Opinion ID: 2972579
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Nurse Gilbert

Text: The district court also determined that Cook could establish deliberate indifference by Nurse Gilbert. On appeal, Nurse Gilbert contends that the district court erred in denying her qualified immunity because “there are no facts to support that she drew the inference that her conduct posed 15 No. 03-2446 / 03-2461 a substantial risk of serious harm to Cook,” Defs.-Appellant’s Br. at 22, and she merely “exercised her professional judgment in treating Cook,” id. at 25. In sum, Nurse Gilbert’s claim is that she cannot be liable for deliberate indifference where the facts alleged prove, at most, that she acted negligently in failing to diagnose Cook’s condition. Negligence, Gilbert says, is an insufficient basis upon which to ground an Eighth Amendment violation of cruel and unusual punishment. We agree with Nurse Gilbert that Cook must show something more than mere negligence in his attempt to hold her liable in the instant case. A plaintiff may establish deliberate indifference, however, by a showing of grossly inadequate medical care. Terrance v. Northville Regional Psychiatric Hosp., 286 F.3d 834, 843 (6th Cir. 2002) (“‘deliberate indifference may be established by a showing of grossly inadequate care as well as a decision to take an easier but less efficacious course of treatment’”); see also Tate v. Coffee County, Tennessee, 48 Fed. Appx. 176, 180 (6th Cir. 2002) (“a medical professional’s failure to perform any of the tests that would be routinely conducted under similar circumstances rises above the level of simple negligence and can support a finding of deliberate indifference”); Comstock v. McCrary, 273 F.3d 693, 711 (6th Cir. 2001) (finding that doctor’s evaluation of inmate was “grossly inadequate” where doctor failed to review suicidal inmate’ psychological records and failed to comply with department of corrections policies on suicide prevention). In the present case, Cook has asserted facts from which a fact finder could reasonably conclude that his urgent need for medical care was obvious, and Nurse Gilbert failed to respond in an objectively reasonable manner. Cook has pled facts from which a reasonable jury could find that Gilbert acted with deliberate indifference by providing grossly inadequate medical care. 16 No. 03-2446 / 03-2461 More specifically, Cook has produced evidence demonstrating that Gilbert had a responsibility, as the on-duty nurse at the time of his arrival at boot camp, to complete a health history form on him, prepare an intake history and screening form, and take his vital signs. Gilbert concedes that she did not take these actions upon Cook’s arrival at the Cassidy Lake boot camp. Had Gilbert fulfilled her duties in this regard, she likely would have discovered that Cook first became ill in the Manistee County Jail. After Captain Bigcraft summoned Gilbert to examine Cook, she was made aware that he had been unable to complete the three-mile run. A jury could also reasonably conclude that Gilbert was aware of the high temperature outside on the day in question. (Cook has alleged that the temperature was approximately ninety-five degrees.) Gilbert observed him in the restraint chair for more than an hour. In fact, she made cursory checks on him, often at the request of other officers, during which she limited her “examinations” to taking his pulse, checking his fingers for capillary refill, and perfunctory inspections of his restraints. Gilbert also noted that Cook’s heart rate was elevated, and remained elevated despite his lethargic and possibly unconscious state in the restraining chair. Perhaps more important are the obvious actions Gilbert failed to take in her various “examinations” of Cook. While the officers later reported to DWH personnel that Cook received a wound on his forehead when he tried to “escape,” Gilbert never examined or treated that wound. Although Cook’s entire face was covered by a mask, a jury could conclude that Gilbert failed to respond reasonably because she never removed Cook’s mask during all of her “examinations” of him. Despite his elevated heart rate and lethargic or unconscious state, Gilbert apparently never examined Cook’s eyes. Considering all of the above facts together, we believe that a jury could 17 No. 03-2446 / 03-2461 reasonably conclude that Nurse Gilbert was deliberately indifferent to Cook’s obvious serious medical needs.