Taylor v. Plousis, Civil Action No. 98-3035.
| Decision Date | 20 June 2000 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 98-3035. |
| Parties | Robert TAYLOR, Plaintiff, v. James T. PLOUSIS, Sheriff of Cape May County Jail, William H. Fauver, Commissioner of the Department of Corrections of the State of New Jersey, John Doe, Medical Director at the Cape May County Jail, Correctional Medical Services, John and Jane Doe, Chairman of the Board of Freeholders, John Doe, Inmate at Cape May County Jail, Dr. Jane and John Doe, Doctors at Cape May County Jail, John Doe, Warden and Administrator at Cape May County Jail, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
Gary Mitchell Gash, White Plains, NY, for Plaintiff.
Budd, Larner, Gross, Rosenbaum, Greenberg & Sade, P.C. by Susanna J. Morris, Cherry Hill, NJ, for Defendants County of Cape May, James T. Plousis, Jean Crean, Lt. Thomas Shagren, and Lt. Edward J. Letts.
Murphy & O'Connor by Stephan E. Siegrist, Haddonfield, NJ, for Defendants Correctional Health Services, Inc., Dr. Angelique Beckett, Mary Franks, and Dr. Larry Pettis.
Plaintiff Robert Taylor ("Plaintiff" or "Taylor") is currently incarcerated in South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, New Jersey. On June 29, 1998, Taylor filed a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against several defendants, including the County of Cape May ("Cape May"), James T. Plousis ("Plousis"),and Correctional Health Services, Inc. ("CHS").
Two separate motions for summary judgment have been filed in this case. Defendants CHS, Dr. Larry Pettis, Dr. Angelique Beckett, and Mary Franks (hereafter "CHS defendants") move for summary judgment on the ground that the established facts fail to support plaintiff's claims. Defendants County of Cape May, James T. Plousis, Jean Crean, Edward Letts, and Thomas Shagren (hereafter "County defendants") have filed a similar motion and also assert the defense of qualified immunity. For the reasons set forth below, each motion is granted in part and denied in part.1
Plaintiff's allegations arise from the treatment he received between June of 1997 and February of 1998 at the Cape May County Jail, where the plaintiff was held awaiting trial. Plaintiff complains that he was denied adequate medical treatment to address his condition as a dual amputee. He claims that defendants failed to provide him with new stump socks, denied him his needed pain killer (Motrin) on several occasions, and forced him to walk on a broken prosthesis for seven months. Plaintiff claims that the broken prosthesis was held on by tape and that the strap mechanism that held the prosthesis to the leg was three inches too small.
Upon his entry into the Cape May County Jail, defendant Angelique Colbert-Beckett, D.O., performed an initial physical exam of plaintiff. At this time, plaintiff was wearing a prosthesis which attached to his left leg above the knee. According to plaintiff, the prosthesis was in an obvious state of disrepair. Plaintiff testified that the foot portion of the prosthesis was broken and was secured with postal tape and that the foot would bend inward while he walked. (Pl.'s Ex. B, Dep. of R. Taylor, 11-12.) Dr. Beckett did not inquire about or examine plaintiff's prosthesis during the exam. (Pl.'s Ex. G, Dep. of A. Beckett, 91.) However, she gave plaintiff a prescription for 800 mg of Motrin for thirty days in case plaintiff experienced "phantom limb pain" related to his amputation. (Id. at 37.)
On July 3, 1997, plaintiff submitted a medical request form "to find out how to go about receiving [sic] a new prosthesis...." (Pl.'s Ex. D, Medical Request Slip.) Plaintiff was told that the medical department would not have a problem with him receiving a new prosthesis from a source outside of the prison. Plaintiff was referred to Jean Crean, a prison social worker, for any further requests.
On July 6, 1997, plaintiff submitted a second medical request slip asking to see a doctor "about some problems" he was having and again inquired about a new prosthesis. (Pl.'s Ex. E.) He did not receive a response to this request. On July 10, 1997, plaintiff filled out an inmate/staff correspondence form addressed to Jean Crean. Plaintiff asked Crean to contact Frank J. Malone & Son, Inc., ("Malone's") a medical device company where plaintiff had been fitted for a new prosthesis prior to his incarceration. Apparently, plaintiff was allowed to call himself. The reply to plaintiff's inmate/staff correspondence form states, "you called Limb Co. — limb not ready." (Pl.'s Ex. H.)
On July 26, 1997, plaintiff submitted an inmate/staff correspondence form to the Medical Department. (Pl.'s Ex. I.) Plaintiff stated that he was in pain and needed his pain medication renewed. (Id.) Dr. Beckett did not examine plaintiff at this time, but she did renew his prescription for pain medication.
On August 11, 1997, plaintiff was weighed by the medical staff and his weight was recorded as 155 ½ pounds, an increase of nearly 17 pounds since the date he entered the Cape May Jail. On August 19, 1997, plaintiff was weighed again, he weighed 158 pounds.2 On September 27, 1997, plaintiff complained of "aches and pains" and was given a prescription for Tylenol.
On November 9, 1997, plaintiff submitted an inmate/staff correspondence form to the medical staff. Plaintiff stated, (Pl.'s Ex. L.) The reply area of the inmate/staff form indicates that plaintiff was put on the list to see a doctor. On November 12, 1997, Dr. Beckett examined plaintiff. She recorded in her notes that, "[p]atient's artificial leg is wearing out," and that, "Medical Dept. will arrange to have prosthesis fitted & delivered to the jail ASAP." (CHS' Ex. J.) Dr. Beckett testified that she wrote an order to the Medical Department requesting that they arrange delivery of the prosthesis previously ordered from Malone's. (Pl.'s Ex. G, Dep. of A. Beckett, 119.)
On November 23, 1997, plaintiff sent another inmate/staff correspondence form to the medical department. Plaintiff stated:
The new prosthesis that was being made for me is no longer the right size. I would like to inform you that the belt that holds the prosthesis on to my stump is way to small. It is starting to cut into my hip. I'm in severe pain from this. What are we going to do about this!! I been in alot of pain for over a month, my back i[s] hurt[ing] from the broken foot.
(Pl.'s Ex. N.) Plaintiff was scheduled for an appointment with Dr. Beckett on December 2, 1997.
Nurse Mary Franks testified that "[s]omewhere between November 12th and the end of the month" the medical staff became aware that the medical device ordered from Malone's "was not going to be coming" and that plaintiff "was requesting that we provide him with a prosthetic device." (Pl.'s Ex. M, Dep. of M. Franks, 107-108.) She testified that, in mid- to late-November, Dr. Beckett ordered the purchase of a new prosthesis. (Id. at 108-109.) However, Dr. Beckett testified that she never ordered anyone to obtain a prosthesis for plaintiff other than the prosthesis manufactured by Malone's. (Pl.'s Ex. G, Dep. of A. Beckett, 119-120.)
On November 24 and November 26, 1997, plaintiff again wrote to the Medical Department concerning his prosthesis. On December 2, 1997, plaintiff met with Dr. Beckett. In her progress notes, Dr. Beckett stated, (Pl.'s Ex. Q.) Three days later, on December 5, 1997, plaintiff sent another request to the Medical Department: (Pl.'s Ex. R.) A notation was made in the reply portion of this form stating, "[p]rosthesis is being looked into." (Id.)
Nurse Mary Franks testified that between November of 1997 and January of 1998, she requested permission from defendant Shagren to order a new prosthesis for plaintiff. In her answer to an interrogatory, Nurse Franks certified:
Mary Franks spoke to Lt. Thomas Shagren, who stated that plaintiff was scheduled to be sentenced on or about November 4, 1997. Once plaintiff was sentenced, he would go to State prison and receive his leg prosthesis if necessary. The same call was made to Lt. Shagren in December and he stated that plaintiff was going out after the first of the year and that he could get his leg prosthesis at the State prison if necessary. The same call was made to Lt. Shagren in January and he stated that plaintiff would be sentenced soon and to hold off on ordering the leg prosthesis.
(Pl.'s Ex. S.)
Contrary to the testimony of Nurse Franks, the County defendants deny that any Cape May County employee had knowledge of plaintiff's need for a new prosthesis prior to January of 1998:
At no time during October, November, or December of 1997 did any member of the Correction Division Administration — this includes the Sheriff, Col. Edward Letts and the above-named lieutenants [including Lt. Shagren] — receive a request from Charlotte Hill or Mary Franks regarding the need to order a leg prosthesis for Robert Taylor. During the latter part of January 1998 (after Rober Taylor was sentenced and scheduled to leave CMCC) (then) Lt. Shagren had a conversation with a Correctional Health Services(CHS) nurse regarding a new leg prosthesis for Robert Taylor. At this date, Warden Shagren is unable to recall the name of the nurse with whom he spoke.
(Pl.'s Ex. U, J. Plousis' Answers to Interrogatories, 2-3.) Similarly, defendant Shagren stated at his deposition that, "if the medical department had ordered it, we would have provided it." (Pl.'s Ex. F, dep. of Shagren/Letts, 23.)
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