Opinion ID: 4204685
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Agron Myftari

Text: Defendant-Appellee Myftari was employed as a psychiatric social worker at the time of Richmond’s incarceration in the Jail. As a psychiatric social worker, Myftari was not able to prescribe medication himself. Rather, in that position, Myftari was responsible for providing psychiatric evaluations of inmates and determining the extent of their psychiatric needs. If Myftari determined that an inmate required psychiatric care, he would place that inmate either in the Mental Health Outpatient Program or the Mental Health Inpatient Program. An inmate admitted to the Mental Health Inpatient Program may receive psychiatric medication immediately upon arrival in the unit. However, an inmate admitted into the Mental Health Outpatient Program must wait until she is seen by a psychiatrist before being prescribed any psychiatric medication even where it is known that the inmate was taking medication prior to being admitted by the Jail. In the present case, Myftari diagnosed Richmond as bipolar, suffering from depression, anxiety and auditory hallucinations. He noted that Richmond had recently been treated for her mental health issues and that she was taking Prozac and Xanax, with her last dose being No. 16-2560 Richmond v. Huq, et al. Page 13 December 25, 2012. Notwithstanding these findings, he placed Richmond in the Mental Health Outpatient Program, which meant she would not receive any psychiatric medication until after a follow-up visit with a psychiatrist, which was scheduled for January 11, 2013. His reasoning for this placement was that Richmond had seen a specialist and taken medication just before her arrest, that she was stable, and that she would be able to function without medication until her follow-up appointment. Notably, Myftari undermined his own reasoning when he also testified that if medications such as Richmond’s were stopped, an inmate may begin experiencing symptoms, such as depression, mood oscillations, racing thoughts, restlessness, and pressured speech within ten days to two weeks. Richmond went seventeen days without medication before she even saw a psychiatrist, let alone received medication for her psychiatric needs. As discussed above, an inmate has a right to be free from deliberate indifference to his or her serious psychological needs. Comstock, 273 F3d at 702-03. The district court found that Richmond failed to present evidence that she suffered from a serious psychological need. However, for reasons discussed above, Richmond’s psychiatric needs were sufficiently serious to give rise to an Eighth Amendment violation. Richmond showed that at the time of her incarceration, she had been diagnosed with mental illness by a physician who determined that such illness required treatment in the form of medication. Further, the Jail’s own psychiatrist diagnosed Richmond with mental illness requiring treatment in the form of medication. As Richmond has shown that she was suffering from mental illness “that ha[d] been diagnosed by a physician as mandating treatment,” she has shown that she was suffering from a serious medical need. Blackmore v. Kalamazoo Cty., 390 F.3d at 897. Further, Myftari’s own testimony regarding the symptoms felt by a person without access to their psychiatric medication belies the district court’s conclusion. He testified that in the case of patients with depression or bipolar disorder, they can expect the symptoms to return within ten days to two weeks without access to medication. Yet, he scheduled Richmond’s appointment with Dr. Hinchman—which was the earliest day she could have received any psychiatric medication—for seventeen days after her confinement began. Further, there is evidence in the record supporting Richmond’s claim that she did not actually receive any psychiatric medication until the prescription ordered by Dr. Hinchman was filled, an additional three days after her No. 16-2560 Richmond v. Huq, et al. Page 14 appointment. Thus, there is evidence in the record to suggest that Myftari knew or had reason to know that Richmond had serious psychiatric needs that required treatment; that there was a risk that she would begin experiencing symptoms of depression and bipolar disorder days before she could expect to receive any medication to treat those ailments; and that he disregarded that risk by failing to ensure that Richmond would receive psychiatric medication in a timely manner. This showing is sufficient to create a genuine issue of fact as to Richmond’s claim of deliberate indifference by Myftari and thereby to survive summary judgment. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837. The Defendants’ argument that, should the need have arisen, Richmond could have been admitted to the Mental Health Inpatient Program and received medication immediately, is unavailing. To wait until an inmate with a documented history of mental illness has a psychiatric episode so severe that it requires inpatient treatment before providing her with any psychiatric medication will inevitably result in unnecessary suffering by the inmate. This is the very type suffering the Eighth Amendment aims to prevent. Thus, the district court improperly granted summary judgment in favor of Mr. Myftari on this issue.