Opinion ID: 520690
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dr. Fodor

Text: 11 The facts involved in Fodor's treatment of Waldrop are undisputed. Fodor is a psychiatrist employed by the GDCC. Fodor interviewed Waldrop for the first time on October 18, 1984, in order to evaluate Waldrop's mental condition. Waldrop had been scheduled to see Fodor because he had a history of psychiatric problems and because he was taking several drugs, including Lithium, to control those problems. The interview lasted thirty to thirty-five minutes. At the conclusion of the interview, Fodor concluded that Waldrop's psychiatric problems were in remission. Consequently, Fodor stopped Waldrop's medication and ordered that he be observed for any further manifestations of mental illness. Fodor ordered no other measures to protect Waldrop from the effects of this sudden cessation of Lithium and other psychotropic drug treatments. 12 Fodor interviewed Waldrop again on October 27, 1984, for between ten and fifteen minutes. This interview occurred nine days after Fodor stopped all drug treatments to control Waldrop's mental illness. Dr. Smith, a staff physician at GDCC and the other appellant on this appeal, recommended the interview. Waldrop had been suffering from insomnia, nightmares, and nausea. At the conclusion of this interview, Fodor did not place Waldrop back on medication. 13 On November 1, Waldrop slashed his left forearm. Fodor was not aware of this act of self-mutilation because the attending physician, Dr. Smith, did not inform him of it. On November 4, Waldrop gouged out his left eye. Fodor saw Waldrop on November 8, and at that time Waldrop had just returned to the GDCC from the county hospital. Fodor placed Waldrop on Haldol and Cogentin, two drugs used to control the psychiatric problems that plagued Waldrop. Fodor did not place Waldrop on Lithium, a drug specifically used to combat depression. Fodor saw Waldrop for the last time on November 15, 1984. At that time Fodor interviewed Waldrop for between fifteen and twenty minutes. Fodor did not order any additional medication or emergency measures, but did request another doctor at the GDCC to complete a psychiatric evaluation within a week. Before this evaluation occurred, Waldrop was transferred to another facility. 14 Plaintiffs focus on Fodor's decisions to take Waldrop off medication and to refuse to give Waldrop Lithium treatments for depression. The controversy boils down to whether Fodor's decisions to remove Waldrop from medication and to restore the medication without Lithium constituted deliberate indifference to Waldrop's psychiatric condition. 15 Application of qualified immunity is a question of law to be decided by the court. Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 528, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2816-17, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). When a defendant moves for summary judgment based on the doctrine of qualified immunity, the court in general must view the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and determine whether those facts constitute a violation of clearly established law. This case is complicated by the fact that the quality of a doctor's treatment is evaluated according to professional standards. See generally Rogers, 792 F.2d at 1058 (whether misdiagnosis of medical condition resulted from negligence or deliberate indifference is a factual question requiring expert testimony). Although all actions taken by Fodor are undisputed, the question of whether these actions constituted grossly incompetent or otherwise deliberately indifferent medical care remains a contested issue. Dr. James B. Craig testified that Fodor's treatment of Waldrop was proper and that Fodor exercised reasonable professional skill and care. Dr. Slaughter, Waldrop's original treating physician, testified that these decisions were cruel and inhuman. We hold that Fodor is not entitled to summary judgment because he has failed to establish the absence of disputed issues of material fact. We cannot determine, however, whether Fodor's treatment constituted deliberate indifference to Waldrop's serious psychiatric needs because that treatment must be evaluated according to professional standards. 16 Fodor argues that if a doctor follows established medical procedures and actually treats a prison inmate, he has satisfied his obligation under the Eighth Amendment. Fodor argues that although he may have committed malpractice, he was not deliberately indifferent to the inmate's medical needs. Simple medical malpractice certainly does not rise to the level of a constitutional violation. Estelle, 429 U.S. at 106, 97 S.Ct. at 292. It is also true that when a prison inmate has received medical care, courts hesitate to find an Eighth Amendment violation. Hamm v. DeKalb County, 774 F.2d 1567, 1575 (11th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1096, 106 S.Ct. 1492, 89 L.Ed.2d 894 (1986). Hesitation does not mean, however, that the course of a physician's treatment of a prison inmate's medical or psychiatric problems can never manifest the physician's deliberate indifference to the inmate's medical needs. See Murrell v. Bennett, 615 F.2d 306, 310 n. 4 (5th Cir.1980) (treatment may violate Eighth Amendment if it involves something more than a medical judgment call, an accident, or an inadvertent failure). We reaffirm our position in Rogers that grossly incompetent medical care or choice of an easier but less efficacious course of treatment can constitute deliberate indifference. See Rogers, 792 F.2d at 1058. In this case, there is a disputed issue of material fact regarding the quality of care Fodor provided to Waldrop while Waldrop was at the GDCC. Consequently, we affirm the district court's denial of Fodor's motion for summary judgment on this issue.