Walker v. Campbell

• Decision Date: 13 November 2013
• Docket Number: Case No. 2:12CV00026 ERW
• Parties: LEROY WALKER, Plaintiff, v. GARY CAMPBELL, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri

LEROY WALKER, Plaintiff, v. GARY CAMPBELL, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 2:12CV00026 ERW

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI EASTERN DIVISION

Dated: November 13, 2013

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

This matter comes before the Court on Defendants Corizon, Inc. (f/k/a Correctional Medical Services, Inc.), Tomas Cabrera, Thomas Bredeman, Jill Perkins, Barbara Dallas, Carl Bynum, Gary Campbell, and Dennece Ward's Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 24].

I. STATEMENT OF UNDISPUTED OR UNCONTROVERTED FACTS

Based on Defendants' Statement of Undisputed Material Facts [ECF No. 26], Plaintiff's Statement of Controverted Material Facts and/or Material Facts in Dispute [ECF No. 40], and Defendants' Response to Plaintiff's Statement of Controverted Material Facts [ECF No. 45], the following facts are undisputed, or have not been specifically controverted pursuant to E.D. Mo. L.R. 7-4.01(E).

Plaintiff Leroy Walker is an inmate in the custody of the Missouri Department of Corrections. During the time period at issue, Plaintiff was confined at the Northeast Correctional Center (NCC) in Bowling Green, Missouri. On September 7, 2011, Plaintiff injured his left ankle while jumping off his top bunk. Plaintiff alleges that when he arrived at NCC's medical department, he sawDefendant Dennece Ward, a nurse at NCC.¹ At the examination, Plaintiff stated he "twisted" his ankle and fell, and he claims he directed medical personnel to x-ray his ankle.² Plaintiff's handwritten notes state Defendant Ward told him that he had a "bad spra[in]," and she had worked twelve-hour shifts having suffered more severe injuries. At the medical examination, Plaintiff received crutches, an Ace wrap, and Tylenol. He was also instructed to restrict his activity and sports for one month; he did not receive an x-ray at that time.

On September 12, 2011, Plaintiff self-declared an emergency and was examined by Defendant Ward. Defendant Ward noted Plaintiff had "gross edema of left foot," ambulated by himself, and "tr[ied] to walk on crut[c]hes." [ECF No. 26-2 at 5]. The same day, she took Plaintiff to see Defendant Tomas Cabrera, an "independent contract physician" at NCC.³ [ECF No. 30 at ¶ 1 ]. Defendant Cabrera ordered an x-ray, an anti-inflammatory medication, a wheelchair, and a lower bunk. He also instructed Plaintiff to elevate his left foot and apply ice, and he ordered that Plaintiff not perform any work for two weeks. Plaintiff's handwritten notes indicate he was not able to attend meals on September 7, September 9, and September 12 of 2011.⁴ [ECF No. 40-6 at 1].

The following day, Plaintiff received an x-ray. The parties dispute the date on which the x-ray results were evaluated. Defendants claim Defendant Cabrera evaluated the x-rays on September 13, 2011, but Plaintiff notes the medical records state, "Images are not submitted for interpretation until 9/20/11," and the report receipt date is September 22, 2011. [ECF No. 26-2 at 7]. Regardless, the record is clear that on September 13, 2011, Defendant Cabrera concluded - by reviewing the x-ray results or otherwise - Plaintiff "sustained a fracture on his distal third of his fibula, displaced and slightly angulated." [ECF No. 26-2 at 7]. Also on September 13, 2011, Defendant Cabrera submitted a referral request, so that Plaintiff could see Dr. Ben Jolly, an orthopedic specialist at the Audrain Medical Center in Mexico, Missouri. The referral request was approved the same day.

Plaintiff saw Dr. Jolly on September 16, 2011. Dr. Jolly's notes read as follows:

PT WITH SYNDESMOTIC AND DELTOID LIGAMENT TEAR AND FX FIBULA (MESSONURENE FX) NEED LIGAMENT REPAIR NEXT WEEK! ! ! WILL SCHEDULE NEXT WEEK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, NEEDS DONE TODAY.

[ECF No. 26-2 at 8]. Dr. Jolly recommended surgical ligament repair in the form of a "left distal fibular ligament stabilization with tightrope." [ECF No. 26-2 at 9]. Plaintiff contends Dr. Jolly attempted to have the proposed surgery approved that day, but a nurse at Dr. Jolly's office reported the surgery was denied via telephone by Defendant Jill Perkins, a registered nurse serving as the Health Services Administrator at NCC. Plaintiff alleges the nurse at Dr. Jolly's office "advised that [Defendant] Perkins would not authorize an emergency surgery, that it needed to be scheduled in the next week or further in the future to avoid extra charges[.]" [ECF No. 40 at 20-21]. Ultimately, Defendant Cabrera submitted a referral request for the recommended surgery.

On September 19, 2011, Plaintiff filed an Informal Resolution Request (IRR) with the Missouri Department of Corrections. He stated that he needed immediate surgery on his left ankle. Additionally, he stated, "The whole process is taking too long. It has been thirteen days already, andI should have been treated when I went to the doctor in Mexico, Mo. on 9-16-11. The doctor told me it needed to be taken care of now, if he waits too long it won't be right, ever!" [ECF No. 40-3 at 1]. Dr. Jolly's recommended surgery was approved the same day by Defendant Carl Bynum, a physician at NCC. Dr. Jolly performed the surgery on September 20, 2011 at Audrain Medical Center.

The parties dispute the appearance of Plaintiff's injuries from the time he jumped from his bunk to his surgery. Defendant Cabrera avers the "fracture was not evident upon a visual inspection of the left ankle and could only be determined by interpreting the x-ray results." [ECF No. 30 at ¶ 10]. However, Plaintiff has submitted affidavits from two of his fellow inmates that describe the condition of Plaintiff's injuries in the time period leading up to his surgery. Affiant Mark Minicky states, "[Plaintiff] expressed that he was in excruciating pain, he could not move his foot, ambulate unassisted, either with the help of someone or by use of auxiliary aids, and his foot was dangling." [ECF No. 40-19 at ¶ 4]. Similarly, affiant Randy Belcher states, "It was obvious then that he needed emergent surgical intervention because you could see that the heel of his foot was not even connected to his leg anymore with that corresponding ligament and his foot just hung there." [ECF No. 40-18 at ¶ 7].

Following the surgery, Plaintiff received crutches, a surgical boot on his left leg, and a wheelchair for long distances.⁵ The same day as his surgery, Plaintiff returned to NCC, where he was monitored in the transitional care unit (TCU). He was given prescriptions for ibuprofen and Tylenol with codeine elixir.⁶ That evening, a nurse administered two doses of Tylenol with codeine.Plaintiff alleges, however, that after those two doses, medical staff denied him any more pain medication and falsified his medical records to reflect he no longer needed it. Specifically, Plaintiff contends Defendant Barbara Dallas, a nurse at NCC, lied to other medical staff by stating Plaintiff no longer required pain medication, even though Plaintiff rated his pain at "ten" on a scale of one to ten. Plaintiff also asserts Defendant Dallas improperly discontinued his prescriptions,⁷ falsified his records to effect premature discharge from TCU, and refused to clean his bloody leg and foot. Dated September 21, 2011, Defendant Dallas's notes state, inter alia, Plaintiff "states has throbbing pain left lat ankle, rates pain a '5', states is bearable." [ECF No. 26-2 at 15]. Additionally, she wrote Plaintiff

has bulky acewrap in place to left foot and lower leg, has moderate amt sanguinous drainage noted on lateral side of ankle and lower leg, appearing through ABD; ABD removed; 4x4 gauze placed over area of drainage, covered w/folded ABD, secured w/kling; pt instructed re: importance of keeping surgical dressing intact to decrease pot [sic] for infection[.]

[ECF No. 26-2 at 16]. Defendant Cabrera also saw Plaintiff on September 21, 2011. Plaintiff's handwritten notes state, "All [Defendant Cabrera] sa[id] is this medical boot cost five hundred dollars, like he paid for it himself." [ECF No. 40-6 at 3]. Plaintiff was discharged from TCU on September 21, 2011 with a wheel chair, crutches, and air walker boot.

On October 28, 2011, Defendant Perkins responded to Plaintiff's IRR. She wrote,

I understand that you feel that there was an inappropriate time lapse getting your fracture repaired. There are many other things that are taken into consideration when scheduling medical outcounts. The availability of the specialist is the first thing that is reviewed, they have other patients as well.

[ECF No. 40-3 at 2].

On November 4, 2011, Dr. Jolly examined Plaintiff, noting Plaintiff was "healing well," and advising Plaintiff to continue wearing the surgical boot for three weeks. [ECF No. 26-2 at 17]. Plaintiff's medical records also reflect an examination by Defendant Cabrera on November 17, 2011. Plaintiff's handwritten notes state that, during that visit, Defendant Cabrera told Plaintiff he was "not concerned with [Plaintiff's] comfort or pain." [ECF No. 40-6 at 4].

Dr. Jolly examined Plaintiff again on December 12, 2011. Satisfied with the results of Plaintiff's surgery, Dr. Jolly advised he only needed to see Plaintiff as needed. Additionally, the following day, Plaintiff told Defendant Cabrera that Dr. Jolly had released Plaintiff from his care.

Plaintiff alleges he continues to suffer from his injuries. Specifically, he contends he suffers from nerve pain, for which Defendants have denied treatment. The affiants describe Plaintiff's purported nerve pain as self evident; Belcher states Plaintiff "still expresses severe pain and . . . he suffers in constant nerve pain, his leg and foot is [sic] constantly on fire and he make[s] involuntary, painful jerking movements when the nerves involuntarily fire." [ECF No. 40-18 at ¶ 6]. Minicky makes similar averments in his affidavit, describing Plaintiff's pain as "obvious" and likening Plaintiff's "jerking movements" to "an electric bolt shocking someone." [ECF No. 40-19 at ¶ 6].

Plaintiff filed suit on April 12, 2012, alleging his right of freedom from cruel...