Court Opinion

ID: 9573881
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:00:08.990226+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:43:30.052765
License: Public Domain

McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur fully in affirming the district court’s judgment as to Drs. Ambani and Faghihnia. As to Dr. Sullivan, I would affirm judgment on a basis other than state actor. The University of Michigan is a public university and therefore a state actor. NCAA v. Tarkanian, 488 U.S. 179, 192, 109 S.Ct. 454, 102 L.Ed.2d 469 (1988). As an employee of the University, Dr. Sullivan is a state actor when acting within the scope of her employment. Johnson-Kurek v. Abu-Absi, 423 F.3d 590, 595 (6th Cir.2005); Cameron v. Children’s Hosp. Med. Center, 131 F.3d 1167, 1172 (6th Cir. 1997). Had Scott been brought to the University for treatment and had Dr. Sullivan treated him there, it seems reasonably clear that she would have been a state actor in her role as Scott’s treating physician. In her affidavit, Dr. Sullivan contends that she was “assigned by” the University to the oncology radiation unit at Foote Hospital. Without a better understanding of the precise contractual relationships, if any, between (a) Dr. Sullivan and the University, (b) the University and Foote Hospital, and (c) Foote Hospital, MDOC and Correctional Medical Services, I cannot conclusively say that Dr. Sullivan was not a state actor when she treated Scott at Foote Hospital. However, in my *650opinion we need not reach the issue of state actor because, as the magistrate judge explained in her report and recommendation, Dr. Sullivan did not act with deliberate indifference to Scott’s serious medical needs. R & R at 17-18.
I also part company with my colleagues on the evaluation of Dr. Antonini’s treatment of Scott. Normally, when considering a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a court cannot consider records or other documents outside the four corners of a plaintiffs complaint. There are exceptions, however, to this general rule. Scott attached to and cited in his complaint a number of medical records. “When a court is presented with a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, it may consider the Complaint and any exhibits attached thereto ... so long as they are referred to in the Complaint and are central to the claims contained therein.” Bassett v. NCAA, 528 F.3d 426, 430 (6th Cir.2008) (citation omitted).
The Eighth Amendment does not protect against every unnecessary deprivation suffered by a prisoner, but rather “only that narrow class of deprivations involving ‘serious’ injury inflicted by prison officials acting with a culpable state of mind.” Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 20, 112 S.Ct. 995, 117 L.Ed.2d 156 (1992) (emphasis in original). Scott received medical treatment from several physicians and healthcare workers, including Dr. Antonini, as he acknowledges. When the cause of action is grounded not on an allegation that the prison official failed to provide him with any treatment, but rather is grounded on an allegation that the prescribed treatment was inadequate in some way, courts traditionally have been reluctant to second-guess the medical official. See, e.g., Sanderfer v. Nichols, 62 F.3d 151, 154 (6th Cir.1995); Westlake v. Lucas, 537 F.2d 857, 860 n. 5 (6th Cir.1976). As this court sitting en banc explained in Williams v. Mehra, “[T]he standard is not whether there is something easy that the doctors, with the benefit of hindsight, could have done. It is whether they knew of and disregarded an excessive risk to inmate health or safety.” 186 F.3d 685, 692 (6th Cir.1999) (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted; emphasis in original). In these types of cases, the prisoner must allege and ultimately prove that he received “grossly inadequate care” in the face of “a decision to take an easier but less efficacious course of treatment.” Perez v. Oakland County, 466 F.3d 416, 424 (6th Cir.2006) (citation omitted).
A review of the complaint and of the attached medical records confirms that while Scott might be able to state a claim of negligent malpractice against Dr. Antonini, he has not stated a claim of deliberate indifference. The records show that Dr. Antonini treated Scott for his testicular pain and rectal bleeding, albeit maybe not as quickly as Scott desired. Shortly after examining Scott, Dr. Antonini ordered an ultrasound on Scott’s testicles as well as a colonoscopy. There were delays in the scheduled procedures, but there is nothing in the record to suggest that the delays were due to Dr. Antonini’s deliberate indifference. The ultrasound on Scott’s testicles came back negative and the course of treatment recommended for Scott’s rectal bleeding was a high-fiber diet, Metamucil, stool softener, and a suppository as needed. The refusal to give Scott any pain medication for his testicles might have been negligent, but when compared to the other acts of treatment provided by Dr. Antonini, it cannot be said that the doctor provided Scott with grossly inadequate care. Accordingly, I would affirm judgment in favor of Dr. Antonini.