Mason v. Correctional Medical Services, Inc.

• Decision Date: 24 March 2009
• Docket Number: No. 07-2814.,07-2814.
• Citation: 559 F.3d 880
• Parties: Alex A. MASON, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. CORRECTIONAL MEDICAL SERVICES, INC.; Gary Campbell, Dr., Defendants/Appellees, Elizabeth Conley; Unknown Rice; Unknown Rakestraw; Unknown Gavett, Dr., Defendants, James Carter; Missouri Department of Corrections, Defendants/Appellees, Mason Eye Clinic; Dean P. Hainsworth, Dr.; Unknown Hendrix, Dr.; Lenworth N. Johnson, Dr.;Unknown Doctors; Gary Kempker; Jim Moore, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

559 F.3d 880

Alex A. MASON, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. CORRECTIONAL MEDICAL SERVICES, INC.; Gary Campbell, Dr., Defendants/Appellees, Elizabeth Conley; Unknown Rice; Unknown Rakestraw; Unknown Gavett, Dr., Defendants, James Carter; Missouri Department of Corrections, Defendants/Appellees, Mason Eye Clinic; Dean P. Hainsworth, Dr.; Unknown Hendrix, Dr.; Lenworth N. Johnson, Dr.;Unknown Doctors; Gary Kempker; Jim Moore, Defendants.

No. 07-2814.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: April 18, 2008.

Filed: March 24, 2009.

Jonathan David Valentino, argued, St. Louis, MO, for appellant.

Dana C. Ceresia, Asst. Atty. Gen., argued, St. Louis, MO, for appellees James Carter and Missouri Dept. of Corrections.

Adrian Phillip Sulser, argued, St. Louis, MO, Martin J. Buckley and David S. Davis, on the brief, for appellees Dr. Gary Campbell and Correctional Medical Services.

Before MURPHY, COLLOTON, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.

COLLOTON, Circuit Judge.

Alex Mason, a Missouri state prisoner, suffered a blood clot that caused permanent blindness in his left eye. Mason sued the manager of his prison housing unit, James Carter, and the director of prison medical services, Dr. Gary Campbell, alleging that they violated his Eighth Amendment rights by failing to facilitate or render adequate medical treatment. Mason also sued the Missouri Department of Corrections ("MDOC"), alleging that the MDOC denied him meaningful access to prison benefits and services after he became blind, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12132.

The district court¹ granted summary judgment in favor of Dr. Campbell and MDOC. Mason v. Corr. Med. Serv., Inc., No. 2:04-CV-32, 2007 WL 433380 (E.D.Mo. Feb. 6, 2007). Mason's claim against Carter proceeded to trial, and a jury returned a verdict in favor of Carter. The district court² then denied Mason's post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law. Mason appeals the district court's decisions granting summary judgment for Campbell and MDOC, and refusing to set aside the jury's verdict for Carter. We affirm.

I.

Mason is incarcerated at the Northeast Correctional Center ("NECC") in Missouri. He has been partially blind since childhood, when he lost use of his right eye. Mason awoke in prison on the morning of July 13, 2003, to find his left eye swollen and watering. By July 15, his vision had become blurred, and he was experiencing throbbing head pain.

On July 15, Mason visited the medical wing of the NECC, and saw Dr. Christine Gavett, an independent contractor employed by Correctional Medical Services, Inc. ("CMS"). Dr. Gavett noted that Mason may have developed a blood clot in the left eye, termed a Central Retinal Arterial Occlusion ("CRAO"). She characterized CRAO as an emergency condition, and referred Mason to an outside ophthalmologist, Dr. Jason Hendrix, for an appointment later that day. Dr. Hendrix, however, did not receive Mason's medical file or Dr. Gavett's suspicion that Mason had suffered a CRAO. Dr. Hendrix diagnosed Mason as having diabetic retinopathy, a nonemergency condition, scheduled Mason for a routine reexamination one week later, and sent Mason back to the prison without treatment.

When Mason woke up the next morning, July 16, he was blind in the left eye, and his pain had worsened. Mason alleges that he and his cellmate, Willie Oliver, went to the office of James Carter, the prison housing unit manager, and requested emergency medical care. Mason alleges that Carter agreed to notify Correctional Medical Services, and then ordered Mason and Oliver to return to their cell. Upon returning to his cell, Mason was bedridden. Other inmates gave him ibuprofen and a damp cloth for his injured left eye. When they did not hear from CMS later that day, Mason alleges that several inmates went to see Carter to request medical care for Mason. One of the inmates who went to see Carter, James Bailey, testified that Carter told him that he was "taking care" of Mason's request. Another inmate, Mason's cellmate, testified that Carter "never responded" when he asked why Mason had not received medical care, and that Carter told him to submit a Medical Services Request. Mason's cellmate testified that he completed a request with Mason's help and put it in the appropriate mailbox. Carter testified that he could not remember anyone visiting him about Mason's medical condition.

For the next six days, Mason did not leave his bed. He claims that pain produced by the CRAO made it impossible for him to eat, sleep, or move about during that period.

On July 22, Mason saw Dr. Gavett for the reexamination that Dr. Hendrix had scheduled seven days earlier. Dr. Gavett observed that Mason's condition had deteriorated, and called the office of CMS's Regional Medical Director for permission to make another emergency referral to the outside clinic. Mason testified that he was in the room and "specifically heard Dr. Gavett refer to Dr. Campbell by name during this call." (App.145). After the emergency referral was approved, an ophthalmologist at the outside clinic concluded that Mason had suffered an irreversible CRAO in the left eye, and that the only treatment available was to reduce the pain.

Mason sued Carter and Dr. Campbell for alleged violations of the Eighth Amendment, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and MDOC for alleged violations of the ADA. The district court granted summary judgment for Dr. Campbell and MDOC, and the claim against Carter proceeded to trial. At the conclusion of the evidence, the district court concluded as a matter of law that Mason had a "serious medical need" of which Carter had knowledge, but ruled as a matter of law that Carter did not cause Mason's blindness, because the CRAO led to irreversible blindness prior to May 16. Because Mason presented evidence that he suffered pain as a result of delayed treatment, however, the court instructed the jury to decide whether Carter had been deliberately indifferent to Mason's serious medical need, and whether Mason had suffered damages as a result. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Carter. The district court denied Mason's subsequent motion for judgment as a matter of law.

II.

A.

Mason argues that the district court erred by granting summary judgment on the claim that Dr. Campbell violated Mason's rights under the Eighth Amendment. The district court concluded as a matter of law that Mason failed to show that Dr. Campbell knew of Mason's serious medical need. The court relied on the facts that Mason had not informed Dr. Campbell of his blindness in a timely manner to allow him to take action, that Dr. Conley, not Dr. Campbell, approved inmate medical referrals, and that Mason's medical records undermined his claim that Dr. Gavett mentioned Dr. Campbell's name in speaking to CMS personnel before declaring an emergency. Based on these undisputed facts, the district court determined that no reasonable juror could conclude that Dr. Campbell was personally involved. We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the evidence and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of Mason, the non-moving party. Rehrs v. Iams Co., 486 F.3d 353, 355-56 (8th Cir.2007). Summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file ... show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

To prevail on his claim based on the Eighth Amendment, Mason must show that he had a serious medical need of which Dr. Campbell was aware, and that Campbell's deliberate indifference to that need caused harm to Mason. See Senty-Haugen v. Goodno, 462 F.3d 876, 889-90 (8th Cir.2006). In support of his contention that Campbell knew of Mason's serious medical need, Mason points to his own testimony that he was in the room on July 22 when Dr. Gavett called the CMS's Regional Medical Director for permission to make another emergency referral, and that he "specifically heard [Dr. Gavett refer to Dr. Campbell by name during this] call."

We conclude that Mason did not submit any admissible evidence that Dr. Campbell had knowledge of Mason's serious medical need. We question whether it is reasonable to infer from the snippet of conversation to which Mason refers that Dr. Gavett made a referral to Dr. Campbell. That Dr. Gavett mentioned Dr. Campbell's name during the telephone call does not establish that Dr. Gavett was speaking with Dr. Campbell. But in any event, Mason's testimony is inadmissible hearsay. Dr. Gavett's alleged statement referring to Dr. Campbell was made out of court, and it was offered by Mason to prove that Dr. Campbell was the person on the other end of the phone. Mason has not argued that the statement falls under any exception to the hearsay rule, and we conclude that none is applicable. Mason cannot rely on hearsay to avoid summary judgment. Tuttle v. Lorillard Tobacco Co., 377 F.3d 917, 923 (8th Cir.2004). Without any admissible evidence that Dr. Campbell was informed of Mason's serious medical need, there is no basis for an Eighth Amendment claim against him, and the district court correctly granted summary judgment.

B.

Mason next argues that the district court erred by denying his motion for judgment as a matter of law after the jury found in favor of Carter, the manager of the prison housing unit. We review the district court's denial of Mason's motion de novo, upholding the verdict unless no reasonable juror could have found in favor of Carter based on the trial record. Sanders v. May Dep't Stores Co., 315 F.3d 940, 943 (8th Cir.2003).

To prove deliberate indifference, Mason must show that Carter possessed a "state of mind more blameworthy than negligence," amounting to criminal recklessness. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 835-36, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994). In other words, Mason must show that Carter was "aware...