McCabe v. Prison Health Services

• Citation: 117 F.Supp.2d 443
• Decision Date: 14 November 1997
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. 94-7286.,CIV.A. 94-7286.
• Parties: William McCABE, Plaintiff, v. PRISON HEALTH SERVICES, et. al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

117 F.Supp.2d 443

William McCABE, Plaintiff, v. PRISON HEALTH SERVICES, et. al., Defendants.

No. CIV.A. 94-7286.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

November 14, 1997.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ANITA B. BRODY, District Judge.

Plaintiff William McCabe ("McCabe"), a prisoner in the State Correctional Institution at Cresson, filed this action, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, on December 2, 1994 against Joseph D. Lehman, Commissioner of Corrections for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections; John and Jane Doe Officers and Guards; and John and Jane Doe Medical Providers. McCabe alleged these defendants were deliberately indifferent to his medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. He also brought state law claims for negligence and gross negligence. Plaintiff has since twice amended his Complaint, substituting for the original named defendants various medical providers and medical records personnel affiliated with Delaware County, Graterford and Cresson prisons, namely: Prison Health Services, Inc.; Correctional Physician Service, Inc.; Executive Health Group National Health Services; Dr. Robert J. DiGiovanni; Dr. Pierce; Dr. Umar (incorrectly identified by plaintiff in his Complaint as Omar); Dr. Rahman; Dr. J. Ennis; Dr. Lewis Brandt; Dr. Anton Skerl; Dr. R. Samuel Magee; Dr. Charles J. Harvey; Altoona Hospital; Sandy Spence; Diane Harris; Betsy Cramer; Kim Christie; Linda Rensimer; and Chris Alvanitakis (incorrectly identified by plaintiff in his Complaint as Alvanitalis).¹

Before me for disposition are motions for summary judgment filed by defendant Alvanitakis individually, defendants Harris, Cramer, and Spence jointly, and a motion for summary judgment filed on behalf of all nineteen defendants. After granting every justifiable inference to Plaintiff, the non-moving party, I will grant the motions for summary judgment as to certain defendants, and deny them as to other defendants.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff McCabe challenges the persistent failure of the defendants to attend to his medical needs during his incarceration, first at Delaware County Prison, and thereafter at SCI-Graterford and SCI-Cresson.² McCabe suffered severe pain in his left leg from 1990 to 1994. During this time, McCabe sought medical aid from medical providers at all three facilities without success. He repeatedly requested a surgery that had been recommended for his leg, to no avail. McCabe's leg pain did not cease until doctors amputated his leg in 1994. However, his suffering continues, due to the inadequate prosthesis provided by the doctors at SCI-Cresson.

Around June 1990, while incarcerated at Delaware County Prison, McCabe felt extreme pain in his left calf. He complained to defendant Dr. Pierce, a private physician who was working under contract with Delaware County Prison (Second Amended Complaint ¶¶ 24-25). Dr. Pierce prescribed anti-coagulant drugs for McCabe's leg pain (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement to Brief in Opposition to Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, hereinafter "Plaintiff's Amended Supplement"). However, McCabe's leg continued to cause him severe pain and he returned to Dr. Pierce seeking further aid (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). In August 1990, Dr. Pierce referred McCabe to Sacred Heart Hospital for diagnostic tests (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). An arteriogram (an x-ray of an artery) showed that McCabe did have clogged arteries in his left leg and abdomen (Second Amended Complaint ¶¶ 26-28). Based on this test result, Dr. Pierce diagnosed McCabe with peripheral vascular disease and claudication of the left leg (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 34; Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). According to Dr. Pierce's own brief, this was a serious medical condition. (Brief of Defendant Dr Pierce in Support of Motion to Dismiss, Docket # 44).

McCabe's leg pain persisted, and he continued to seek medical aid. In November 1990, Delaware County Prison officials referred McCabe to a vascular specialist for tests. McCabe went to defendant Dr. DiGiovanni, a private physician at Riddle Memorial Hospital (Second Amended Complaint ¶¶ 29-30). Dr. DiGiovanni examined McCabe, and wrote to Dr. Pierce explaining his findings. Dr. DiGiovanni diagnosed McCabe with a 75% Stenosis (blockage) at the origin of the left external iliac and complete occlusion (closure) of the left superficial artery (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). Dr. DiGiovanni found that there were no indications of imminent limb loss (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 31). He recommended that McCabe have elective surgery on his left leg (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 31). Dr. DiGiovanni scheduled this surgery for January 1991 (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 31).

Delaware County Prison officials declined the surgery because of McCabe's imminent transfer to SCI-Graterford (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 32). McCabe was not transferred to SCI-Graterford until December 1991, eleven months later. Dr. Pierce also refused to authorize the surgery, and when McCabe asked him why, said "you know how the system works" (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). Nonetheless, Dr. Pierce repeatedly noted in McCabe's medical records that McCabe suffered from severe peripheral vascular disease (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 34).

When McCabe was transferred to SCI-Graterford, in December 1991, his county prison medical records remained at Delaware County Prison, in accordance with the medical records regulations then in effect (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement).³ The only medical information transmitted to SCI-Graterford was in the temporary transfer sheet, which notes, "C/o intermittent claudication in R/T PVD—vascular surgery consultation revealed need for surgery as elective only 11/90—Tx Medically c Trental" (Motion of Commonwealth Defendants Harris, Spence, and Cramer for Summary Judgment (Docket # 128), Exhibit D1—DC-7x Temporary Transfer Information).

McCabe's leg pain persisted and worsened while he was at SCI-Graterford (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 35). On numerous occasions, McCabe visited the dispensary, seeking aid for his leg pain (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). His medical records reflect that he complained about leg pain during his first month at Graterford, in January 1992. Again in March 1992, he complained about pain in his left foot. Then, in May 1992, his medical records state that he had "diminished dorsal pedic and posterior taken pulse left leg." In July 1992, he again complained about his left leg. Over and over again, McCabe complained to medical providers of his leg pain and of the increasing difficulty he was experiencing in walking. The doctors from whom McCabe sought aid include defendants Drs. Umar, Rahman, Ennis, and Brandt, all of whom were medical care providers under contract with SCI-Graterford (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). McCabe repeatedly asked Drs. Umar, Rahman, Ennis, and Brandt for the surgery on his left leg which had been recommended by Dr. DiGiovanni (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 35). At one point, Dr. Umar denied plaintiff the surgery because "the prison was not Burger King, and he [Mr. McCabe] could not have it his way." (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 36). While at Graterford, despite his repeated complaints of pain, and frequent requests for medical aid, no diagnostic studies or surgeries were performed on McCabe (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement).

In October 1992, McCabe was cleared for transfer to another prison, but his transfer was delayed until April 1993 when he was transferred to SCI-Cresson (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 41). McCabe did not seek care from October 1992 to April 1993, while he was awaiting transfer, because he was concerned that should he do so, his transfer would be delayed (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement).

When McCabe arrived at SCI-Cresson in April 1993, his medical condition was reviewed by medical staff. McCabe informed them that Drs. Pierce and Giovanni had diagnosed him with blocked arteries and recommended that he have surgery on his left leg (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). McCabe's SCI-Cresson medical records reveal that he made frequent visits to the infirmary seeking aid for his leg pain and that he explicitly requested surgery (e.g., medical records dated 4/30/93; 5/04/93; 6/14/93; 6/15/93; 7/08/93; 7/14/93; 9/16/93; 9/21/93; 10/18/93; 10/25/93; 11/18/93; 12/16/93). From March 1993 to February 1994, McCabe also wrote many letters to defendant Dr. Skerl, the Medical Director of SCI-Cresson, asking for help for his unbearable leg pain (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). On May 4, 1993, during one of McCabe's visits to the infirmary, Dr. Skerl noted on McCabe's chart, "please get old medical records regarding prior arteriogram." When Dr. Skerl saw McCabe again, he wrote on the dispensary record, "I need his old records, Not ordered yet." Dr. Skerl subsequently made several further notations about awaiting old records. The arteriogram record, confirming McCabe's condition, was finally received on November 18, 1993.

In December 1993, McCabe began experiencing serious heart problems, for which he was prescribed nitro-glycerine pills (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). In January 1994, Dr. Skerl referred McCabe to defendant Altoona Hospital for tests on his heart (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). On February 8, 1994, while at Altoona Hospital for "stress" tests on his heart, McCabe experienced tremendous pain in his left leg (Second Amended Complaint ¶¶ 45-46). That same day, McCabe was admitted for emergency quadruple coronary bypass surgery (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). When he awoke from surgery, McCabe discovered a suture running from his left ankle up to his groin, indicating that a vein from his left leg had been used in his heart surgery (Plaintiff's Amended Supplement). While McCabe was recovering from his surgery, defendant Dr. Magee, a private physician affiliated with Altoona Hospital, diagnosed McCabe with "a...