Thomas v. Obaisi

• Decision Date: 30 March 2019
• Docket Number: No. 15 C 7187,15 C 7187
• Parties: MICHAEL THOMAS, Plaintiff, v. DR. S. OBAISI; DR. A. MARTIJA; and WEXFORD HEALTH SOURCES, INC., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

MICHAEL THOMAS, Plaintiff, v. DR. S. OBAISI; DR. A. MARTIJA; and WEXFORD HEALTH SOURCES, INC., Defendants.

No. 15 C 7187

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

March 30, 2019

Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Plaintiff Michael Thomas has been an inmate at Stateville Correctional Center ("Stateville") since May 2011. In this lawsuit, Thomas alleges that two doctors—Drs. Saleh Obaisi¹ and Alma Martija²—were deliberately indifferent to two of his medical needs—hand pain and a prostate problem. The court recruited counsel to represent Thomas, and the parties have engaged in discovery. The record shows that during the course of Thomas's incarceration at Stateville, he has seen multiple doctors and healthcare professionals for a variety of conditions. The court had previously dismissed Plaintiff's respondeat superior allegations against Obaisi and Martija's employer, Wexford Health Systems, Inc. ("Wexford"), which provides healthcare services to inmates at Stateville [33].³ What remains of Thomas's First Amended Complaint [23] are Thomas's claims against Obaisi and Martija and a Monell claim against Wexford formaintaining an unconstitutional policy or practice of deliberate indifference to his medical needs, in violation of the Eighth Amendment. (First Am. Compl. [23] ¶ 45.) Defendants now move for summary judgment [83]. That motion is granted.

BACKGROUND

I. Thomas's Hand Injury

Thomas injured his hand at Hill Correctional Center ("Hill") on March 22, 2011 during a fight with another inmate. (Thomas Dep., Ex. F to Dfs.' SOF ("Thomas Dep.") [85-2], at 32:15-16.) Medical records dated March 24, 2011 show that Thomas's hand was x-rayed that day, and a March 29 notation states "Fx R hand (to be casted)."⁴ (Stateville Med. Record, Ex. E to Dfs.' SOF ("Stateville Med. Record") [85], at Bates No. 20.) Thomas's hand was put in a splint.⁵ (Pl.'s 56.1 Statement of Facts ("Pl.'s SOF") [100] ¶ 2; Dfs.' 56.1 Statement of Facts ("Dfs.' SOF") [84] ¶ 26. See Stateville Med. Record [85], at Bates Nos. 22-23 (noting a splint on Thomas's hand on both 3/30/11 and 4/22/11).) A May 9 x-ray of Thomas's hand revealed that "[i]nterval further healing ha[d] taken place," but that Thomas's fourth and fifth metacarpals were "foreshortened." (Stateville Med. Record [85], at Bates Nos. 27, 92.)

Shortly thereafter, on May 11, Thomas was transferred from Hill to Stateville. With Thomas's consent, the splint was removed before he left Hill. (Dfs.' SOF [84] ¶ 29; Pl.'s SOF [100] ¶ 3; Thomas Dep. [85-2], at 39:12-23). He understood that he would get a new cast when he got to Stateville. (Thomas Dep. [85-2], at 39:15-19.) In fact, however, his hand was never re-splinted or casted there, despite the fact that he told Stateville medical personnel "that his hand was to be recasted." (Pl.'s SOF [100] ¶ 6; Dfs.' Resp. to Pl.'s SOF [102] ¶ 7.) On July 26, 2011,a physician assistant⁶ ("PA") at Stateville saw Plaintiff Thomas. The notes from that visit state than an "x-ray dated 5/10/1 [sic] [was] reviewed, no further treatment needed." (Stateville Med. Record [85], at Bates No. 40.) The PA did note that Thomas had "some [illegible] discomfort," and that he had told her "I know its [sic] still broken," but the PA did not prescribe any follow-up measures. (Id.)

Between 2011 and the filing of this lawsuit, Thomas has had several x-rays on his right hand, and they all showed similar results: healed fractures of his fourth and fifth metacarpals, with remaining deformities or shortening in metacarpals four and five.⁷ (See Pl.'s SOF [100] ¶ 8 (Aug. 26, 2011 x-ray); id. at ¶ 10 (Nov. 12, 2015 x-ray); Dfs.' SOF [84] ¶ 33 (Aug. 27, 2012 x-ray findings).) After his August 2012 x-rays, Thomas was evaluated by an unidentified individual for physical therapy.⁸ The record from that appointment noted that Thomas was "very reluctant to make fist" and that his pain was "8/10 at times." (Stateville Med. Record [85], at Bates No. 131.) It is unclear whether therapy began that day, but the chart notes subsequent therapy appointments. A record from December 18, 2012, for example, states that Thomas was "doing good" with his physical therapy and was "close to DIC." Defendants interpret this to mean he was close to being discharged from physical therapy, but Plaintiff claims he "cannot read the medical handwriting on this document." (Pl.'s Resp. to Dfs.' SOF [99] ¶ 35.) Plaintiff does not deny that he attended physical therapy during these dates.

Thomas explained in his deposition, without citing to specific dates, that he discussed his hand pain with both Drs. Obaisi and Martija. (Thomas Dep. [85-2], at 41:14-42:3.) Obaisi began working at Stateville in late 2013, and Martija started there in 2014. (Dfs.' SOF [84] ¶ 2; Martija Decl., Ex. D to Dfs.' SOF [84-4] ¶ 2.) When asked how Dr. Martija responded to his concerns, Thomas recalled that "[s]he ain't really say nothin. I think she just wrote [sic] and the next thing I got was some pain pills." (Id. at 42:16-18.)

On October 27, 2014, Thomas filed a grievance against the Stateville "health care unit" regarding his hand.⁹ (Offender's Grievance, in Master File, Ex. A to Dfs.' SOF ("Master File") [84-1], at Bates No. 229.) Under "nature of grievance," Thomas checked both the "staff conduct" and "medical treatment" checkboxes, but he named no particular Wexford employees. (Id.) He noted three health problems for which he believed he had received inadequate healthcare: his "prostate problem" (discussed below), "bleeding in stool,"¹⁰ and his hand. (Id.) Regarding his hand, he wrote, "My had was broke. It steel broke it was like that when I come down [?]-11-11." (Id.) Under the "relief requested" portion of the grievance, Thomas wrote, "I just want you to get me a bone doctor so they can look at my hand." (Id.) The Grievance Counselor's response onDecember 2, 2014 stated that "Offender has been seen by the doctor for his hand. [Illegible] has been checked & is healing properly." (Id.)

Several months later, Wexford approved a request by Drs. Obaisi and Fritz to send Thomas to the University of Illinois Medical Center for an "ortho evaluation." (Stateville Med. Record [85-1], at Bates No. 285.) Per that referral, Thomas was eventually seen at UIC on November 12, 2015 by Dr. Alfonso Mejia. (UIC Records, Ex. G to Dfs.' SOF ("UIC Records") [85-3], at PageID # 1182; Pl.'s SOF [100] ¶ 10.) The record from that visit notes that Thomas experienced pain "with any activities requiring him to make a fist," that Thomas was "tender to palpitation . . . particularly over the metacarpals of the 4th and 5th dorsally," and that his "[r]ange of motion in the wrist [was] limited due to pain." (Id.) The doctor ordered "an EMG of the right hand," "therapy to work on range of motion and strengthening," for Thomas to "obtain a wrist brace to wear at night," and for him to "take vitamin B6 50mg daily." (Id.)

Thomas subsequently began physical therapy with Dr. Becerra in late 2015.¹¹ (See Stateville Med. Record [85], at Bates No. 207.) The chart notes are largely illegible from that session, except for an annotation that the staff member who made the note "suspect[ed] symptom magnification[,] [and believed that Thomas] may benefit from short term PT to [illegible]." (Id.) Thomas saw Becerra on December 4, 24, and 31 of 2015, and again on January 7, 2016. (Id. at Bates Nos. 208-10.) The parties agree that Dr. Becerra's chart notes state that Thomas mentioned a "pending lawsuit" about his "pt-issue" during his appointment, as well as mentioning "pending lawsuits against medical staff and other inmates." (Dfs.' Resp. to Pl.'s SOF [102] ¶¶ 17-18.)

On January 14, 2016, Thomas's medical chart states "PT Note: NS for PT [illegible]." Defendants assert that this annotation (NS or "no show") means Plaintiff "did not appear for his" appointment. (Dfs.' SOF [84] ¶ 52.) The chart notes a "2nd NS" on January 20, and yet another on February 2. (Stateville Med. Record [85], at Bates Nos. 215-16.) Plaintiff, however, "denies failing to appear for any physical therapy for which he was notified and allowed to attend." (Pl.'s Resp. to Dfs.' SOF [99] ¶¶ 52, 53, 55, 57.) In the meantime, Thomas saw Dr. Martija again regarding his hand. Her January 22, 2016 chart notes state "R hand injury chronic." (Stateville Med. Record [85], at Bates No. 215.) She renewed a previously-granted lower-bunk permit "while awaiting ortho UIC consult," and she prescribed him "Tylenol PRN for pain." (Id.) It is unclear whether or when Thomas's physical therapy appointments with Dr. Becerra ended, but Dr. Becerra made another entry in Thomas' s PT medical record on March 13, 2017, this one largely illegible. (See Stateville Med. Record [85], at Bates No. 272.)

On May 25, 2016, Thomas returned to UIC for an EMG test, as ordered the prior November. (Pl.'s SOF [100] ¶ 12.) The results of that test were "'borderline abnormal,' . . . with findings 'suggestive of a right ulnar nerve mononeuropathy proximal to the wrist characterized by borderline sensorimotor demyelination but no evidence of axion loss.'" (Pl.'s SOF [100] ¶ 13 (citing UIC Records [85-3], at PageID # 1175).) He again saw Dr. Mejia of UIC on September 1, 2016. Dr. Mejia noted, after reading the EMG results, that "the only recommended intervention is occupational therapy" and that Thomas "voiced understanding and agreement of the treatment plan." (UIC Records [85-3], at PageID # 1180-81.) In his deposition, Thomas recalls that a UIC doctor told him that "if [my hand] would have been taken care of the first stage I wouldn't be having this [nerve] problem with my hand." (Thomas Dep. [85-2], at 75:1-3.)¹² He contradicts thisstatement in another part of his deposition, however: "Q. When [the UIC doctors] said [the nerve damage] was due to the injury to your hand, sir, did you have an understanding of whether that was due to the original breaking or due to the recovery after that? A. Well, due...