Vaughn v. Kerley

897 F. Supp. 1413, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11847, 1995 WL 490942
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedAugust 7, 1995
DocketNo. 94-1791-Civ-T-17C
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 897 F. Supp. 1413 (Vaughn v. Kerley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vaughn v. Kerley, 897 F. Supp. 1413, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11847, 1995 WL 490942 (M.D. Fla. 1995).

Opinion

ORDER

KOVACHEVICH, District Judge.

Pro se prisoner Plaintiff filed a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on November 9, 1994. Plaintiff names as De[1416]*1416fendants Kermit Kerley, Chief Administrative Officer of Hardee Correctional Institution (HCI); Emile Baudoin d’Ajoux, investigator for Correctional Medical Authority; Harry K. Singletary, Chief Administrative Officer for the Department of Corrections; and Betty Smithers, nurse at HCI.1 Plaintiff was incarcerated at Hardee Correctional Institution at the time the alleged events occurred.

Plaintiff claims that Defendants were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

In support, Plaintiff claims that:

8. At approximately 10:00 p.m. on October 6, 1993, Plaintiff declared a medical emergency because he was suffering from acute gastrointestinal distress, and he was escorted to the HCI Medical Clinic by Sgt. Johnson.
9. When he arrived at the Clinic, Plaintiff explained his ailment to Defendant Smith-ers. However, defendant Smithers advised Plaintiff that only matters “of life and limb” are treated outside regular “Sick Call” hours, and he was refused any treatment whatsoever.
10. Although Plaintiff had a history of gastrointestinal problems and advised defendant Smithers he was in great pain, she never even reviewed Plaintiffs medical file prior to refusing to treat him.
11. As direct and proximate result of defendant Smithers’ deliberate indifference, Plaintiff suffered needlessly until Inmate Warren Cooper provided him with some Pepto-Bismol, which eventually relieved the pain.
12. On October 7, 1993, plaintiff filed a formal Grievance of a medical nature pursuant to Rule 33-20.008, Fla.Admin.Code (1993), with defendant Kerley, complaining of defendant Smithers refusal to treat him, and requesting the posting of a written “criteria for treatment outside of Sick Call Hours” so that prisoners would know and understand the HCI Policy. Plaintiff further requested that medical problems, such as those experienced by Plaintiff on October 6, 1993, be accounted for in the treatment criteria.
13. On October 22, 1993, defendants Boutista and Kerley responded that defendant Smithers appropriately evaluated him and that “it was determined that [he] did not meet the status for emergency treatment.” Plaintiff was referred to “the Emergency Medical Procedures ... in the Institutional Operations Manual in the Library.”
14. The procedures referred to by Defendants Kerley and Boutista is the HCI Institutional Operating Procedure # 3.05.029, which states: “1. INMATE WALKS IN TO CLINIC REQUESTING HEALTH CARE. 2. AN R.N., L.P.N., OR C.M.T.C. ASSESS THE INMATE’S HEALTH COMPLAINT. THE INMATE’S MEDICAL RECORD WILL BE REVIEWED AT THIS TIME.” However, this cryptic procedure was not even observed by defendant Smithers before plaintiff was turned away from the Clinic in obvious pain. Defendants Boutista and Kerley failed to investigate plaintiffs complaint at all.
15. Defendant Kerley is responsible for instigating Policies and Practices to reduce Inmate access to health care at HCI. These Policies are intentionally designed to deter requests for treatment by placing needless restrictions on treatment and making all requests for treatment unduly burdensome. Defendant Kerley places unnecessary restrictions on the Healthcare personnel at HCI, forcing them to provide services below the generally accepted standard of care. In fact, defendant Boutista was forced to resign as Chief Health Officer of HCI because defendant Kerley insisted on placing unreasonable restrictions on her ability to deliver healthcare to the prisoners of HCI.
16. On October 27, 1993, Plaintiff filed a timely Grievance Appeal, pursuant to rule 33-29.007, Fla.Admin.Code (1993), of the denial of his Grievance of a medical nature, to defendant Singletary.
[1417]*141717. On February 4, 1994, defendant Bau-doin d’Ajoux, issued a curt response denying Plaintiff’s Grievance appeal. However, the investigation of Plaintiff’s complaint was cursory at best. Typically, an Agent of the Correctional authority places a telephone call to the Healthcare provider at the prison and accepts their unilateral explanation of events. Defendant Baudoin d’Ajoux then responds accordingly. The Correctional Authority is merely a Rubber-stamp for the DOC, and an enforcement farce.
18. The “life and limb” criteria for emergency medical treatment exists to this day at HCI, and is an inherently indifferent policy toward the medical treatment of prisoners. Prisoners are not Doctors. Indeed, they frequently suffer from intellectual handicaps. Yet, it is well-established that many life threatening ailments initially manifest themselves as more trivial conditions. In fact, Dr. Roberts, Chief of the Trauma Unit at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital stated during a National Public Radio Broadcast on August 21, 1994, that the only efficacious choice would be to err on the side of caution by treating all complaints by laymen as serious. It makes infinitely more sense to treat what ultimately turns out to be indigestion, than to ignore a budding heart attack. Hardee’s emergency treatment policy is just the opposite.
19. Rule 38B-1.001, Fla.Admin.Code (1994) requires that adequate standards of healthcare are maintained at all DOC Institutions, and it is defendant Baudoin d’Ajoux’s duty to see that this policy is enforced.
20. Defendant Baudoin d’Ajoux failed to enforce Rule 33B-1.001 on HCI and is, thus, deliberately indifferent to Plaintiffs serious medical needs. Moreover, his failure to properly review Plaintiffs medical record is typical of his deliberate indifference to his responsibility as a watchdog of DOC health care Delivery.
21. Rule 33-3.002(16), Fla.Admin.Code (1994), requires that all State prisoners be furnished with proper medical care and medicine, and defendant Singletary has duty to see that this policy is carried out, as does defendant Kerley.
22. Defendant Singletary knew or should have known of the inherently indifferent emergency Sick Call policy at HCI, yet he failed to take any remedial action.
23. As a direct and proximate result of defendant’s deliberate indifference to Plaintiffs serious medical needs, Plaintiff has suffered needlessly and continues to suffer unnecessary pain.
24. The actions or inactions of the defendants violates Plaintiffs Eighth Amendment Right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.

Complaint, pp. 8a-8e (Some changes made for readability).

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Bluebook (online)
897 F. Supp. 1413, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11847, 1995 WL 490942, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vaughn-v-kerley-flmd-1995.