Keith Lowe v. Sherri Johnson

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedNovember 1, 2023
Docket21-7443
StatusUnpublished

This text of Keith Lowe v. Sherri Johnson (Keith Lowe v. Sherri Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keith Lowe v. Sherri Johnson, (4th Cir. 2023).

Opinion

USCA4 Appeal: 21-7443 Doc: 23 Filed: 11/01/2023 Pg: 1 of 11

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 21-7443

KEITH W.R. LOWE,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v.

DR. SHERRI JOHNSON, physician for Wexford, sued in her individual capacity; DAVID BALLARD, former Warden of Mount Olive Correctional Complex; JAMES RUBENSTEIN, former Commissioner of WVDOC, sued in his individual and official capacities,

Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, at Charleston. Thomas E. Johnston, Chief District Judge. (2:17-cv-02345)

Submitted: September 26, 2023 Decided: November 1, 2023

Before WILKINSON, GREGORY, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Keith W.R. Lowe, Appellant Pro Se. Michelle D. Baldwin, Melvin F. O’Brien, DICKIE, MCCAMEY & CHILCOTE, P.C., Wheeling, West Virginia; John P. Fuller, BAILEY & WYANT, PLLC, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellees.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 21-7443 Doc: 23 Filed: 11/01/2023 Pg: 2 of 11

PER CURIAM:

This case comes before us for a second time. Keith W.R. Lowe, a West Virginia

inmate, filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint and alleged, among other claims, deliberate

indifference to his serious medical needs arising from the discontinuation and temporary

deprivation of anti-seizure medication. The district court dismissed his complaint for

failure to state a claim. On appeal, we vacated the district court’s order and remanded for

further proceedings after concluding that Lowe had plausibly alleged a deliberate

indifference claim against Dr. Sherri Johnson and a supervisory liability claim against

prison officials James Rubenstein and David Ballard. Lowe v. Johnson, 797 F. App’x 791

(4th Cir. 2020) (No. 19-6353). On remand, Dr. Johnson, Rubenstein, and Ballard

(collectively, “Defendants”) moved for summary judgment. The district court accepted the

magistrate judge’s findings and recommendation, granted summary judgment in favor of

Defendants, and dismissed Lowe’s claims of deliberate indifference to his serious medical

needs. We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand for further proceedings.

I.

In 2010, a physician for Wexford Health Sources, the medical provider for inmates

at Lowe’s prison, diagnosed Lowe with epilepsy after Lowe suffered several seizures. The

physician prescribed Lowe Dilantin three times daily to control the seizures. There is no

doubt that epilepsy is a serious medical need. According to Dr. Johnson’s medical expert,

Dr. Constantino Amores, Dilantin is an excellent anti-seizure medication. But a patient

receiving Dilantin should have blood tests to determine the level of Dilantin in the patient’s

blood stream. According to Dr. Amores, a low level of the medication in the blood puts

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the patient at risk of seizure recurrence, and a high level in the blood may put the patient’s

liver and kidneys at risk. Dr. Amores noted that Dilantin controlled Lowe’s seizures until

Lowe refused to have his blood drawn. Lowe had needle phobia and, in October 2014,

refused to have blood drawn against medical advice. This came to a head in January 2015,

when Dr. Johnson told Lowe that if he did not have his blood drawn, she would discontinue

Dilantin and prescribe Keppra in its place. Keppra does not require blood tests.

On April 2, 2015, Dr. Johnson discontinued Lowe’s prescription for Dilantin

without notice to Lowe, but she did not immediately prescribe Keppra. Lowe was

concerned that he was at risk of seizures because his epilepsy was not being medically

treated. Lowe spoke to Dr. Johnson to request a prescription for an anti-seizure medication.

He also wrote Rubenstein and Ballard to notify them that Dr. Johnson was not treating his

epilepsy.

On April 6, 2015, Lowe suffered what he believed to be an epileptic seizure because

he woke in a puddle of urine. Lowe submitted a sick-call request, spoke with Dr. Johnson,

and informed her of the seizure. Dr. Johnson told Lowe that she would not prescribe

Dilantin until he had his blood drawn. Lowe agreed to have his blood drawn, and Dr.

Johnson told him that a nurse would draw his blood the next day. But no nurse came to

draw Lowe’s blood.

On April 11, 2015, Lowe had another seizure. He woke lying in a puddle of his

blood and had defecated and urinated on himself. Prison guards responded to his call for

assistance and saw that his face and upper body were covered in blood. A nurse suspected

that Lowe had a seizure while sleeping and fell out of bed, striking his head and face on

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the concrete floor and stool bolted to the floor. Five days later, on April 16, two weeks

after discontinuing Dilantin, Dr. Johnson wrote Lowe a prescription for Keppra.

II.

We review de novo a district court’s grant of summary judgment. Shaw v. Foreman,

59 F.4th 121, 129 (4th Cir. 2023).

III.

A.

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). “A fact is ‘material’ if proof of its existence or non-existence would

affect the disposition of the case under applicable law.” Shaw, 59 F.4th at 129 (quoting

Wai Man Tom v. Hosp. Ventures LLC, 980 F.3d 1027, 1037 (4th Cir. 2020)). “An issue of

material fact is ‘genuine’ if the evidence offered is such that a reasonable jury might return

a verdict for the non-movant.” Id. (quoting Wai Man Tom, 980 F.3d at 1037). “The Court

must construe all facts and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the

nonmoving party.” Id.

A party moving for summary judgment bears the initial burden of showing no

genuine dispute of material fact exists. Variety Stores, Inc. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 888

F.3d 651, 659 (4th Cir. 2018). The movant may discharge this burden “by ‘showing’—

that is, pointing out to the district court—that there is an absence of evidence to support

the nonmoving party’s case.” Smith v. Schlage Lock Co., LLC, 986 F.3d 482, 486

(4th Cir. 2021) (quoting Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325 (1986)). If the movant

4 USCA4 Appeal: 21-7443 Doc: 23 Filed: 11/01/2023 Pg: 5 of 11

satisfies this showing, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to show a genuine issue of

material fact for trial by offering “sufficient proof in the form of admissible evidence.”

Variety Stores, Inc., 888 F.3d at 659 (quoting Guessous v. Fairview Prop. Invs., LLC, 828

F.3d 208, 216 (4th Cir. 2016)). “Under this standard, the existence of a mere scintilla of

evidence in support of the non-movant’s position is insufficient to withstand the summary

judgment motion.

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