TALBERT v. CORRECTIONAL DENTAL ASSOCIATES

District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided November 29, 2019·No. 2:18-cv-05112·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA CHARLES TALBERT : CIVIL ACTION v. NO. 18-5112 CORRECTIONAL DENTAL ASSOCIATES, et al. MEMORANDUM

KEARNEY, J. November 29, 2019 Continuing to challenge prison medical professionals’ judgments as to his medical care, state prison inmate Charles Talbert now seeks a mandatory preliminary injunction compelling a prison psychiatrist to prescribe the addictive Xanax as his favored anti-depressant as he does do as well on the prescribed anti-depressant non-addictive medication available in prison. The prison psychiatrist allegedly declines to prescribe the highly addictive Xanax given prison safety and administration concerns with its distribution among prisoners. The prison psychiatrist will respond to Mr. Talbert’s “final amended complaint” next month. But, after a year of filing amended pleadings, Mr. Talbert wants the Xanax now. As our Court of Appeals recently reminded us in Victory v. Berks County, we may enter mandatory injunctive relief ordering prison officers to change their prison decisions only in the most unusual cases where the movant’s right to relief is “indisputably clear.”! Given this higher standard, Mr. Talbert fails to show a right to Xanax as opposed to another anti-depressant is indisputably clear or to show imminent irreparable harm caused by the prison medical decision to prescribe a Xanax alternative. We deny Mr. Talbert’s motion for a mandatory injunction directing a prison doctor to prescribe Mr. Talbert’s favored Xanax.

I. Pro se allegations seeking to obtain mandatory injunctive relief. Charles Talbert suffers post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and insomnia, for which psychiatrists have prescribed him Xanax.” Mr. Talbert continued to suffer these illnesses while a pretrial detainee in a Philadelphia prison between September 2018 and September 2019.2 Mr. Talbert’s illnesses cause him “‘suicidal-homicidal thoughts; thoughts of past trauma; panic attacks on the regular; and [to be] up all night without sleep.”* Mr. Talbert feels unsafe in large crowds, he is “mentally tortured” and “[s]hould he continue this lifestyle, something tragic is bound to happen.” Drs. Reynolds, Taylor and Fowler, licensed psychiatrists employed by the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, knew about Mr. Talbert’s history of mental illness and past Xanax prescriptions because psychiatrists prescribed him Xanax “in the community.”® These prison psychiatrists deprived him Xanax for over a year because it is a highly addictive and costly controlled substance which is commonly sold among prison inmates.’ Without Mr. Talbert’s consent, on October 18, 2018, Dr. Reynolds prescribed Pamelor, an alternative anti-depressant.* Prison psychiatrists did not inform Mr. Talbert about differences between the medications, and Mr. Talbert mistakenly took Pamelor for two weeks.’ After those two weeks, Mr. Talbert received an electrocardiogram indicating an “abnormal heart condition,” and the prison doctors stopped Pamelor.'° When Mr. Talbert asked Dr. Fowler which psychiatrist prescribed him Pamelor, Dr. Fowler would not answer and tried to “cover up [Dr.] Reynolds’ acts and/or omissions.”!! Drs. Taylor and Reynolds prescribed Buspirone as a second Xanax alternative.!* Mr. Talbert claims Buspirone does not help him because when he took it previously, “it did nothing but make him feel weird and not himself. The symptoms of [post-traumatic stress disorder]” remained.!? Mr. Talbert does not allege he even tried this alternative prescribed by the doctors.

Without access to Xanax, Mr. Talbert struggles to fall asleep and suffers several anxiety attacks.'* Mr. Talbert claims he “is up all day and all through the night, with visions of him being shot all over again; or him killing the inmate that snuck him from behind once he finds him on the street.”!5 Mr. Talbert claims “[w]ithout Xanax, [he] will continue to be mentally tortured while [incarcerated].”!° Mr. Talbert sued Drs. Reynolds, Taylor and Fowler, claiming First Amendment retaliation, Fourteenth Amendment deliberate indifference and breach of contract.!? Mr. Talbert bases each claim on their medical decision to not prescribe Xanax to treat his illnesses. II. Analysis Mr. Talbert now moves for a mandatory preliminary injunction asking we order Dr. Reynolds to prescribe him Xanax under a controlled protocol. “[A] request for some form of mandatory proactive injunctive relief in the prison context ‘must always be viewed with great caution because judicial restraint is especially called for in dealing with the complex and intractable problems of prison administration.’”!® A mandatory preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy which courts should grant sparingly.'? We may grant a mandatory preliminary injunction only in the most unusual cases where the movant’s right to relief is “indisputably clear.””° “Given the extraordinary nature of this form of relief, a motion for preliminary injunction places precise burdens on the moving party.””! The movant for a mandatory preliminary injunction bears a “particularly heavy” burden,”* which is to show by clear and convincing evidence” “the ‘preliminary injunction [is] the only way of protecting the [him] from harm.’”?4 Our Court of Appeals instructs, “upon an application for a preliminary injunction to doubt is to deny.”””°

Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governs pro se pleadings which seek extraordinary or emergency relief through a preliminary injunction and are judged against “exacting legal standards.” We are also mindful of the standards applied to a request for mandatory injunctive relief, we consider four factors in determining whether to issue a preliminary injunction: “(1) whether the movant has shown a reasonable probability of success on the merits; (2) whether the movant will be irreparably injured by denial of the relief; (3) whether granting preliminary relief will result in even greater harm to the nonmoving party; and (4) whether granting the preliminary relief will be in the public interest.””7 To succeed, Mr. Talbert “must demonstrate both a likelihood of success on the merits and the probability of irreparable harm if relief is not granted.””® If Mr. Talbert fails to satisfy his burden on these elements, his motion should be denied.”? Compounding the burden on obtaining mandatory injunctive relief, Congress also limits our authority to enjoin a prison official’s exercise of discretion. “Prospective relief in any civil action with respect to prison conditions shall extend no further than necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right of a particular plaintiff or plaintiffs. The court shall not grant or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right, and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right. The court shall give substantial weight to any adverse impact on public safety or the operation of a criminal justice system caused by the relief.”?° Congress further instructs: “Preliminary injunctive relief must be narrowly drawn, extend no further than necessary to correct the harm the court finds requires preliminary relief, and be the least intrusive means necessary to correct that harm. The court shall give substantial weight to any adverse impact on public safety or the operation of a criminal justice

system caused by the preliminary relief and shall respect the principles of comity . . .

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