Opinion ID: 166569
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendant Dana Weldon, LPN

Text: 29 As detailed above, on the evening of October 29, 2000, Ms. Mata sought medical attention because she was suffering from severe chest pain. In response to her complaints of chest pain, Ms. Weldon, the nurse on duty at the PMC, told Ms. Mata there was nothing she could do for her since the infirmary was closed. Ms. Weldon notified Ms. Mata that her sole recourse was to return to sick call the following morning. In other words, Ms. Weldon neither administered first aid nor summoned medical assistance despite Ms. Mata's plea for medical attention. 30 The district court granted summary judgment for Ms. Weldon, concluding Ms. Mata had produced no evidence that a medical assessment from her would have differed in any way from the one performed by Ms. Quintana the next morning. To the contrary, we conclude on this record that Ms. Mata provided evidence supporting an inference that Ms. Weldon knew about and disregarded a substantial risk to Ms. Mata's health. 31 The fact that Ms. Mata was assessed by another nurse the morning after she sought medical attention from Ms. Weldon is irrelevant to Ms. Mata's cause of action against Ms. Weldon. Events occurring subsequent to Ms. Weldon's complete denial of medical care to Ms. Mata have no bearing on whether Ms. Weldon was deliberately indifferent at the time she refused to treat Ms. Mata. It makes no sense to say that Ms. Mata would have had a valid claim against Ms. Weldon if no one ever came to her rescue, but she does not if she was fortunate enough to have someone assist her several hours after Ms. Weldon refused to provide her any medical attention. Ms. Weldon could not know whether an assessment would be performed on Ms. Mata the next morning. She also could not know what an assessment performed the following morning would reveal concerning Ms. Mata's medical condition. Therefore, any assessment of Ms. Mata's condition conducted several hours after her encounter with Ms. Weldon is irrelevant to whether Ms. Weldon knew of and disregarded an excessive risk to Ms. Mata's safety. Cf. Boretti, 930 F.2d at 1154-55 (prisoner's treatment of his own wound, and the wound's healing without infection, did not undermine prisoner's Eighth Amendment claim; prisoner's needless suffering from pain when relief was available was sufficient to show deliberate indifference). 32 What is significant is that the evidence presented to the district court supports the conclusion that Ms. Weldon was in fact aware Ms. Mata was suffering from severe chest pains and required medical attention. Ms. Mata personally reported as much to Ms. Weldon. More importantly, Ms. Weldon refused to perform her gatekeeping role in a potential cardiac emergency by not seeking a medical evaluation for Ms. Mata from either a physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner as required by both the Colorado Department of Correction's CLINICAL STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS and well-established standards of nursing care. 33 The Cardiology Health Care Services section on chest pain in the DOC's CLINICAL STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS, dated January 2000, provides: