Stojcevski v. County of Macomb

143 F. Supp. 3d 675, 93 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 320, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151319, 2015 WL 6865751
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedNovember 9, 2015
DocketCivil Case No. 15-11019
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 143 F. Supp. 3d 675 (Stojcevski v. County of Macomb) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stojcevski v. County of Macomb, 143 F. Supp. 3d 675, 93 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 320, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151319, 2015 WL 6865751 (E.D. Mich. 2015).

Opinion

LINDA V. PARKER, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS TO DISMISS (ECF NOS. 15 & 17)

This lawsuit arises from the incarceration of two brothers in the Macomb County Jail in June 2014, and the claim that they were denied necessary medical care during their incarceration which tragically led to the death of David Stojcevski (“David”) from acute drug withdrawal and the hospitalization of Vladimir Stojcevski (“Vladimir”) due to symptoms allegedly resulting from Defendants’ failure to provide him with his seizure medication. Vladimir, individually and as personal representative of David’s estate (hereafter “Plaintiff’), names forty-seven Defendants in his Amended Complaint filed June 1, 2015, as well as unnamed John and/or Jane Doe Defendants. The defendants fall into two groups, which the Court will refer to as the “Macomb County Defendants” and the “Correct Care Solutions Defendants” (hereafter “CCS Defendants”). The Ma-comb County Defendants are: the County of Macomb; Sheriff Anthony M. Wickers-ham; Michelle M. Sanborn; Barb Caskey; Lisa Bingham; Deputy Licavoli; Deputy M. Murphy; Deputy Johnson; Deputy Keith Pethke; Deputy Paul Harrison; Deputy John Talos; Deputy William Misany; Deputy Steven Marschke; Deputy Matthew Salas; Deputy Kelly Kullman; Deputy William Horan; Deputy J. Dehate; Deputy Campau; Deputy Kruger; Deputy Piszc-zek; Sergeant Patrick Johnson; and Deputy John/Jane Does. The CCS Defendants are: Correct Care Solutions, LLC (“CCS”); Monica Cueny; Tiffany Deluca; Kelly Mann; Chantalle Brock; Deeann Pavey; Danyelle Nelson; Mical Bey-Shelley, Vicky Bertram, Heather Erhlich, Monica Van Damme,1 Jaelyn Cubanski,2 Amanda Bishop, LPN; Cynthia Deview, RN; Sarah Breen; Kelly Marie Hedtke, Psychologist; Temitope Oladokun Olagbaiye, RN/Nurse Practitioner; Priscilla Pickett LPN; Suzanne Rychwalski LPN; Dixie Debene; Dinal Good; Germain Ferrer, LPN; Thressa Williams; Linda Parton; Amber Barber; Dr. Lawrence Sherman; and John/Jane Doe providers.

Presently before the Court are motions to dismiss filed by the Macomb County Defendants and the CCS Defendants (collectively “Defendants”). The motions have been fully briefed and the Court held a motion hearing on October 14, 2015. For the reasons that follow, the Court is granting in part and denying in part Defendants’ motions.

1. Factual and Procedural Background as to David

According to Plaintiffs Amended Complaint, David was brought to the Macomb County Jail from Michigan’s 39th District Court on June 11, 2014, to serve a thirty (30) day jail sentence or pay $772.00 for failing to appear on the civil infraction charge of careless driving. (ECF No. 9 ¶ 22.) The following information was gleaned by “various jail personnel, as well as CCS employees or agents” at David’s intake: (a) he weighed 195 pounds; (b) his blood pressure was 120/84, his pulse rate was 97, and his respiratory rate was 12; (c) he had been prescribed Methadone prior to incarceration; (d) he had potential for withdrawal, thereby resulting in a Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS) being [680]*680initiated; (e) his mental status was noted as “Alert orientation, Affect appropriate, Logical thought processes, Speech Appropriate, Mood Appropriate, Activity Appropriate.” (Id. ¶ 28.) According to Plaintiff, COWS assessments were to be completed three times daily. (Id. ¶ 32.)

The Amended Complaint details David’s physical and mental condition over the next fifteen days and the actions of some defendants in relation to David. The Court will avoid restating those lengthy allegations here and assumes the reader’s familiarity with the Amended Complaint.

On June 27, at approximately 5:20 p.m., unidentified Defendants found David struggling to breathe and rushed him by ambulance to the hospital. (Id. at 71.) David’s weight was measured at 145 pounds by the emergency medical technicians — a fifty pound loss from sixteen days earlier at intake into the jail. (Id.) Efforts to resuscitate David were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at the hospital at 6:55 p.m. (Id. ¶ 72.) His death certificate records the cause of his death to be “ ‘Acute Withdrawal from Chronic Benzo-diazepine, Methadone, and Opiate Medications’ ” with the approximate interval between onset of the cause of death and the death to be “ ‘[wjeeks.’ ” (Id. ¶ 73.) The autopsy report reflects a final diagnosis and cause of David’s death as: “ ‘Acute Withdrawal from Chronic Benzodiazepine, Methadone and Opiate Medications, Dehydration with hypernatremia, and Sei-' zure/seizure like activity.’ ” (Id. ¶ 74.)

Plaintiff alleges that Defendants’ “self-ordered 24 hour video monitoring of David from June 17, 2014 through June 27, 2014” reflects that David’s mental and medical health deteriorated dramatically during those ten days. (Id. ¶ 59.) This included his loss of significant body weight. (Id.) According to Plaintiff, the video shows David’s “excruciating pain and misery” during this period and “visibly apparent symptoms of benzodiazapene withdrawal, that ultimately took his life.” (Id. ¶¶ 61, 64.)

In the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff asserts the following causes of action based on the above-described conduct: ■

(I) against all Defendants, deliberate indifference to David’s serious medical needs in “violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the 8th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution”;
(II) “denial of medical treatment for serious medical needs” in violation of § 1983 and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments by the following defendants: (a) Macomb County Sheriff Anthony M. Wickersham; (b) the County; (c) Jail Administrator and County employee Michelle M. Sanborn; (d) Director of Macomb County Community Corrections and County employee Barb Caskey; (e) Supervisor of Community Service-March within Macomb County Community Corrections Lisa Bingham; and (f) “the individually named Defendants who had personal contact with Plaintiff, or who had video observance of David during his incarceration;
(III) “gross negligence, intentional, willful and wanton conduct” against all Defendants; and,
(IV) “failure to train, inadequate policies and/or procedures, customs and practices, customs and practices and failure to supervise-deliberate indifference” by the County, Wickersham, CCS, Sanborn, Caskey, and Bingham.3

[681]*681II. Factual and Procedural Background as to Vladimir

On June 11, 2014, Vladimir also was brought to the Macomb County Jail from Michigan’s 39th District Court, although he had been sentenced to serve thirty (30) days in jail or pay $655.00 for failing to appear on a Driving a Vehicle While License Suspended charge. (ECF No. 1 ¶ 18.) Plaintiffs Amended Complaint details Vladimir’s condition upon arrival at the jail and during subsequent days and the conduct of some defendants in relation to Vladimir. Again, the Court assumes the reader’s familiarity with the allegations in the Amended Complaint.

According to the Amended Complaint,-Wickersham and CCS finally decided to release Vladimir from the jail to a hospital on June 23, 2014, heeding his “numerous and long-standing requests for medical care.” (Id.

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143 F. Supp. 3d 675, 93 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 320, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151319, 2015 WL 6865751, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stojcevski-v-county-of-macomb-mied-2015.