Popoalii v. Correctional Medical Services
| Decision Date | 10 January 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 07-1028.,07-1028. |
| Citation | 512 F.3d 488 |
| Parties | Leiloni POPOALII, Appellant, v. CORRECTIONAL MEDICAL SERVICES; Earl Cox, Dr.; Raymond Bloomquist, Dr.; Sripatt Kulkanthorn; Marilyn Meyer; Wendy Hull; Debbie Welch; Vanlandingham; Vickie Dixon; Bruce Sharp; Mark Trusty; Renee Samm; Ann White; Stephen Taylor; Christina Hancock; Linda Rose; Jim Dunn; Jim Wilder; Scott Neagle; William Vallier; Alan Ham; George Foster; Lisa Schoenboom; C Nichols; and Morris, Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
William Peter Nacy, argued, Jefferson City, MO (Samuel E. Trapp, on the brief), for appellant.
Ryan Eugene Bertels, AAG, argued, Jefferson City, MO, for appellees Foster, Rose, Trusty, Samm, White, Taylor, Hancock, Dunn, Wilder, Neagles, Vallier, Ham, Schoneboom, Nichols, Patterson, Sharp, Schmidt, and Morris.
Peter J. Dunne, argued, St. Louise MO (Jessica L. Liss, on the brief), for appellees Correctional Medical Services, Cox, Dr. Kulkanthorn, Meyer, Hull, Welch, Vanlandingham, and Dixon.
John L. Roark, argued, Columbia, MO (Phebe LaMar, on the brief), for appellee Bloomquist.
Before BYE, BOWMAN, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.
Leiloni Popoalii brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Correctional Medical Services' (CMS) and Missouri Department of Corrections' (MDOC) staff, and Dr. Raymond Bloomquist. Popoalii claims that these defendants acted with deliberate indifference to her serious medical needs while she was incarcerated in the Women's Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center (WERDCC). The district court1 granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, struck an expert affidavit filed by Popoalii, and denied Popoalii's requests to amend her complaint. Popoalii appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment, its denial of her motions to amend her complaint, and its grant of defendants' motion to strike her expert affidavit. We affirm.
We recite the facts in the light most favorable to Popoalii, the nonmoving party. From April 2003 to March 19, 2004, Popoalii was incarcerated at the St. Charles County Department of Corrections ("St. Charles"). She began complaining of headaches in February 2004, for which she was eventually hospitalized at St. Joseph's Health Center ("St.Joseph's") where she was diagnosed with viral encephalitis. On March 19, 2004, Popoalii was transferred from St. Charles to the WERDCC. While incarcerated at the WERDCC, Popoalii developed permanent blindness from complications of a condition known as cryptococcal meningitis.
Cryptococcal meningitis is an uncommon fungal infection, primarily associated with HIV positive and immuno-compromised individuals. While at the WERDCC, Popoalii was not HIV positive and had no known risk factors associated with the infection. Permanent blindness is a rare complication of this infection.
The cause of Popoalii's infection remains unknown. Her medical experts have opined that she never had viral encephalitis, which was the diagnosis she received before her transfer to the WERDCC. Her experts did not offer testimony as to specific acts by defendants that fell beneath a standard of care. Her experts did state that, generally, earlier treatment may have prevented her blindness, but they could not say with any degree of medical certainty that particular failures or delays in care or any delays in obtaining her medical records caused Popoalii's blindness.
When Popoalii first arrived at the WERDCC, she was processed through the receiving and orientation unit. During intake, she gave her medical history and underwent a brief evaluation by medical personnel. MDOC officers play no role in the medical evaluation nor do they gather medical records. Popoalii complained of headaches upon arrival, and MDOC defendant Scott Neagles instructed her to go to sick call—a once daily opportunity for inmates to be seen by medical staff.
During a subsequent educational screening with MDOC defendant Rebecca Patterson, Popoalii told Patterson that her head hurt so badly that she could not answer questions and that she just wanted to lie down. Patterson told Popoalii that she did not have permission for a "lay-in" (which allows a prisoner to stay in bed except for meals). Popoalii responded by telling Patterson just to take her to administrative segregation (otherwise known as "the hole") so that she could lay down. Patterson called a nurse and obtained permission to continue with the educational testing.
Patterson also called MDOC defendant Renee Samm who came to talk to Popoalii about her headache complaint. Popoalii told Samm that her head hurt and that she just wanted to lie down. Samm called the receiving and orientation unit to inform them of Popoalii's headache complaint, but was told Popoalii had just been in the medical unit and had not received a lay-in. Popoalii continued to complain about headaches and that she could not continue the test—she repeated that she just wanted to go to "the hole" so that she could lie down. Samm wrote Popoalii a conduct citation. Popoalii was interviewed a few days later by MDOC defendant Bruce Sharp about this conduct violation. Popoalii did not offer any statement about the incident nor did she specifically request medical attention at that time.
On March 22, 2004, three days after her arrival at the WERDCC, Popoalii was placed in administrative segregation by order of MDOC defendant Mark Trusty. Trusty did not speak with or see Popoalii but ordered her moved to administrative segregation based on Sharp's interview. Prior to being placed in administrative segregation, Popoalii had been seen by medical staff twice since her arrival.
Two days later, Popoalii screamed from severe back pain. MDOC defendant Christina Hancock called the medical unit and spoke to an unidentified nurse practitioner who told Hancock that there was nothing wrong with Popoalii. On March 31, 2004, during head count, Hancock ordered Popoalii to sit up so she could be counted. Popoalii responded that she could not sit up because her head hurt too much. Popoalii also began to hallucinate. Popoalii eventually complied, but she was issued a conduct violation for the delay. She was interviewed by MDOC defendant Stephen Taylor for this conduct violation, but Popoalii again made no statement during the interview. Neither Popoalii nor Taylor remember whether she asked for medical attention.
That same day, MDOC defendant Mary Ann White conducted a disciplinary action hearing regarding Popoalii's conduct violations. White asked Popoalii over the intercom if she wanted to participate, and Popoalii responded that she did not.
On April 1, 2004, medical staff decided to transfer Popoalii from administrative segregation to the transitional care unit (TCU).2 At that time, Popoalii first reported that she could not see and that her head continued to hurt. MDOC officers were on duty in the TCU for security reasons but were not allowed to provide medical care to inmates. MDOC officers also are not told why an inmate is in the TCU.
Often over the next few days, Popoalii screamed loudly. MDOC defendants Linda Rose, Thomas Dunn, and James Wilder told her to stop because she was disturbing other patients. Popoalii spilled her food and was told that if she did not clean it up and stop screaming, she would be returned to administrative segregation. Popoalii stated that she could not see her food at that time.
During this period of frequent screaming, Popoalii received several more conduct violations. One violation was read to Popoalii by MDOC defendant Colin Nichols who asked Popoalii to sign the citation. Popoalii stated that she wanted to sign the document, but she could not see it and that she had not been able to see for two days. MDOC defendant Neagles interviewed Popoalii about another conduct violation, and Popoalii told Neagles she could not see the violation well enough to sign it. On April 3, 2004, Popoalii was sent back to administrative segregation for these conduct violations by the order of MDOC defendant William Vallier. Vallier never saw Popoalii before issuing the transfer order. Popoalii was cleared for transfer by one of the nurses in the TCU.
The day after she was transferred back to administrative segregation, Neagles saw Popoalii hitting her head on the wall of her cell, stumbling around and falling on her bed. He notified his supervisor and the mental health unit by filling out a suicide intervention form. He also called the medical unit to report the head banging. Popoalii was moved to a padded cell in the mental health unit and placed on full suicide watch.3
On April 6, 2004, Popoalii was transferred from the padded cell back to the TCU. She was subsequently taken to the emergency room at Audrain Medical Center. At the hospital she was diagnosed for the first time with cryptococcal meningitis and was eventually transferred to the University of Missouri Health Center.4
During intake at the WERDCC in mid-March, Popoalii reported her medical history to CMS defendant nurse Earl Cox, including her recent hospitalization for viral encephalitis. Popoalii told another unidentified nurse that she could not see. Cox visited Popoalii again a short while later when she complained of head pain. She told Cox that she had a constant headache due to the encephalitis. Cox evaluated her vital signs, which were normal, and gave her a lay-in restriction, which allowed her to stay in bed at all times except during medical care and meals. Cox also told her to report to sick call for further evaluation. Popoalii spoke to an unidentified nurse who gave her ibuprofen for her headache, which she continued to receive regularly during her stay at WERDCC.
The next day CMS defendant nurse Marilyn Meyer saw Popoalii due to her severe headache. Meyer assessed Popoalii's...
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