Opinion ID: 4204685
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dr. Rubab Huq

Text: Dr. Huq was employed as a physician serving the inmates of Wayne County Jail at the time of Richmond’s incarceration. Dr. Huq examined Richmond on December 28, 2012. During this visit, Dr. Huq observed the burn wounds on Richmond’s chest, prescribed additional medication to ward off infection, and scheduled a follow-up appointment for January 10, 2013. Unlike the case with Dr. Clafton, at the time Dr. Huq treated Richmond, the Jail medical staff had yet to miss a dressing change, although it had missed one dosage of pain medication. Although there is some dispute over whether Dr. Huq herself changed Richmond’s dressing that day, the record does not support a finding that Dr. Huq was aware of the risk that the prescribed course of treatment might go unimplemented. Richmond also argues that Dr. Huq could have been more aggressive in treating her wounds; specifically, Dr. Huq could have prescribed more pain medication or recommended that Richmond be transferred to a burn center. However, as the Defendants note, “[w]here a prisoner alleges only that the medical care received was inadequate, federal courts are generally reluctant to second guess medical judgments unless the medical treatment is so woefully inadequate as to amount to no treatment at all.” Asplaugh, 643 F.3d at 169. Richmond does not contend that the plan of treatment prescribed by Dr. Huq was so inadequate as to amount to no treatment at all, but rather that the plan was both insufficient and not fully implemented by others. However, it was not Dr. Huq’s role to implement the course of treatment, and there are no facts in the record to suggest that Dr. Huq was ever aware or should have been aware that the treatment was not being implemented as he prescribed. Further, Dr. Huq scheduled a follow-up appointment for Richmond presumably to monitor the healing process. Regarding the necessity of a burn specialist, both Dr. Huq and the hospital physician who had recently released Richmond into the Jail’s custody determined that such a specialist was not necessary. It would be improper for this court to overturn their medical judgment. Thus the district court correctly granted summary judgment on Richmond’s claims against Dr. Huq related to the treatment of her burn. However, unlike Dr. Clafton, there is a question of fact as to whether Dr. Huq was made aware of Richmond’s need for psychiatric medication well in advance of Richmond’s visit with Dr. Hinchman. The record from Nurse Fowler’s first visit with Richmond on the day Richmond No. 16-2560 Richmond v. Huq, et al. Page 12 was brought into the Jail’s custody indicates that Richmond had been on Prozac and Xanax prior to entering into the custody of the Jail and that her last dose was taken on December 25, 2012. Although this notation was in Richmond’s records, it is not clear from the record whether Dr. Huq actually reviewed or should have reviewed that particular document. A “prison official[] who ha[s] been alerted to a prisoner’s serious medical needs [is] under an obligation to offer medical care to such a prisoner.” Comstock, 273 F.3d at 702 (citing Danese v. Asman, 875 F.2d 1239, 1244 (6th Cir. 1989)). This obligation extends to an inmate’s serious psychiatric needs. Id; see also Clark-Murphy, 439 F.3d at 292. A reasonable jury could find that Dr. Huq was or should have been aware of Richmond’s serious need for psychiatric medication, as evidenced by Nurse Fowler’s notation, and that she failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that Richmond received her medication, such as prescribing them herself or even simply requesting that a nurse check with Richmond’s outside doctor or pharmacy to verify her prior prescriptions. Because there is a question of fact as to whether Dr. Huq was deliberately indifferent to Richmond’s serious medical need, summary judgment is not appropriate on this issue.