Jamar Wilson v. Byanahak Jin

698 F. App'x 667
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedJune 8, 2017
Docket17-1593
StatusUnpublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 698 F. App'x 667 (Jamar Wilson v. Byanahak Jin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jamar Wilson v. Byanahak Jin, 698 F. App'x 667 (3d Cir. 2017).

Opinion

*669 OPINION *

PER CURIAM

Jamar Wilson appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. We will summarily affirm.

I.

Because we write primarily for the parties, who are familiar with the background of this case, we describe its history only briefly. In November 2015, Wilson, a prisoner confined at SCI-Greene, filed a complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment violations, as well as state law claims for assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, arising from the lack of medical care and/or inadequate medical care he received for a fractured arm he sustained during an inmate on inmate assault on September 20, 2014. 1 Wilson named two groups of defendants: prison employees Sergeant Miller, Sergeant Mevec, RN Supervisor Nedra Geg-ro, Corrections Health Care Administrator (CHCA) Irma Vihlidal, and Captain Mitchell (collectively the “Commonwealth defendants”); and prison doctors Byanahak Jin and Mia Hi Park (collectively the “medical defendants”).

In March 2016, the medical and Commonwealth defendants filed motions for summary judgment. In November 2016, the Magistrate Judge recommended granting both motions. Over Wilson’s objections, the District Court, by order entered on February 24, 2017, adopted the recommendations of the Magistrate Judge. Wilson appeals.

II.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Because Wilson has been granted in forma pauperis status pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915, we review this appeal for possible dismissal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). We may summarily affirm under Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6 if the appeal lacks substantial merit. We exercise plenary, review over a district court order for summary judgment. Giles v. Kearney, 571 F.3d 318, 322 (3d Cir. 2009). Summary judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). The moving party “bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions” of the record which demonstrate the absence of a genuine dispute of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). If the moving party meets its burden, the nonmoving party then must present specific facts that show there is a genuine issue for trial. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1), (e)(2); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

III.

Wilson alleges the following claims against the Commonwealth defendants: (1) denial of access to medical care; (2) failure to intervene when the doctors allegedly failed to provide medical care; and (3) intentional infliction of emotional distress.

*670 We agree with the District Court that the Commonwealth defendants are entitled to summary judgment on Wilson’s denial of medical care claim. To succeed on an Eighth Amendment claim for the denial or delay of medical care, Wilson is required to demonstrate that the defendants were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs. See Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 103-06, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976). Deliberate indifference can be shown by a prison official’s “intentionally denying or delaying access to medical care or intentionally interfering with the treatment once prescribed.” Id. at 104-05, 97 S.Ct. 285. We have also found deliberate indifference where prison officials delay necessary medical treatment based on a non-medical reason. Rouse v. Plantier, 182 F.3d 192, 197 (3d Cir. 1999).

The record shows that there is no genuine dispute that Wilson received frequent medical care for the fractured arm he sustained on September 20, 2014. Within a few minutes of seeing him on September 20, Mitchell called a nurse to examine Wilson and the nurse ordered him an ice pack. Wilson did not complain of arm pain to the nurse at this time. While Wilson claims that Mitchell saw his protruding bone and should have known that an ice pack was not sufficient treatment, he admitted in his deposition that the “bump” on his arm was only one centimeter in diameter. Although it is undisputed that Wilson’s arm was broken, the record suggests that it was likely not readily apparent to a lay person. See Monmouth Cty. Correc. Institutional Inmates v. Lanzaro, 834 F.2d 326, 347 (3d. Cir. 1987). Later that same evening, Wilson was examined by another nurse, who noted that Wilson showed no signs or symptoms of acute distress, and was able to move the fingers of his right hand. The nurse advised Wilson to ice and elevate his arm, and to put in a sick call slip.

With regard to Miller and Medvec, Wilson concedes that they both advised him to submit a sick call slip, which he did, but complains that neither of them would get him immediate medical care. In his deposition testimony, Wilson acknowledges that Miller told him he contacted medical on multiple occasions the next few days on Wilson’s behalf and was informed that Wilson needed to put a sick call slip in to be seen on September 22, 2014. We agree with the District Court that Mitchell, Miller, and Medvec, as non-medical professionals, were entitled to rely on and defer to the medical judgment of the nurse and the medical department, who advised Miller that Wilson needed to put in a sick call slip to be seen. 2 See Spruill v. Gillis, 372 F.3d 218, 236 (3d Cir. 2004).

Wilson also claims that Vihlidal and Nurse Grego denied him medical care by providing misleading responses to his grievances, indicating that Wilson had a “non-displaced fracture” when the x-ray report said that it was a “displaced fracture,” and stating that he did not need to see an outside specialist.

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698 F. App'x 667, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jamar-wilson-v-byanahak-jin-ca3-2017.