Roach v. Sci Graterford Medical Dept.

• Decision Date: 04 November 2005
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A.04-4459.,CIV.A.04-4459.
• Citation: 398 F.Supp.2d 379
• Parties: Bryant ROACH, Plaintiff, v. SCI GRATERFORD MEDICAL DEPT., et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

398 F.Supp.2d 379

Bryant ROACH, Plaintiff, v. SCI GRATERFORD MEDICAL DEPT., et al., Defendants.

No. CIV.A.04-4459.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

November 4, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Bryant Roach, Graterford, PA, pro se.

Gregg W. Marsano, Office of Attorney General, Philadelphia, PA, Alan S. Gold, Gold Butkovitz & Robins, Elkins Park, PA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM

EDUARDO C. ROBRENO, District Judge.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, Bryant Roach, is an inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford ("SCI Graterford"). On October 13, 2004 plaintiff filed a civil rights complaint in this Court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that he received inadequate medical care while an inmate at SCI Graterford (doc. no. 3). Plaintiff also asserts a state-law claim of medical malpractice.

Plaintiff asserts that on October 20, 2003 he started to experience abdominal pain in his right side. (Pl.'s Dep. 6.) When the pain did not subside, he reported to the SCI Graterford Medical Department for sick call. (Id. at 9-10.) On October 23, 2003 a doctor admitted him to the infirmary for observation. (Id. at 10.) The doctor gave plaintiff a mixture of Maalox and Donnatal, which stopped the pain. (Id.) He was placed on a liquid diet and had his urine tested and his pulse monitored. (Id. at 7.) He felt better and on October 25, 2003, he was released from the infirmary and returned to his cell. (Id.) Plaintiff filed no grievances concerning his October 2003 treatment. (Id. at 7, 11.)

After he was released from the infirmary in October 2003, he experienced no pain for the next four months. (Id. at 11.) Then, on February 29, 2004, plaintiff began to experience pain in his right side. (Id. at 11-12.) Plaintiff went to the dispensary at approximately 9:00 a.m. (Id. at 12-13.) The nurse on duty, Terry Drumheller ("Ms.Drumheller"), checked his blood pressure, gave him Pepto-Bismol, and advised him to sign up for the next available sick call. (Id. at 12.) According to plaintiff, he "stressed to her that he did not have an upset stomach, and it had to be something more serious because of the pain he was in." (Compl.2.) Plaintiff, nevertheless, returned to his cell.

By 2:00 p.m. on February 29, 2004, plaintiff's abdominal pain intensified. (Pl.'s Dep. 15.) Plaintiff stood by the cell door and looked for someone to come and help. (Id.) Plaintiff spotted Lieutenant Angela Hawkins ("Lieutenant Hawkins") and told her he needed to go to the hospital. (Id. at 14.) Lieutenant Hawkins tried to open plaintiff's cell door, but it would not open because all of the doors in the housing unit are "locked down" between 1:45 p.m. and 2:15 p.m., while the guards' shifts are changing. (Id. at 15.)

Approximately five to ten minutes later, plaintiff's cell door was opened and he walked to the infirmary. (Id. at 17.) The attending nurse (not Ms. Drumheller) examined his stomach and made arrangements for him to go to a hospital. (Id. at 18.) He was transferred to Mercy Suburban Hospital, Norristown, Pennsylvania, in less than six hours. (Id. at 19.) At the hospital, plaintiff had his appendix and part of his colon removed. (Pl.'s Br. at App. C.) For the first time, plaintiff was diagnosed with chronic diverticulitis. (Id.)

On March 9, 2004 plaintiff sent a letter to John K. Murray, Deputy Superintendent of Facility Management, complaining about the actions of Lieutenant Hawkins and the alleged medical misdiagnosis and mistreatment that occurred on February 29, 2004. Plaintiff filed an Official Inmate Grievance, No. 82114, on April 22, 2004 concerning the "first nurse's actions" (Ms. Drumheller) and "Lt. Hawkins omission" that occurred on February 29, 2004. (Pl.'s Dep. at Exh. Roach 7.) The Facility Grievance Coordinator, Wendy Moyer, rejected the grievance because it "was not submitted within fifteen (15) working days after the events upon which claims are based." (Id.)

On April 29, 2004 plaintiff appealed to the Secretary's Office of Inmate Grievances and Appeals. (Id. at Exh. Roach 8.) Plaintiff's appeal was denied because he had failed to submit an intermediate appeal to the Superintendent of SCI Graterford, a prerequisite to a final appeal. (Id. at Ex. Roach 10.) Sharon M. Burks, the Chief Grievance Officer, advised plaintiff to file the intermediate appeal to the Superintendent, and once a response was received, he could then submit a written appeal for final review by the Secretary's Office of Inmate Grievances and Appeals. (Id.) Plaintiff chose not to file an intermediate appeal.

Instead, on October 13, 2004 plaintiff filed a civil rights complaint in this Court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that he received inadequate medical care while an inmate at SCI Graterford (doc. no. 3). Plaintiff also claims that defendants are liable for medical malpractice under state law. Defendants are the SCI Graterford Medical Department, Lieutenant Angela Hawkins, Julie Knauer (the supervising health care administrator), (collectively, the "Commonwealth defendants"), and Prison Health Services, Inc., a private corporation with a contract to provide medical services to inmates at SCI Graterford. Plaintiff also brought suit against "Jane and/or John Does."¹

The gravamen of the complaint is that defendants failed to provide plaintiff with timely and appropriate medical attention even though he was exhibiting symptoms of appendicitis. First, plaintiff alleges that Lieutenant Hawkins's failure to get plaintiff medical attention and the prison infirmary's failure to conduct tests and give plaintiff the appropriate medical treatment was the result of deliberate indifference, thereby depriving him of his Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment. Second, plaintiff contends that the prison infirmary's failure to conduct appropriate medical tests constituted medical malpractice. Although not expressly delineated as such, plaintiff's claims may be divided into civil rights claims under section 1983 ("federal claims") and claims for medical malpractice under state law ("state-law claims").

The Commonwealth defendants timely filed a motion for summary judgment on July 27, 2005 (doc. no. 38). Prison Health Services, after being granted an extension (doc. no. 42), timely filed a motion for summary judgment on September 27, 2005 (doc. no. 45). Plaintiff timely filed his response on October 27, 2005 (doc. no. 49).

For the following reasons, defendants' motions for summary judgment will be granted as to the federal claims. Having granted summary judgment as to the federal claims which provided the basis for the Court's jurisdiction, the Court will decline to exercise jurisdiction over the state-law claims and will dismiss them without prejudice.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Motion for summary judgment standard

A court may grant summary judgment when "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, 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). A fact is "material" if its existence or non-existence would affect the outcome of the suit under governing law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). An issue of fact is "genuine" when there is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could find in favor of the non-moving party regarding the existence of that fact. Id. at 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505. In determining whether any genuine issues of material fact exist, all inferences must be drawn, and all doubts must be resolved, in favor of the non-moving party. Coregis Ins. Co. v. Baratta & Fenerty, Ltd., 264 F.3d 302, 305-06 (3d Cir.2001).

B. Sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment

Plaintiff's claims against the SCI Graterford Medical Department, as well as the claims against Lieutenant Hawkins, Ms. Drumheller, and Ms. Knauer, in their official capacities, are barred under the Eleventh Amendment. The Eleventh Amendment provides:

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against any one of the United States by Citizens of another State or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

U.S. CONST. amend. XI. The Eleventh Amendment bars the federal courts from entertaining suits by private parties against states, state agencies, and state officials and employees acting in their official capacities, unless the state has consented to the filing of such suit. See, e.g., Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 662, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974); Benn v. First Judicial Dist. of Pa., 426 F.3d 233, 238 (3d Cir.2005); Laskaris v. Thornburgh, 661 F.2d 23, 25-26 (3d Cir.1981). The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has not waived its rights under the Eleventh Amendment. 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8521(b) ("Nothing contained in this subchapter shall be construed to waive the immunity of the Commonwealth from suit in Federal courts guaranteed by the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution of the United States."). Therefore, all claims against the SCI Graterford Medical Department, as well as the claims against the individual defendants in their official capacities, fail.

C. Exhaustion of administrative remedies

Plaintiff's deliberate indifference claims fail because he did not exhaust his administrative remedies through the Department of Corrections. The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) requires prisoners to exhaust administrative remedies before initiating a lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The PLRA states:

No action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under section 1983 of this title, or any other Federal law, by a prisoner confined in any jail, prison, or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted.

42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). Compliance with the exhaustion of...