Singletary v. Russo

377 F. Supp. 3d 175
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 22, 2019
Docket13-cv-04727 (ENV) (LB)
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 377 F. Supp. 3d 175 (Singletary v. Russo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Singletary v. Russo, 377 F. Supp. 3d 175 (E.D.N.Y. 2019).

Opinion

II. Deprivation of Adequate Medical Care

Plaintiff's claim arises from defendants' alleged "deliberate indifference to [his] serious medical needs." Opp'n at 7. Such a claim is subject to a two-pronged analysis. First, an objective prong of the test requires that "the alleged deprivation of adequate medical care must be 'sufficiently serious.' " Salahuddin v. Goord , 467 F.3d 263, 279 (2d Cir. 2006) (quoting Farmer v. Brennan , 511 U.S. 825, 834, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994) ).2 Second, a subjective prong of the test requires plaintiff to show that defendants "acted intentionally to impose the alleged condition, or recklessly failed to act with reasonable care to mitigate the risk that the *188condition posed to [him] even though [they] knew, or should have known, that the condition posed an excessive risk to health or safety." Darnell , 849 F.3d at 35. The Court examines these prongs sequentially.

a. Objective Prong

The objective prong of the inquiry is itself divided into two inquiries. "The first inquiry is whether the prisoner was actually deprived of adequate medical care." Salahuddin , 467 F.3d at 279. The second inquiry "asks whether the inadequacy in medical care [was] sufficiently serious." Id. at 280.

i. Actual Deprivation

With regard to whether plaintiff suffered an actual deprivation, "the prison official's duty is only to provide reasonable care." Id. at 279 (citing Farmer , 511 U.S. at 844-47, 114 S.Ct. 1970 ). "[P]rison officials who act reasonably ... cannot be found liable," Farmer , 511 U.S. at 845, 114 S.Ct. 1970, but "failing 'to take reasonable measures' in response to a medical condition can lead to liability," Salahuddin , 467 F.3d at 280 (quoting Farmer , 511 U.S. at 847, 114 S.Ct. 1970 ). Therefore, the issue is whether defendants provided reasonable care here, a question that is disputed by the parties' conflicting expert reports.

Plaintiff claims that he was first deprived of a constitutionally protected right when defendants failed to refer him to a specialist between April 8, 2013 and May 7, 2013. As noted above, Singletary has not shown that Dr. Geraci had sufficient personal involvement to face liability, given that Dr. Geraci never treated him during this period of time. Although Dr. Russo may have been personally involved, insofar as he treated Singletary and waited one month before referring him to a specialist, this does not constitute a deprivation of care. Each party relies on a single expert report opining as to whether this failure constituted a deprivation of care. Singletary's expert, Dr. Stuart I. Finkel, makes only the general claim that "[a]s [Singletary's] treating physician, it was [Dr. Russo's] obligation to ensure ... that his patient was referred for necessary and appropriate medical care, including timely consultations with the appropriate specialist(s)." Decl. of Stuart I. Finkel at 6 (ECF No. 73-31, at 9) ("Finkel Decl."). Contrarily, defendants' expert, Dr. Frank T. Sconzo, speaks specifically to the one-month delay, from April to May, in referring Singletary to a specialist. Dr. Sconzo opines that after Singletary's JMU visit, in April 2013, "no urgent treatment [was] needed." Decl. of Frank. T. Sconzo at 1 (ECF No. 73-49, at 1) ("Sconzo Decl."). In light of the parties' sole reliance on these reports, a reasonable jury could not find that a one-month delay in referring Singletary to a specialist constituted a deprivation of adequate medical care. Although Dr. Finkel explained that Dr. Russo was bound to refer Singletary to a specialist in a timely fashion when necessary, he did not conclude that Singletary needed urgent care as of April 8, 2013 or that a one-month delay was a failing of constitutional magnitude. Plaintiff has not produced evidence to meet defendants' showing, and defendants are thus entitled to summary judgment with respect to this alleged deprivation.

Singletary's next alleged deprivation arises from defendants' failure to ensure that he saw a specialist after Dr. Russo made a referral marked "urgent." Singletary, as mentioned earlier, has adequately demonstrated the personal involvement of only Dr. Russo, given that Dr. Geraci played only a supervisory role in the referral. Neither the briefing nor the *189expert reports speak directly to this whether Dr. Russo's failure constituted a deprivation of adequate medical care. However, courts in this circuit have held that failure to see that a detainee receives a prescribed course of treatment, resulting in delay, may constitute a constitutional deprivation. See, e.g. , Price , 697 F.Supp.2d at 361-62 (holding that delay in arranging a kidney transplant test can constitute deliberate indifference); Lloyd v. Lee , 570 F.Supp.2d 556, 569 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) ("A reasonable jury could infer deliberate indifference from the failure of the doctors to take further steps to see that [plaintiff] was given an MRI [after those doctors ordered the test]."). Notably, in Lloyd , the court denied summary judgment on a deliberate indifference claim, even though the defendants had submitted and re-submitted MRI request forms. Lloyd

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377 F. Supp. 3d 175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/singletary-v-russo-nyed-2019.