Piercy v. Julie Warkins, Dan Williams, & Advanced Corr. Healthcare, Inc.
| Decision Date | 25 April 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. 14 CV 7398,14 CV 7398 |
| Parties | AARON PIERCY, as Administrator of the Estate of Dale Piercy, Plaintiff v. JULIE WARKINS, DAN WILLIAMS, and ADVANCED CORRECTIONAL HEALTHCARE, INC., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Plaintiff Aaron Piercy brings this suit as the administrator of the estate of his father, Dale Piercy (see Defs.' Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ("DSOF") [346] ¶ 2.), who died in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections ("IDOC") on October 19, 2013 at the age of 541. (Coroner Report, Ex. 3 to Mot. for Summ. J. [345-3] at P000032.) Piercy entered the Whiteside County Jail ("WCJ") in late September and was later transferred to Stateville Correctional Center, Northern Reception and Classification Center ("Stateville NRC"). While at WCJ, Plaintiff claims, Piercy complained that he was vomiting blood. Plaintiff claims Piercy made these complaints to Defendant Julie Warkins, a nurse employed by Defendant Advanced Correctional Healthcare ("ACH"), which provided medical care at WCJ. Warkins conferred with Defendant Dan Williams, a physician assistant with ACH who worked offsite. Warkins and Williams gave Piercy medication for acid reflux, and did not tell staff at Stateville NRC about Piercy's complaints when he was transferred there. Two weeks after the transfer, Piercy died from gastrointestinal bleeding.
Plaintiff alleges several causes of action against Warkins and Williams. Some are complaints under 42 U.S.C. § 1983: deliberate indifference, conspiracy, and failure to intervene. Plaintiff also alleges state law claims of medical malpractice, and intentional infliction ofemotional distress. Plaintiff further seeks to hold ACH liable for the constitutional violations and the state law claims.
Defendants have moved to bar certain of Plaintiff's expert testimony, and have moved for summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, the motion to bar the expert testimony is denied and the motion for summary judgment is granted in part and denied in part.
Aaron Piercy brings this survival action as the administrator of Dale Piercy's estate. Dale Piercy entered WCJ on September 25, 2013. (Pl.'s Resp. to DSOF [365] ¶ 9.2) At WCJ, a correctional officer performed an intake medical screening, where Piercy reported that he had acid reflux and took Pepcid, a medication, but that he did not bring any medications with him and was "not under the care of any physician."3 (DSOF ¶ 10; Ex. 1 to Mot. for Summ. J. [345-1] at Whiteside 6-7.)
ACH had a contract with Whiteside County to provide medical care to detainees at WCJ.4 (Id. at ¶ 1.) As part of its contract, ACH hired Julie Warkins, a licensed practical nurse ("LPN"), to work at the jail for 35 hours per week. (Pl.'s Resp. to DSOF ¶ 1; see Ex. 49 to Pl.'sStatement of Additional Facts ("PSOAF") [367-50]; see also 225 ILCS 65/55-30 ().) ACH also hired Dan Williams, a physician assistant, to visit the jail once every other week and to be available for phone consultation 24 hours per day. (See Pl.'s Resp. to DSOF ¶ 1; Ex. 45 to PSOAF [367-46] at ACH0425; Ex. 48 to PSOAF [367-49].)
Before Piercy was transferred to Stateville NRC, Warkins filled out a Health Status Summary form, a form that WCJ used to give IDOC information on an inmate's medical condition.5 (Pl.'s Resp. to DSOF ¶ 11.) Warkins used the information from Piercy's intake medical screening to fill out the form (id.); Warkins wrote on the Health Status Summary that (1) Piercy had acid reflux problems, (2) he took Pepcid, and (3) he needed medical follow-up care; she did not specify what kind of care he needed. (Ex. 24 to PSOAF [367-25].)
The parties dispute what Piercy told Warkins about his medical condition while at WCJ. Another inmate, Brandon Simester, testified that he heard Piercy tell Warkins that he had been vomiting and coughing up blood on September 26, the day after he entered the jail. (Dep. of Brandon Simester, Ex. 6 to PSOAF ("Simester Dep.") [367-7] 74:3-75:12.) Simester claims that Piercy also asked for some antacid to help him eat. (Id. at 75:5-19.) According to Simester, Warkins wrote Piercy's name on her hand and told him she would get back to him. (Id. at 74:5-18, 131:8-16.) Simester and another inmate, William Elder, claim that Piercy spoke to Warkins several more times, as well. (Id. at 77:11-78:1; Dep. of William Elder, Ex. 7 to PSOAF [367-8] 34:24-35:14.) Simester testified that during one of these encounters, Piercy repeated that he was vomiting blood and was in pain; Simester claims that Warkins said she would "see what she could do." (Simester Dep. 78:8-79:15.) Warkins also apparently told Piercy to drink water. (Id. at 152:4-10.) One correctional officer, John Willhite, claims that Piercy told him he was spitting blood at some point during his stay at WCJ, but when Willhite offered to take him "up front" (presumably to the nurse), Piercy declined. (Dep. of John Willhite, Ex. 10 to PSOAF("Willhite Dep.") [367-11] 6:7-24, 63:1-14.) Willhite claims that Piercy said that "it wasn't a big deal." (Id. at 63:1-14)
Warkins claims she spoke to Piercy briefly on September 27, while she gave medication to other detainees. (DSOF ¶ 14.) She contends that Piercy told her that the jail food "didn't agree with him," said he took antacid for acid reflux, and requested medication. (Id.; Dep. of Julie Warkins, Ex. 11 to PSOAF ("Warkins Dep.") [367-12] 78:3-80:23.) According to Warkins, Piercy did not know the name of the medication—he called it only "the purple pill"6 (id. at 118:18-120:13), but he did specifically request Mylanta.
Warkins claims that she took Piercy's vital signs (DSOF ¶ 15), and recalls that she recorded them and Piercy's request for medication on a Protocol Medication Verification Form.7 (Warkins Dep. 103:3-105:20.) This form is dated September 27, 2013, and is signed by both Warkins and Williams. (Ex. 1 to Mot. for Summ. J. at Whiteside 2.) On this form, which Defendants have submitted as an exhibit, she wrote that he requested Omeprazole, a drug used to treat acid reflux, rather than Mylanta. (Id.); Omeprazole, DORLAND'S MEDICAL DICTIONARY, https://dorlands.com/def.jsp?id=100074776 (last visited Apr. 11, 2017). Though Warkins admits that she did not document precisely what Piercy said, she confirmed that she recorded his vital signs and his request for medication. (Pl.'s Resp. to DSOF ¶ 15; Warkins Dep. 104:17-22.) Defendant Dan Williams explained that the form lists both medications that an inmate requests or is taking and medications that health care professionals provide or recommend. (Dep. of Dan Williams, Ex. 19 to PSOAF ("Williams Dep.") [367-20] 118:3-119:18.) Given that Williams later did prescribe Omeprazole to Piercy, it may be that themedication notes on this form were filled in after Warkins's conversation with Williams (see below), rather than based on Piercy's request.
After her contact with Piercy, Warkins called Williams;8 Defendants claim that she relayed her version of Piercy's complaint (the request for medicine and that the food did not agree with him). (DSOF ¶ 16.) Plaintiff asserts that Warkins "conveyed to Williams everything that Piercy had told her" (Pl.'s Resp. to DSOF ¶ 16-17), but the evidence does not support this: Warkins testified specifically to what she told Williams—that Piercy requested antacid and said the food did not agree with him—she did not testify that she told Williams "everything that Piercy had told her." Warkins also testified that if a patient told her that he was vomiting blood, this would be an "emergency," and she would call a doctor. (Warkins Dep. 200:5-16.) Williams, too, agreed that vomiting blood is a "life-threatening condition" that cannot "be ignored." (Williams Dep. 150:15-22.) At his deposition, however, Williams did not recall prescribing Omeprazole, though Defendants admit that he did.9 (Williams Dep. 122:4-124:13, 128:6-130:7; Defs.' Resp. to PSOAF [372] ¶ 20.) Before Defendants made this admission, Williams testified that if he knew that a patient was taking Omeprazole, he would have wanted to know whether the patient had bloody vomit. (Williams Dep. 141:14-142:18.)
Williams ordered that Piercy receive 20 mg of Omeprazole daily, and that he be given Mylanta until the Omeprazole arrived.10 The parties dispute whether Piercy received Mylanta on September 27, but it is undisputed that he began receiving Omeprazole on the evening of September 28. (Pl.'s Resp. to DSOF ¶ 18-19; see Ex. 1 to Mot. for Summ. J. at Whiteside 3.) Piercy's medication log has no entry for October 2 and 3, so it is unclear whether he received Omeprazole on those dates.11 (Ex. 1 to Mot. for Summ. J. at Whiteside 4.)
On October 4, 2013, Piercy was transferred to Stateville NRC. (DSOF ¶ 21.) The parties have many disputes concerning the intake process at Stateville NRC and Piercy's medical care there, none of which are relevant for these motions. It is undisputed, however, that the only medication Piercy received at Stateville NRC was "a few" Tums. (Id. at ¶ 27.) Plaintiff contends that neither Williams nor Warkins contacted Stateville NRC to inform them of Piercy's complaints or Williams's prescription for Omeprazole. (Pl.'s Resp. to DSOF ¶ 27.) Warkins admits that she filled out Piercy's Health Status Summary form for IDOC before she saw Piercy and before Williams prescribed Omeprazole. (DSOF ¶ 11.) She admits, further, that she did not update it (id.), though the form is neither dated nor signed. (Ex. 24 to PSOAF.) The record is silent as to whether WCJ transmitted the Protocol Medication Verification Form—the form recording that Williams ordered Omeprazole—to Stateville NRC.
The parties agree that over the next several days, Piercy began vomiting with escalating frequency, including bloody vomit. (DSOF ¶ 29-31.) Piercy was unable to...
To continue reading
Request your trial