Knouse v. Primecare Med. of W. Va.

333 F. Supp. 3d 584
CourtUnited States District Court
DecidedSeptember 24, 2018
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 2:18-cv-01014
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 333 F. Supp. 3d 584 (Knouse v. Primecare Med. of W. Va.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States District Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Knouse v. Primecare Med. of W. Va., 333 F. Supp. 3d 584 (usdistct 2018).

Opinion

JOSEPH R. GOODWIN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Pending before the court are defendants West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority ("WVRJA") and Brad Douglas' Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 32] and defendant James Chandler's Motion to Dismiss [ECF. No. 34] pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure . Because the factual matter, legal standards, and arguments of these motions overlap, the court has decided them together. For the reasons discussed below, the Motions are GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

I. Factual Background

Hannah Knouse brings her Complaint, as administrator of Dr. Charles Knouse's estate, for relief arising from the decedent's death while in custody at South Central Regional Jail in Kanawha County, West Virginia. She alleges, inter alia, that the defendants failed to adequately provide *587certain medical care and attention to Dr. Knouse while he was incarcerated, resulting in his death. See Compl. 19; [ECF No. 1].

Dr. Knouse was arrested on a forty-count federal indictment, including charges for distribution and manufacturing of controlled substances. Compl. Ex. A at 6; [ECF No. 1-1]. At his Initial Appearance before Magistrate Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn, Dr. Knouse detailed serious concerns over his medical treatment since being incarcerated. Id. at 8. Dr. Knouse began by explaining that South Central was not meeting his serious medical needs. Id. Among these included a life-threatening heart condition that leads to a fatal arrhythmia if not treated with medication. Id. at 11. He stated that he suffered from rapidly progressing congestive heart failure, which also required medication. Id. He explained that because he was required to self-catheterize, he was unable to urinate for the first two days after arriving in prison and had not been given the opportunity to do so. Id. Additionally, he explained that he was on a prescription of suboxone and that if he did not resume his treatment, the withdrawal from the suboxone would prevent his heart medication from being able to control his heart rhythm. Id. at 16. Lastly, he explained that he needed to resume his herpes treatment to prevent oral outbreaks. Id. at 11.

Dr. Knouse also elaborated on the conditions of his confinement: he stated that he was nearly naked while wearing only a safety smock, a "pickle suit," that he had to hold closed with his hands. Compl. Ex. A at 10. He also stated that he was otherwise on bare concrete and did not receive a blanket until after his first few days in prison. Id. at 10-11.

In light of those serious concerns, the Magistrate Judge ordered the authorities of the South Central Regional Jail to (1) "immediately place and hold [Dr. Knouse] in the medical unit"; (2) "immediately resume [him] on all of his prescribed medications"; and (3) "immediately treat [him] for Herpes." Compl. Ex. B at 2; [ECF No. 1-2].

On August 7, 2017, authorities moved Dr. Knouse to a mainline housing unit, contrary to the Magistrate Judge's Order to keep him in a medical unit. Compl. 5. On August 12, 2017, Dr. Knouse was moved again and placed on suicide watch. Id. at 6. At 12:45 a.m., Dr. Knouse requested to speak with medical staff at his cell door. Id. He told staff that he was suffering from chest pain and that his resting heart rate kept dropping dangerously low to approximately twenty beats per minute. Compl. Ex. D at 5 [ECF No. 1-4]. Prison and medical personnel purportedly believed that Dr. Knouse was stable and did not provide any emergency medical care or alert the medical doctor of his condition, despite their awareness of Dr. Knouse's coronary artery disease and ongoing chest pains. Id.

At approximately 5:45 a.m., Dr. Knouse's cellmate alerted defendant Chandler that Dr. Knouse was unresponsive. Compl. 6. Prison personnel attempted CPR, but at 6:18 a.m., Dr. Knouse was pronounced dead. Id. As a result of the staff's failures, defendant Chandler and three Primecare Medical employees were terminated. Id. at 8.

On June 7, 2018, the plaintiff filed her Complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. The Complaint names ten defendants, including defendants WVRJA, Douglas, and Chandler ("Prison Defendants"). It alleges counts of negligence; medical professional negligence; violation of the West Virginia State and United States Constitutions; intentional infliction of emotional distress; fraud and civil conspiracy; negligent hiring, retention, and *588supervision; punitive damages; waiver of governmental immunity and punitive damages; violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act; and Civil Rights violations and constitutional violations through 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On June 26, 2018, defendants WVRJA and Douglas moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim and asserted defenses of immunity, and on July 27, 2018, defendant Chandler moved to dismiss on the same grounds.

II. Legal Standard

A motion to dismiss filed under Rule 12(b)(6) tests the legal sufficiency of a complaint or pleading. Giarratano v. Johnson , 521 F.3d 298, 302 (4th Cir. 2008). Rule 8 requires that a pleading contain a "short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." FED. R. CIV. P. 8(a)(2). As the Supreme Court stated in Ashcroft v. Iqbal , that standard "does not require 'detailed factual allegations,' but it demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation." 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, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). "[A] plaintiff's obligation to provide the 'grounds' of [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[.]" Twombly , 550 U.S.

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333 F. Supp. 3d 584, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/knouse-v-primecare-med-of-w-va-usdistct-2018.