608 F.Supp.3d 1107
• Parties: Douglas C. MARTINSON, II, as administrator of the estate of Christopher Bishop, Plaintiff, v. SOUTHERN HEALTH PARTNERS, INC., et al., Defendants.
• Docket Number: Case No.: 5:21-cv-01144-MHH
• Decision Date: 14 June 2022

608 F.Supp.3d 1107

Douglas C. MARTINSON, II, as administrator of the estate of Christopher Bishop, Plaintiff,
v.
SOUTHERN HEALTH PARTNERS, INC., et al., Defendants.

Case No.: 5:21-cv-01144-MHH

United States District Court, N.D. Alabama, Northeastern Division.

Signed June 14, 2022

608 F.Supp.3d 1108

Henry F. Sherrod, III, Henry F. Sherrod III PC, Florence, AL, for Plaintiff.

Matthew B. Reeves, William R. Lunsford, Maynard Cooper & Gale PC, Huntsville, AL, for Defendants Southern Health Partners, Inc., Sara Connell, Crystal Cottrell, Nioca Manley, Sonya Moore, Tayana Millwood, Kyna Speak, Dustin Vickers.

T. Kelly May, Justin Hayes Nolen, Clark, May, Price, Lawley, Duncan & Paul, LLC, Birmingham, AL, for Defendants Felicia Deshields, Nicholas Wallace, Terry Barlowe, Mark Martin, William Oliver, Chrystal Adams.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

MADELINE HUGHES HAIKALA, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

608 F.Supp.3d 1109

Douglas C. Martinson, II, the administrator of the estate of Christopher Bishop, filed this lawsuit after Mr. Bishop died while he was in the custody of the Madison County Jail. (Doc. 17-1, p. 1, ¶¶ 1–2). The defendants are Southern Health Partners, Inc., a corporation which provides medical care for inmates at the Madison County Jail; several SHP nurses, sued in their individual capacities; and several corrections officers, sued in their individual capacities. (Doc. 17-1, pp. 1–3, ¶¶ 3–19). Mr. Martinson alleges that the defendants failed to provide basic medical care to Mr. Bishop, and the alleged failure purportedly caused Mr. Bishop's death. (Doc. 17-1, p. 1, ¶ 1). Mr. Martinson asserts against the nurses and the corrections officers a federal claim under the Fourteenth Amendment for deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, and he asserts against SHP and the nurses a wrongful death claim under Alabama law based on those defendants’ alleged medical negligence. (Doc. 17-1, pp. 8–9).

Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the nurses and SHP have filed a motion to dismiss Mr. Martinson's amended complaint. (Doc. 27).¹ This opinion resolves the motion to dismiss. The opinion begins with a discussion of the standard that a district court uses to evaluate a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. Then, consistent with that standard, the Court identifies the factual allegations in Mr. Martinson's complaint, describing them in the light most favorable to Mr. Martinson. Finally, the Court evaluates Mr. Martinson's factual allegations under the legal standards that govern the defendants’ arguments for dismissal.

I.

Rule 12(b)(6) allows a defendant to move to dismiss claims within a complaint for "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6). A Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss tests the sufficiency of a complaint against the "liberal pleading standards set forth by Rule 8(a)(2)." Erickson v. Pardus , 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007). Pursuant to Rule 8(a)(2), a complaint must contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." FED. R. CIV. P. 8(a)(2). "To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ " Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). "Specific facts are not necessary; the statement need only ‘give the defendant fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’ " Erickson , 551 U.S. at 93, 127 S.Ct. 2197 (quoting Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). In deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a court must view the factual allegations in a complaint in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Watts v. Fla. Int'l Univ. , 495 F.3d 1289, 1295 (11th Cir. 2007) (citing

608 F.Supp.3d 1110

Hawthorne v. Mac Adjustment, Inc. , 140 F.3d 1367, 1370 (11th Cir. 1998) ). A court must accept well-pleaded facts as true. Grossman v. Nationsbank, N.A. , 225 F.3d 1228, 1231 (11th Cir. 2000) (quoting GSW, Inc. v. Long Cty. , 999 F.2d 1508, 1510 (11th Cir. 1993) ).

II.

During the afternoon of August 21, 2019, Christopher Bishop ingested a large amount of methamphetamine. (Doc. 17-1, p. 4, ¶ 22). Shortly afterwards, he was arrested. (Doc. 17-1, p. 3, ¶ 21). During intake at the Madison County Jail, Mr. Bishop disclosed to the corrections officer processing him that he recently had ingested a large amount of methamphetamine. (Doc. 17-1, p. 4, ¶ 23). The intake officer circled "yes" in response to an intake form question regarding "recent ingestion of ‘dangerous levels of drugs and/or alcohol.’ " (Doc. 17-1, p. 4, ¶ 23) (quoting intake form).

Intake nurse Sara Connell, an LPN, received the intake form. (Doc. 17-1, p. 4, ¶ 24). When Mr. Bishop saw Nurse Connell at 8:00 p.m. that evening, he told her that he had used a dangerously large quantity of methamphetamine earlier in the day. (Doc. 17-1, p. 4, ¶ 25). Ms. Connell did not send Mr. Bishop to the hospital or take other action. (Doc. 17-1, p. 4, ¶ 27).

At approximately 2 a.m. on the morning of August 22, 2019, Mr. Bishop was seen by another nurse, Sonya Moore. (Doc. 17-1, p. 4, ¶ 28). Ms. Moore learned from Mr. Bishop and from his records that he had recently ingested a dangerously large amount of methamphetamine. (Doc. 17-1, pp. 4–5, ¶ 29). Ms. Moore also observed that Mr. Bishop was exhibiting signs and symptoms of an overdose: he was "having difficulty breathing, had a rapid heart and respiration rate, was not steady on his feet, had slurred speech, was confused, was extremely drowsy, and was so slow to respond to questions and stimuli that he appeared to be on the verge of losing consciousness." (Doc. 17-1, p. 5, ¶¶ 30–31). Ms. Moore did not send Mr. Bishop to the hospital or take other action. (Doc. 17-1, p. 5, ¶ 33).

A few hours later, at 7:30 a.m., Mr. Bishop saw another nurse, Nioca Manley. (Doc. 17-1, p. 5, ¶ 34). Ms. Manley learned from Mr. Bishop's records that he had ingested a dangerously large amount of methamphetamine, and she observed that Mr. Bishop was exhibiting signs and symptoms of an overdose because he was not responsive. (Doc. 17-1, pp. 5–6, ¶¶ 35–37). Ms. Manley was not able to get Mr. Bishop to respond. (Doc. 17-1, p. 6, ¶ 38). Ms. Manley treated Mr. Bishop's inability to respond as a refusal of medical treatment. (Doc. 17-1, p. 6, ¶ 39). Ms. Manley did not take Mr. Bishop's vital signs, did not send Mr. Bishop to the hospital, and did not take other action. (Doc. 17-1, p. 6, ¶¶ 40, 42).

Over the course of the day, other nursing staff members—Crystal Cottrell, Tayana Millwood, Kyna Speak, and Dustin Vickers—learned of Mr. Bishop's ingestion of a dangerously large amount of methamphetamine and lack of responsiveness through Ms. Manley and other correctional staff. (Doc. 17-1, p. 6, ¶ 43). Those defendants did not send Mr. Bishop to the hospital or take other action. (Doc. 17-1, p. 7, ¶ 45).

Mr. Bishop...