Keith Ebert v. Prime Care Medical Inc

602 F. App'x 61
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedFebruary 5, 2015
Docket14-2020
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 602 F. App'x 61 (Keith Ebert v. Prime Care Medical Inc) 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
Keith Ebert v. Prime Care Medical Inc, 602 F. App'x 61 (3d Cir. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION *

PER CURIAM.

Keith Allen Ebert appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which dismissed his civil rights complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Ebert’s complaint accused the defendants — PrimeCare Medical, Inc. (“PMC”), its Health Services Administrator (Nicole Heffner), dentist Nathan Kalte-ski, and Warden Dale Meisel of Lehigh County Prison (“LCP”) — of violating his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Ebert alleged that while he was incarcerated at LCP, his upper dental plate broke. Dr. Kalteski allegedly told Ebert that he “does not do plates,” and that he could only do tooth extractions. Ebert alleged that the dentist was available only one day a week to serve “up to 1200 inmates.” Ebert alleged that the failure to fix his plate caused him chronic and substantial pain, bleeding gums, severe headaches, constipation, loss of appetite, mental and emotional stress, anxiety, and inability to sleep. *63 Ebert sought compensatory and punitive damages.

On motion of the Defendants, the District Court dismissed the complaint with prejudice for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The Court stated that even construing the allegations of Ebert’s complaint in a light most favorable to- him, he had “completely failed” to plead facts showing that defendants Kalte-ski, Heffner, and PMC “knew of and disregarded an ‘excessive risk to inmate health or safety.’ ” Dist. Ct. Op. at 5 (quoting Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 837, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994)). As to Meisel, the Court held that Ebert could not show: “(1) that providing an alternative treatment to a new dental plate constituted a ‘policy 1 and that Meisel knew said ‘policy 1 would create an unreasonable risk; (2) that Defendant Meisel was aware of any unreasonable risks allegedly created by the so-called ‘policy’; (3) that Defendant Meisel was indifferent to the alleged risk; and (4) that [Ebert] sustained injuries as a result of the purported ‘policy.’ ” Dist. Ct. Op. at 9. The Court stated that “[b]ecause any attempt at amendment would be futile,” the complaint would be dismissed with prejudice. Ebert appealed. 1

We have appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and exercise plenary review of the District Court’s dismissal. Allah v. Seiverling, 229 F.3d 220, 223 (3d Cir.2000). In conducting our review, we are required to accept all well-pleaded factual allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in Ebert’s favor. Capogrosso v. Supreme Court of N.J., 588 F.3d 180, 184 (3d Cir.2009) (per curiam). In determining whether a complaint should be dismissed, we rely on “the complaint, attached exhibits, and matters of public record,” Sands v. McCormick, 502 F.3d 263, 268 (3d Cir.2007), which “must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). “In other words, a complaint must do more than allege the plaintiffs entitlement to relief. A complaint has to ‘show’ such an entitlement with its facts.” Fowler v. UPMC Shadyside, 578 F.3d 203, 211 (3d Cir.2009). Blanket assertions and conclusory statements are not well-pleaded factual allegations, and by themselves do not suffice to show a claim to relief that rises above the speculative level. See Renfro v. Unisys Corp., 671 F.3d 314, 320 (3d Cir.2011).

Ebert’s complaint claimed that the Defendants violated his Eighth Amendment rights by failing to properly treat his dental problems. To be successful, he would need to show that the Defendants were deliberately indifferent to a serious medical need; under this standard, allegations of mere negligence or malpractice are insufficient. See Farmer, 511 U.S. at 835, 114 S.Ct. 1970; Singletary v. Pa. Dep’t of Corr., 266 F.3d 186, 192 n. 2 (3d Cir.2001) (citing Rouse v. Plantier, 182 F.3d 192, 197 (3d Cir.1999)). Liberally construing Ebert’s complaint, he attempted to allege deliberate indifference primarily in two ways. First, he claimed that Defendants refused to properly treat his dental problems for the non-medical reasons of lack of staff and the need to control budget expenditures. See, e.g., Complaint, *64 dkt. #3 at 8, Opposition to Motion to Dismiss, dkt. #20 at 3-4. Second, he alleged that the medical path taken amounted to a constitutionally prohibited “easier, but less effective method of medical care.” See, e.g., Complaint, dkt. # 3 at 7.

With regard to the first ground, Ebert has failed to bridge the gap between the possible and the plausible. Although Ebert’s claim that care was denied for the nonmedical reason of expense constitutes a possible demonstration of deliberate indifference, see Rouse, 182 F.3d at 197, his claim is not supported by pleaded facts. Ebert alleged that “either [PMC] or [LCP] has [a] custom [or] policy to save money,” and that he was deprived treatment due to “budgetary restrictions.” Ebert included affidavits from other inmates stating that Dr. Kalteski was the only dentist for LCP, and that he only came once a week. But the complaint’s references to cost-saving practices are conelusory and are not supported by factual allegations. For example, Ebert has not alleged what treatment he received, or that his desired treatment was denied because it was more economical than the treatment rendered. With regard to the second ground, Ebert has not alleged that the treatment he received was “less efficacious” on the. level that we found unacceptable in West v. Keve, 571 F.2d 158, 162 (3d Cir.1978), a case in which aspirin as the sole source of post-operative pain management sufficed to state a claim of deliberate indifference.

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602 F. App'x 61, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keith-ebert-v-prime-care-medical-inc-ca3-2015.