Ponzini v. Monroe County

897 F. Supp. 2d 282, 2012 WL 4327048, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134136
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 19, 2012
DocketNo. 3:11-cv-0413
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 897 F. Supp. 2d 282 (Ponzini v. Monroe County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ponzini v. Monroe County, 897 F. Supp. 2d 282, 2012 WL 4327048, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134136 (M.D. Pa. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROBERT D. MARIANI, District Judge.

Presently before the Court are: (1) a Motion to Dismiss by Defendant Alex T. Thomas (“Thomas”) (Doc. 47); (2) a Motion to Dismiss by Defendants PrimeCare Medical, Inc., Dr. Deborah Wilson, Christina Rowe, Wendy Johnson, Paul S. James, Grace Ramos and Patrica Bauer (collectively, “Medical Defendants”) (Doc. 50); and (3) and a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings by Defendant Jesse Cleare (Doc. 59). For the reasons set forth below, both Motions to Dismiss (Docs. 47 and 50) will be denied, but Jesse Cleare’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 59) will be granted.

JURISDICTION

This matter is properly before the Court based upon federal question jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331, while the state law claims are properly before the Court pursuant to its supplemental jurisdiction.

BACKGROUND

The Court will accept as true all of the well-pleaded facts in Plaintiffs’ Complaint, drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of Plaintiffs as the non-moving parties. The pertinent facts are as follows;

Plaintiffs, the co-administrators of the Estate of Mumun Barbaras (“Decedent”), filed an initial Complaint in this matter on March 3, 2011 (Doc. 1). On June 23, 2011, Plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint, to which several defendants filed the pending motions to dismiss and the motion for judgment on the pleadings.

[285]*285In their Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs allege that on March 18, 2009, Decedent was admitted to the Monroe County Correctional Facility (“MCCF”) “following his arrest for a number of alleged crimes.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 39, ECF Dkt. 43.) “At the time of [Decedent’s] intake, [Defendants conducted an intake interview,” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 40.) Plaintiffs allege that Decedent advised Defendants during his intake interview that he “took Paxil and Trazodone on a daily basis.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 41.) Plaintiffs aver that Decedent was “noted to have psychological issues which included among other things, depression and the conditions that are associated with major depression.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 42.)

Plaintiffs maintain that “[f]rom the time he entered MCCF on March 18, 2009 through the evening of March 20, 2009, despite repeated request (sic) to the medical defendants and the correctional officer defendants, [Decedent] was denied his Paxil and Trazodone.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 44.) Plaintiffs assert that “[o]n March 20, 2009, during his arraignment, Decedent complained to Judge John Whitesell that he had not been receiving his medication since his incarceration.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 45.) The Complaint avers that “Judge "Whitesell asked the police officers escorting [Decedent] back to MCCF to relay Decedent’s concerns.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 46.) The Complaint further avers that “Defendants failed to provide Decedent with his Trazodone medication from the time he entered MCCF until the evening of March 20, 2009.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 48.) Plaintiffs also state that “Defendant failed to provide Decedent with his Paxil medication from the time he entered MCCF until the morning of March 21, 2009.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 49.)

Plaintiffs assert that Paxil is a drug with a “short half-life and leaves a user’s system very quickly,” and that its withdrawal symptoms include “worsening of underlying anxiety or depression, headache, tremor or ‘shakes’, gastrointestinal distress and fatigue, all of which were present in Decedent during his incarceration.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶¶ 50-51.) “Suicidal thoughts are common withdrawal symptoms as well.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 52.) Plaintiffs maintain that “[d]espite the fact that [Defendants were aware of [Decedent’s] condition, including his withdrawal from Paxil, he was not placed on suicide watch or seen by any of the medical defendants until March 20, 2009.” (Pis.’ Am. Comp, at ¶ 53.) “Even after being seen for a psychiatric evaluation, [Decedent] was not placed on suicide watch, nor provided any special psychiatric care.” (Pls.’s Am. Compl. at ¶ 54.)

Plaintiffs also assert that Defendants “were aware that persons who present with the symptoms being displayed by [Decedent] require prompt and specialized medical care and attention.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 55.) “Further all [Defendants, including the medical defendants and the correctional officer defendants, were aware that someone who suffers from major depression and has been denied medication such as Paxil, poses a suicide risk.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 56.) Plaintiffs also aver that “Defendants observed [Decedent’s] deteriorating condition and were aware he was at a substantially increased risk of suicide because of his deteriorating condition.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 57.) “At no time between March 18, 2009 and March 22, did any of the [Defendants, or any other employees of Defendants Monroe County or PrimeCare, take steps to ensure that [Decedent] received necessary medical care and attention for withdrawal symptoms.” (Pis. Am. Compl. at ¶ 64.) Plaintiffs maintain that during the period in which Decedent was incarcerated at MCCF they were aware that he [286]*286should have been monitored closely and placed on suicide watch. (See Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 67.) Plaintiffs assert that although Decedent was not on suicide watch, they insist that the inmate housed in an adjacent cell was on such a watch, and that Defendant Cleare was expected to pass the neighboring cell, and by virtue of its location, the Decendent’s cell, every fifteen minutes. (See Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶¶ 68-69.) Plaintiffs aver that Defendant Cleare falsified documents demonstrating that he properly made his rounds every fifteen minutes, and that Defendant Cleare’s failure to properly maintain a suicide watch on Decedent’s neighbor facilitated Decedent’s own suicide. (See Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶¶ 68-70.) Decedent “killed himself by swallowing shreds of his own t-shirt.” (Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 71.)

Plaintiffs allege that Defendants were “deliberately indifferent” to Decedent’s serious medical needs. (See Pis.’ Am. Compl. at ¶ 85.) Plaintiffs assert six separate causes of action, two federal and four state: (counts 1 and 3) cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment and/or due process violations under the Fourteenth Amendment; (count 2) intentional infliction of emotional distress; (count 4) medical malpractice; (count 5) wrongful death; and (count 6) a survival action pursuant to the Pennsylvania Survival Act, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8302.

STANDARD

These matters are presented to the district court as both motions to dismiss and a motion for judgment on the pleadings. In light of the Supreme Court’s decisions in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009), the Middle District of Pennsylvania has adopted the following standard by which to treat motions to dismiss. “[T]o survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true to ‘state a claim that relief is plausible on its face.’ ” Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949 (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). In Iqbal,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
897 F. Supp. 2d 282, 2012 WL 4327048, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134136, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ponzini-v-monroe-county-pamd-2012.