Medcalf v. State of Kan.
| Citation | 626 F. Supp. 1179 |
| Decision Date | 27 January 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 81-1290-K.,81-1290-K. |
| Parties | John MEDCALF, Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of Michael Medcalf, Deceased, Plaintiff, v. STATE OF KANSAS; Patrick McManus, Secretary of Corrections for the State of Kansas; Leo Taylor, Director of the Kansas Reception and Diagnostic Center; Herbert Maschner, Director of the Kansas State Industrial Reformatory; Vincente B. Serapio, M.D.; and Jose F. Sintos, M.D., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Kansas |
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Ronald A. Lyon, Wichita, Kan., for plaintiff.
Timothy G. Madden, Asst. Atty. Gen., Kansas Judicial Center, Topeka, Kan., for State of Kan. defendants.
Darrell D. Kellogg & Lawrence M. Gurney, Wichita, Kan., for defendant Sintos.
James Z. Hernandez, Wichita, Kan., for defendant Serapio.
This action was filed by John Medcalf, individually and as administrator of the estate of his son, Michael Medcalf, seeking actual and punitive damages for defendants' failure to provide adequate, competent medical care to the decedent and for consequent violations of his civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, all arising from the care and treatment of Michael Medcalf during his incarceration at various Kansas penal institutions from June 4, 1980 through shortly before his death on October 20, 1980. Named defendants are the State of Kansas; Patrick McManus, Secretary of Corrections; Herbert Maschner, Director of the Kansas State Industrial Reformatory (KSIR); and Leo Taylor, Director of the Kansas Reception and Diagnostic Center (KRDC), all of which will be collectively referred to as the state defendants. Two additional defendants are Dr. Jose Sintos, Director of Clinical Services at KSIR, and Dr. Vincente Serapio, a medical officer at KSIR, hereinafter referred to as the physician defendants.
The state defendants filed a motion for summary judgment raising the following issues:
The physician defendants followed with motions for summary judgment and partial summary judgment presenting these questions:
The Court concludes that although plaintiff has adequately stated a claim for relief, the Eleventh Amendment bars plaintiff's claims against the State of Kansas and the state officials in their official capacities. However, the unique facts and aggravated circumstances giving rise to this case are such that the physician defendants' motions are denied.
The facts of the case will be addressed as they pertain to the issues.
The state defendants argue plaintiff fails to state a claim on which relief can be granted because he has not established Michael Medcalf was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment contrary to the Eighth Amendment during his incarceration.
The purpose of a motion under F.R. Civ.P. 12(b)(6) is to test the formal sufficiency of the statement of the claim for relief. That provision must be read in conjunction with F.R.Civ.P. 8(a), which sets forth the requirements for pleading a claim in federal court and calls for "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Only when the pleading fails to meet this liberal standard is it subject to dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6). 5 Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1356 (1969). The allegations necessary to state a claim for relief will not be insufficient unless it appears beyond question plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claims which would entitle him to relief. Dewell v. Lawson, 489 F.2d 877 (10th Cir. 1974).
In the context of this case, to state a cause of action under § 1983 plaintiff must allege acts or omissions sufficiently harmful to evidence deliberate indifference to the prisoner's serious medical needs; a negligent, inadvertent failure to provide adequate medical care does not constitute the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain proscribed by the Eighth Amendment. Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104-06, 97 S.Ct. 285, 291-92, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976). To constitute cruel and unusual punishment, improper or inadequate medical treatment must be continuing, must not be supported by any competent, recognized school of medical practice, and must amount to a denial of needed medical treatment. Ramsey v. Ciccone, 310 F.Supp. 600, 604 (W.D.Mo.1970). However, a complaint that an inmate was wrongfully denied medical care need not allege defendants consciously sought to inflict pain on the prisoner by withholding treatment in order to state a claim under § 1983. Westlake v. Lucas, 537 F.2d 857 (6th Cir.1976).
Under these principles, a complaint does not state a cause of action where it evidences a series of sick calls by the inmate, examinations, diagnoses and medications, and a professional medical decision not to order x-rays requested by the inmate; in short, a mere difference of opinion between the inmate and the institution's medical staff. Smart v. Villar, 547 F.2d 112 (10th Cir.1976); see also McCracken v. Jones, 562 F.2d 22 (10th Cir.1977). Further, a complaint was found inadequate where an inmate merely alleged the prison hospital had been negligent in diagnosing his condition, on grounds plaintiff had not alleged deliberate indifference, and medical negligence alone is insufficient to state a claim under § 1983. Tomarkin v. Ward, 534 F.Supp. 1224 (S.D.N.Y.1982).
By contrast, the allegations of plaintiff's amended complaint in this case evidence more than mere negligence or a difference of opinion between the inmate and the institutions' medical officers. Plaintiff alleges Michael Medcalf was suffering from diagnosed medical problems at the time of his incarceration in June 1980, a condition of which the prison administration and medical staff was aware. Throughout the summer and early fall of 1980, Medcalf consistently complained of severe headaches, nausea and vomiting, the elemental and classic symptoms of a brain tumor according to plaintiff's expert witness. Although Medcalf was seen a number of times by the prison medical staff, primarily Dr. Serapio, and was admitted to the infirmary for periods of time, the plaintiff alleges Serapio failed to order tests on Medcalf's condition and wholly failed to diagnose a brain tumor, more specifically described as a grade IV glioblastoma multiforme, before it caused Medcalf's death. Alone that might appear to be a mere inadvertent failure to provide medical care, but plaintiff alleges it was negligent to the degree amounting to deliberate indifference of Medcalf's medical needs, an allegation supported by the deposition testimony of plaintiff's expert witness, himself a licensed physician. Thus, the complaint alleges (1) medical symptoms and an injury or illness so severe as to have necessitated immediate competent medical attention to preserve Medcalf's life; (2) medical treatment which was, as a result, needed rather than merely desired; (3) the utter denial of the proper medical care, an aggravated tortious act which may well have gone beyond "simple" negligence; (4) the continuing denial of necessary treatment throughout the period of Medcalf's incarceration; and (5) deliberate indifference to Medcalf's medical needs as the direct cause of his death. Sufficient allegations are raised concerning the degree of negligence exhibited by the physicians, and Serapio's overall fitness and competence to serve in the prison environment, for the Court to conclude plaintiff has adequately stated a claim for relief under § 1983 and the Eighth Amendment. See Miranda v. Munoz, 770 F.2d 255 (1st Cir.1985); Rock v. McCoy, 763 F.2d 394 (10th Cir.1985); and Mullen v. Smith, 738 F.2d 317 (8th Cir.1984); see also Annot., 28 A.L.R.Fed. 279 (1976).
Where a § 1983 action alleging a constitutional claim is brought directly against a state, the Eleventh Amendment bars a federal court from granting any relief on that claim. Pennhurst State School & Hospital v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 118-20, 104 S.Ct. 900, 918-19, 79 L.Ed.2d 67, 91 (1984), citing Alabama v. Pugh, 438 U.S. 781, 98 S.Ct. 3057, 57 L.Ed.2d 1114 (1978) (per curiam). Plaintiff concedes defendants are correct in contending the Eleventh Amendment bars his claims against the State of Kansas as a governmental entity. Accordingly, the state is dismissed from this case.
Defendants McManus, Maschner and Taylor, the Secretary of Corrections and institutional directors respectively, also claim the Eleventh Amendment prohibits any liability from being imposed on them in their official capacities as agents of the State of Kansas. Although earlier cases permitted § 1983 actions seeking damages for violations of one's Eighth Amendment rights to be brought against state officials in their official capacities, see McDaniel v. Rhodes, 512 F.Supp. 117 (S.D.Ohio 1981), the law is now clear: § 1983 suits against state employees in their official capacities are barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Pennhurst State School & Hospital, supra; Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 343-45, 99 S.Ct. 1139, 1146-47, 59 L.Ed.2d 358 (1979); Maestas v. Bd. of Educ. of Mora Indep. Sch. Dist., 749 F.2d 591 (10th Cir. 1984); Barger v. State of Kansas, No. 620 F.Supp. 1432, 1436 (D.Kan.1985). As a result, § 1983 claims for violation of Eighth Amendment rights, and...
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