Opinion ID: 485257
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Sec. 1983 deliberate indifference claim

Text: 14 Cooper's theory of recovery under Sec. 1983 is that, after the initial examination by the paramedics, defendants manifested deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. See Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976). Defendants maintain that their duty to Cooper was satisfied when they called the ambulance to the scene, and that they reasonably relied on the medical judgments of the paramedics. However, all three defendants conceded at trial that if Cooper had continued to complain after the initial exam, the officers would have been obligated to seek additional medical attention. Defendants' perception of their obligation accurately reflects the state of the law; government officials who ignore indications that a prisoner's or pretrial detainee's initial medical treatment was inadequate can be liable for deliberate indifference to medical needs. Continued complaints by Cooper, or the manifest symptoms described by Dr. Theodore, would have put defendants on notice that additional care was required. See, e.g., Miranda v. Munoz, 770 F.2d 255, 259 (1 Cir.1985) (upholding denial of judgment n.o.v. where [i]t could be found that defendants ignored a clear warning that the medical treatment they provided for [plaintiff, a pretrial detainee] was inadequate, allowing him to deteriorate beyond recovery); Duncan v. Duckworth, 644 F.2d 653, 654 (7 Cir.1981) (While the initial failure to properly diagnose [plaintiff prisoner's] injury may be attributable to no more than an error in judgment, ... the failure to promptly schedule surgery, once the need for it was recognized, and in the face of [plaintiff's] repeated complaints of severe pain, ... give[s] rise to at least an inference of [deliberate] indifference). 15 Defendants' rely on Sosebee v. Murphy, 797 F.2d 179 (4 Cir.1986), but we read that case to provide strong support for Cooper's constitutional claim. Sosebee was a Sec. 1983 action brought against medical personnel and prison guards on behalf of a prisoner who died from a steak bone piercing his esophagus, after having been misdiagnosed as suffering from gastroenteritis. We affirmed the grant of summary judgment for the medical personnel, and it is this aspect of the opinion on which defendants rely. However, the Sosebee court found that the medical personnel had promptly responded to the inmate's requests for medical assistance, and that, at most, there was a possible state law claim for negligent misdiagnosis. Id. at 181-82. This holding might be relevant if this were a suit against the paramedics who failed to uncover Cooper's wound, but it is inapposite insofar as the officers are concerned. 16 As for the officers, Sosebee's holding regarding the prison guards in that case is controlling. We reversed the summary judgment for the guards, stating that [t]he apparent seriousness of [the inmate's] condition during his last hours of life raises issues of material fact. If the prison guards on duty at that time were aware of [his] physical status but refrained from obtaining medical assistance, an inference of deliberate indifference would arise. 797 F.2d at 182. We found that plaintiff had presented ample evidence that the guards were aware of the inmate's increasingly severe symptoms, and of the complaints made by both the inmate and nearby prisoners. The guards even threatened the prisoners with solitary confinement if they did not cease their complaints. Id. 17 The parallels to this case are striking. According to Cooper, he and his friends repeatedly pled with the officers to obtain medical attention for Cooper's gunshot wound, but the officers either ignored them or told them to shut up because Cooper had already been examined. Cooper's friend Parker apparently complained so vociferously that he was moved to another part of the station. Cooper himself attracted enough attention at one point to convince an officer to change his handcuffs so that he could lie down on the floor. Moreover, as was the case for the inmate in Sosebee, Cooper's symptoms would have made it obvious that he required immediate medical attention during this time period. 797 F.2d at 182. These indications that defendants had notice of Cooper's need for further medical care are underscored by the officers' knowledge of the chaotic conditions under which the initial exam was undertaken. Claims of reasonable reliance on the paramedics' judgments are less than persuasive in these circumstances. In sum, there was, at a minimum, more than sufficient evidence of deliberate indifference to warrant submitting this claim to the jury. 1