Murphy v. Unknown Parties

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 11, 2025
Docket3:24-cv-00475
StatusUnknown

This text of Murphy v. Unknown Parties (Murphy v. Unknown Parties) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murphy v. Unknown Parties, (S.D. Ill. 2025).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

STEVEN MURPHY, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) Case No. 3:24-CV-475-MAB ) ANTHONY WILLS, et al., ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BEATTY, Magistrate Judge: This matter is currently before the Court on Plaintiff Steven Murphy’s Motion to Compel (Doc. 74), Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 75), and “Motion for Notice and Motion to Appoint Counsel” (Doc. 84). For the reasons stated below, the motions are denied. A. PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION (Doc. 75) The Court begins with Plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction, which is his fifth and was filed on February 11, 2025 (Doc. 75). Because this is the first of Plaintiff’s request for injunctive relief that the undersigned has handled, 1 the undersigned reviewed the procedural history of Plaintiff’s previous requests and summarizes it here. On February 21, 2024, Plaintiff filed a motion for temporary restraining order in

1 All parties appearing in this matter consented to a United States Magistrate Judge conducting all proceedings, 28 U.S.C. § 636(c); FED. R. CIV. P. 73, and the case was accordingly reassigned to the undersigned on February 25, 2025 (Doc. 83). another case: SDIL case no. 21-cv-559-DWD, seeking medical care for a stomach condition. Murphy v. Willis, SDIL case no. 21-cv-559-DWD, Doc. 160. In that case, the

presiding judge - Judge Dugan - determined that Plaintiff’s allegations regarding the stomach condition were outside the scope of the claims in that lawsuit, and his motion was therefore severed into the instant case. Id. at Doc. 161. Plaintiff was directed to file a formal complaint in the instant case, (Doc. 5), which he did on March 1, 2024 (Doc. 6). His allegations, as summarized in the Merit Review Order, are that he suffers from stomach pain and bleeding, which medical personnel at Menard have previously attributed to

stomach ulcers, but he has not received proper treatment for his ulcers (Doc. 10, p. 2). He alleged that in February 2024, he began suffering from severe pain in his left side, as well as dizziness, fatigue, fever, and blood in his stools (Id.). He claimed that Defendants had refused his requests to see a gastroenterologist or to order appropriate testing (such as fecal occult blood test) (Id. at pp. 2–3). Rather, Defendants kept prescribing him acid

reflux medications and stool softeners and running the same tests, which Plaintiff claimed would not detect an internal condition (Id.). Following a threshold review of the complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, Plaintiff was allowed to proceed on the following counts: Count 1: Eighth Amendment deliberate indifference claim against Anthony Wills, Connie Dolce, Michael Moldenhauer, Alisa Dearmond, Jilian Crain, Angela Crain, Dr. Glen Babich, and Dr. Rajesh Sharma (who was initially identified as John Doe #1) for refusing to provide Plaintiff with medical care or an outside referral for his stomach pain and bleeding.

Count 2: Illinois medical negligence claim for refusing to provide Plaintiff with medical care or an outside referral for his stomach pain and bleeding. (Doc. 10, pp. 3-4; Doc. 56). While waiting for Defendants to be served and appear in the case, Plaintiff filed two more motions for preliminary injunctive relief (Docs. 15, 26). He

alleged that Defendants ignored every sick call request that he had submitted since February 12, 2024 (Doc. 15, p. 2). The IDOC Defendants and the Wexford Defendants filed responses in opposition to Plaintiff’s motions for preliminary injunctive relief (Docs. 27, 44, 46; see also Doc. 39 (Plaintiff’s reply)),2 and Chief District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel held a hearing as to those motions on May 29, 2024 (Doc. 49). The evidence showed that Plaintiff had been

seeing healthcare staff for complaints of abdominal pain since 2018 (see Doc. 50, p. 4). He was evaluated by a gastroenterology nurse practitioner in July 2021, who ordered an EGD and a colonoscopy (Id.).3 The EGD was completed in December 2021, and the results were mostly normal except for mild antral gastritis (Id.). The colonoscopy was done in February 2022 and revealed stage 2 internal hemorrhoids, which the physician banded

during the colonoscopy (Id.). At a follow-up appointment two weeks after the colonoscopy, Plaintiff continued to complain of pain in the epigastric region with

2 The “IDOC Defendants” are employed by the IDOC and represented by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. They are Anthony Wills, Connie Dolce, and Angela Crain. The “Wexford Defendants” are employed by Wexford and represented by attorneys at Cassiday Schade, LLP. They are Mike Moldenhauer, Alyssa Dearmond, Dr. Glenn Babich, Julia Crane, and Dr. Rajesh Sharma.

3 EGD is short for Esophagogastroduodenoscopy, which is also known as an Upper Endoscopy - subsequent medical note says he had upper and lower. During the procedure, a gastroenterologist uses a scope to view the inside of the patient’s esophagus, stomach, and duodenum (the upper part of the small intestine). The procedure is used to diagnose and treat acid reflux, stomach ulcers, celiac disease and other digestive tract problems. CLEVELAND CLINIC, EGD Procedure (Upper Endoscopy), https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/procedures/22549-egd-procedure-upper-endoscopy (last visited May 28, 2025). vomiting and blood in his stools (Id.; Doc. 44-1, p. 612). The gastroenterology nurse practitioner recommended Plaintiff increase fiber in his diet and take omeprazole every

day (Doc. 44-1, pp. 613–15). She also recommended a second procedure to band Plaintiff’s internal hemorrhoids, which was done in April 2022 (Doc. 50, p. 4). Plaintiff continued to receive care throughout 2022 and 2023 at Menard, namely in the form of blood work, abdominal x-rays, and over-the-counter medications, like stool softener and Fiber-Lax (Doc. 50, pp. 4–5). In February 2024, Plaintiff’s blood test showed slightly elevated bilirubin levels (Id. at pp. 5, 7). In April 2024, Plaintiff complained of

continued abdominal pain and blood in his stools, as well as fatigue, dizziness every day, and lower back pain due to a prior injury (Doc. 46-1, pp. 2–3). Nurse Practitioner (“NP”) Alisa Dearmond ordered additional blood tests, an x-ray of his back, a CT scan of his head and pelvis (to ensure there were no issues with his pancreas and liver after previously high bilirubin levels), and she also referred him to physical therapy and the

eye doctor (Id.). NP Dearmond also spoke with Dr. Babich about Plaintiff’s bilirubin levels, and the decision was made to wait for the results of the most recent blood test to determine if any additional tests or referrals were needed (Id. at p. 8). At the May 29, 2024, hearing, Plaintiff testified that he had a lump on his abdomen above his naval and believes that he may have issues with his pancreas or intestines (Doc.

50, p. 6). NP Dearmond testified that the April bloodwork showed Plaintiff’s bilirubin levels were normal (Id.). The x-rays both in January and April showed evidence of constipation for which Plaintiff was prescribed medication (Id.). Plaintiff was scheduled for the CT scans in June (Id. at p. 7). NP Dearmond was waiting on those results to determine if Plaintiff needed to be referred to a specialist (Id.) Judge Rosenstengel issued an order on May 30, 2024, denying Plaintiff’s motions

for preliminary injunctive relief (Doc. 50). She determined that Plaintiff was not entitled to injunctive relief at that time because he was currently receiving care for his medical conditions (Id., pp. 8–9).

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