Opinion ID: 178734
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendant Jail Nurses

Text: Plaintiff claims that the three jail nurses, Mastee, Yonker, and Malenko, were deliberately indifferent to Jones's serious medical needs. Plaintiff asserts that these nurses were aware of Jones's medical condition for five months prior to March 26, 2005 and yet ignored his medical requests, and were further deliberately indifferent in the manner in which treatment was provided to Jones from March 26, 2005 until his death on May 5, 2005. According to the district court, [t]here is no evidence that the nurses were aware of Jones' [condition] until March 26, 2005, and the generalized averments in the inmate affidavits are insufficient to establish the requisite culpable state of mind with respect to any particular nurse. Jones, at , 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68136, at . The district court, however, did not fully consider the affidavit of Diana Yager, which, construed in a light most favorable to Plaintiff, would support a finding of deliberate indifference by Nurses Mastee and Yonker. In her affidavit, Yager asserts that, while she was in the medical department, she overheard a conversation between Nurses Mastee and Yonker. According to Yager, [t]hey talked about how Vernard had been sending medical kites complaining of abdominal pain, and how Vernard thought that he might have cancer. Both Younkers [sic] and Nurse Nancy [Mastee] agreed that he was faking it, and lying, and looking for attention and an easier way at the jail. Yager maintains that this conversation took place sometime between November 19, 2004, and December 28, 2004, before Yager was relocated to a different facility. This affidavit, construed in a light most favorable to Plaintiff, shows that Nurses Mastee and Yonker received kites from Jones indicating that he was suffering from abdominal pain and that he suspected he had cancer. They chose to ignore these requests, concluding instead that he was faking it. The affidavit further indicates that they received these medical kites by December 28, 2004, at the latest, yet failed to respond to these kites or call Jones down to the jail's medical facilities for a consultation or examination until March of 2005, three months later. Contrary to the district court's decision, this evidence is sufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether Nurses Mastee and Yonker knew of the risk to Jones's health, yet consciously disregarded this risk. Although it is undisputed that Jones was eventually called down to the medical department and was examined by Dr. Deitrick, this evidence is insufficient to insulate these two nurses from liability. Their extended delay is sufficient to establish a factual issue regarding this claim. See Blackmore v. Kalamazoo County, 390 F.3d 890, 899 (6th Cir.2004) (When prison officials are aware of a prisoner's obvious and serious need for medical treatment and delay medical treatment of that condition for non-medical reasons, their conduct in causing the delay creates the constitutionality infirmity.). Accordingly, the court concludes that the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Nurses Mastee and Yonker on the Section 1983 claims. The decision of the district court is reversed. However, since Yager's affidavit does not implicate Nurse Malenko, this court hereby affirms the decision of the district court on Plaintiff's § 1983 claims against her.