Bell v. Jendell

980 F. Supp. 2d 555, 2013 WL 5863561, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156507
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedOctober 31, 2013
DocketCase No. 12-CV-6666 (KMK)
StatusPublished
Cited by256 cases

This text of 980 F. Supp. 2d 555 (Bell v. Jendell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bell v. Jendell, 980 F. Supp. 2d 555, 2013 WL 5863561, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156507 (S.D.N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

KENNETH M. KARAS, District Judge:

Plaintiff Amar Bell, proceeding pro se, brings this action against Drs. Alexis Gen-[557]*557dell and Paul Adler for injuries arising out of medical treatment Plaintiff received while incarcerated in Westchester County Jail.1 For the reasons given below, Defendants’ Motion To Dismiss is granted.

I. Background

A. Factual Background

Plaintiffs Complaint and accompanying documents can be read to allege the following facts. Plaintiff was incarcerated in Westchester County Jail from at least March 23, 2012, until at least April 2, 2012. GSee Compl. at 3.) Prior to this period, Plaintiff suffered from “acid reflux,” a medical condition for which Plaintiff had been prescribed Protonix. (See id.) On March 23, however, Plaintiffs prescription “had r[u]n out.” (See id.) Two days later, on March 25, Plaintiff began to “put in multiple sick call request[s]” after experiencing a number of “acid reflux symptoms,” including “shortness of breath[] and vommitting [sic] acid through [his] mouth/nose at the same time in [his] sleep.” (Id.)2

On March 28, three days after his first sick-call request, Plaintiff “met with [Defendant] Dr. Adler.” (-See id.) During the meeting, Plaintiff alleges that Dr. Adler “stated [that] he [would] renew the Protonix [prescription].” (Id.) But Plaintiff also alleges that Dr. Adler “was talking on his cell phone while examining [him].” (Id.) Thus, even though Dr. Adler “thought ... he [had] put the order in” soon after the March 28 meeting, Plaintiff “suffered [five] more days of acid reflux symptoms before receiving the Protonix” on April 2. (Id.) For this, Plaintiff seeks $9,000,000 in damages. (Id. at 5.)

B. Procedural Background

On the morning of April 2, 2012, Plaintiff filed a grievance complaint informing the prison that he had not received his prescription refill. (See Compl. at 3; Mot. Ex. B (“Grievance”) at unnumbered 2 (Grievance Form Part I).) The grievance was granted and Plaintiff received his medication.3

On August 20, 2012, Plaintiff filed the instant Complaint, (see Compl. at 7), wherein Plaintiff alleges two elaims-inadequate medical care and medical negligence. (See id. at 5.) The Court construes the former claim to allege a violation of the [558]*558Fourteenth Amendment, see United States v. Georgia, 546 U.S. 151, 157, 126 S.Ct. 877, 163 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006) (noting that “the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Eighth Amendment’s guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment” (citing Louisiana ex rel. Francis v. Resweber, 329 U.S. 459, 463, 67 S.Ct. 374, 91 L.Ed. 422 (1947) (plurality opinion))), entitling Plaintiff to damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. It construes the latter claim to allege negligence under state tort law.

II. Discussion

A. Standard of Review

The Supreme Court has held that “[w]hile a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss does not need detailed factual allegations, a plaintiffs obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his [or her] ‘entitle[ment] to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (second alteration in original) (citations omitted). Instead, the Court has emphasized that “[fjactual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level,” id., and that “once a claim has been stated adequately, it may be supported by showing any set of facts consistent with the allegations in the complaint,” id. at 563, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Plaintiffs must allege “only enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Id. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. But if a plaintiff has “not nudged [his or her] claims across the line from conceivable to plausible, the[] complaint must be dismissed.” Id.; see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (“Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief will ... be a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense. But where the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged— but it has not ‘show[n]’—‘that the pleader is entitled to relief.’ ” (alteration in original) (citation omitted) (quoting Fed. R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2))).

In considering Defendants’ Motion To Dismiss, the Court is required to consider as true the factual allegations contained in the Complaint. See Ruotolo v. City of New York, 514 F.3d 184, 188 (2d Cir.2008) (“We review de novo a district court’s dismissal of a complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), accepting all factual allegations in the complaint and drawing all reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs favor.” (internal quotation marks omitted)); Gonzalez v. Caballero, 572 F.Supp.2d 463, 466 (S.D.N.Y.2008) (same). Moreover, “[i]n adjudicating a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a district court must confine its consideration to facts stated on the face of the complaint, in documents appended to the complaint or incorporated in the complaint by reference, and to matters of which judicial notice may be taken.” Leonard F. v. Isr. Disc. Bank of N.Y., 199 F.3d 99, 107 (2d Cir.1999) (internal quotation marks omitted).

Because Plaintiff is proceeding pro se, the Court must construe his pleadings liberally and “interpret them to raise the strongest arguments that they suggest.” Maisonet v. Metro. Hosp. & Health Hosp. Corp., 640 F.Supp.2d 345, 347 (S.D.N.Y.2009) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Triestman v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 470 F.3d 471, 474-75 (2d Cir.2006). This admonition “applies with particular force when a plaintiffs civil rights are at issue.” Maisonet, 640 F.Supp.2d at 348; see also McEachin v. McGuinnis, 357 F.3d 197, 200 (2d Cir. [559]*5592004). But the liberal treatment afforded to pro se litigants does not exempt a pro se party “from compliance with relevant rules of procedural and substantive law.” Maisonet, 640 F.Supp.2d at 348 (internal quotation marks omitted).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
980 F. Supp. 2d 555, 2013 WL 5863561, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bell-v-jendell-nysd-2013.