Opinion ID: 202444
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Feeney's claim

Text: 13 In alleging deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, Feeney points particularly to the lengthy delay in providing him with orthopedic footwear after King first prescribed it in June 2001. That delay is plain from the record. Within context, however, it falls short of establishing an Eighth Amendment violation. The summary judgment record reveals that: (1) Feeney was examined by medical professionals many times — sometimes weekly — after he first reported his symptoms; (2) numerous diagnostic tests were performed, including blood work, x-rays, and MRIs; (3) outside specialists, including a podiatrist, neurologist, neurosurgeon, and physical therapist were consulted; (4) Feeney was given other treatments for his symptoms, including pain medications, generic shoe inserts (as opposed to custom orthotics), steroid injections, and physical therapy; and (5) throughout the relevant time period, uncertainty remained about the source of his pain, and causes other than plantar faciitis were being investigated. 14 Kern's cancellation for now of King's prescription for orthotics in June 2001 was reasonably based on the fact that Feeney had refused to allow King to examine his feet that day, and the podiatrist also had not yet seen recently taken x-rays. King thus had no current clinical support for the prescription. The next month, after King examined Feeney with Kern present, the podiatrist indicated that a neurological problem, rather than plantar fasciitis, might be the problem. Although King again suggested custom orthotics, the recommendation was offered as a method for possibly excluding plantar faciitis as a diagnosis. Given the speculative value of the proposed remedy, Kern's desire to obtain review of King's conclusions before moving ahead with a remedial plan was understandable. 15 Although the course of treatment during the next twenty-two months led back to the prescription for orthotics, the delay alone — given the ongoing efforts to identify the source of appellant's pain — does not on any view of the facts rise to the level of an Eighth Amendment violation. The correctional center's medical staff was responsive to appellant's complaints, expended substantial resources trying to get to the root of his problem, and adopted other measures in an effort to alleviate his discomfort. Even if it could be said that failing to provide the orthotics earlier reflected poor judgment on the part of some defendants — a matter on which we take no view — this was not an omission that could be termed deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, Estelle, 429 U.S. at 104, 97 S.Ct. 285. `[W]here the dispute concerns not the absence of help, but the choice of a certain course of treatment,' . . . deliberate indifference may be found where the attention received is `so clearly inadequate as to amount to a refusal to provide essential care.' Torraco, 923 F.2d at 234 (internal citations omitted). The record unequivocally demonstrates that this is not such a case. 16 Accordingly, the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of Brewer, McLellan, and King. 17 Affirmed.