Weintraub ex rel. Weintraub v. Advanced Correctional Healthcare, Inc.

161 F. Supp. 3d 1272, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178215, 2015 WL 10939544
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedOctober 26, 2015
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 1:15-CV-01213-AT
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 161 F. Supp. 3d 1272 (Weintraub ex rel. Weintraub v. Advanced Correctional Healthcare, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weintraub ex rel. Weintraub v. Advanced Correctional Healthcare, Inc., 161 F. Supp. 3d 1272, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178215, 2015 WL 10939544 (N.D. Ga. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

Amy Totenberg, United States District Judge

This case arises out of the death of Dr. William Weintraub in a prison transport van in Georgia from an alleged untreated ulcer and septic infection. Plaintiff, Weintraub’s surviving heir and the administrator of his estate, filed suit against Defendants Advanced Correctional Healthcare, Inc. (“ACH”) and Prisoner Transport Services of America, LLC (“PTS”), asserting claims for negligence, medical negligence, and damages under Georgia’s wrongful death statute.

Defendant PTS, a Tennessee corporation that provides contract transportation services to correctional facilities nationwide, seeks to transfer this case to the Western District of Kentucky in order to assert claims against the county detention center where Mr. Weintraub was temporarily housed during his twelve-day transport by PTS from Colorado to South Carolina. Because none of the factors used by the Eleventh Circuit under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) favor transfer of venue to Kentucky, Defendant PTS’s Motion to Transfer Venue [Doc. 20] is DENIED.

I. Background

A. Factual Allegations

Dr. William Weintraub, a nuclear physicist who previously worked in academia at various universities throughout the country, moved to Boulder Colorado to start his own business in 2013. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 9-10.) On January 1, 2014, Weintraub was involved in a dispute with his roommate, the police were called, and Weintraub was detained by the Boulder Police on an outstanding arrest warrant from South Carolina. (Id. ¶ 11.) After securing Weintraub’s extradition on March 14, 2014, the State of South Carolina hired Defendant PTS to transport Weintraub from Colorado to South Carolina to face the' pending charges. (Id. ¶¶ 12-13; Def.’s Mtn. [1276]*1276Transfer Venue, Ex. 3 at 1.) While waiting in the Boulder County Jail for PTS to pick him up, Weintraub began experiencing stomach pains and was treated with Maalox, milk of magnesia, and Miralax. (Am. Compl. ¶ 14.)

PTS took custody of Weintraub on April 14, 2014, and began a five-day trip from Colorado to Utah and then.to the Daviess County Detention Center (the “DCDC”) in Owensboro, Kentucky. (Id. ¶16.) Plaintiff alleges that PTS discontinued treatment for Weintraub’s stomach condition during the five-day trip to Kentucky. (Id. ¶ 16.) As a result, the Amended Complaint alleges that “Dr. Weintraub’s stomach pains increased and a duodenal ulcer developed and/or worsened.” (Id.)

PTS had a contract with the DCDC to “temporarily house prisoners in [PTS’s] care” at the DCDC facility in Owensboro, Kentucky.1 (Def.’s Mtn. Transfer Venue, Ex. 10 at 1.) On April 18, PTS admitted Weintraub to the DCDC, which PTS used as a hub for its detainees en-route to South Carolina, where he was held until April 24, 2014 while PTS accumulated enough detainees to transport to Georgia and South Carolina. (Id. ¶¶ 17-18.) Plaintiff alleges that during Weintraub’s week-long stay at the DCDC, his condition took a turn for the worse. (Id. ¶ 22.)

Defendant ACH, an Illinois corporation, provided contract healthcare services for PTS detainees at the DCDC. (Id. ¶¶ 5, 19.) Plaintiff alleges that ACH did not perform a legally mandated initial medical screening upon Weintraub’s admission to the DCDC. (Id. ¶ 21.) On April 21, Weintraub formally requested medical care for intense stomach pain by filing a Sick Call Request Form with ACH medical staff. (Am. Compl. ¶ 24; Def.’s Mtn. Transfer Venue, Ex. 9.)

Plaintiff alleges that ACH ignored Weintraub’s medical request for three days. (Am. Compl. ¶ 24.) As a result, Plaintiff alleges that Weintraub’s pain intensified and an ulcer developed and/or grew that went untreated by either PTS or ACH. (Id.) Other inmates at the DCDC noticed that Weintraub was moaning and groaning, sweating profusely, and had even passed out in the bathroom during this time. (Id. ¶¶ 25-26; Def.’s Mtn. Transfer Venue, Ex. 12 at 1; Def.’s Mtn. Transfer Venue, Ex. 14 at 2.) These inmates requested medical assistance on Weintraub’s behalf. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 22, 25-27; Def.’s Mtn. Transfer Venue, Exs. 12, 14.)

On the afternoon of April 23, an ACH nurse examined Weintraub for the first time and noted that he presented complaints of severe abdominal pain and reported to have passed out in the bathroom that morning. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 28, 30; Def.’s Mtn. Transfer Venue, Ex. 8 at 1.) The nurse’s examination notes indicate that Weintraub was fidgeting and flailing on the exam table and was unable to lay still for the assessment due to his pain. (Am. Compl. ¶ 28; Def.’s Mtn. Transfer Venue, Ex. 8 at 1.) The nurse gave Weintraub an antacid tablet and indicated that she would notify a doctor. (Am. Compl. ¶ 28.) Later that evening, Mr. Weintraub complained of intense abdominal pain, nausea, and that he had vomited blood. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 30, 31.)

Early on the morning of April 24, ACH cleared Weintraub for transport to South Carolina after a final medical exam. (Am. Compl. ¶ 40; Def.’s Mtn. Transfer Venue, Ex. 8 at 2.) A PTS guard in charge of [1277]*1277transporting prisoners from the DCDC noted that Weintraub was complaining of pain while being loaded into the van, and that he felt it necessary to confirm with the DCDC medical staff that Weintraub was okay to travel. (Am. Compl. ¶ 38; Def.’s Mtn. Transfer Venue, Ex. 11 at 1.) Ten other inmates were transported with Weintraub that day to various locations in the southeast. (Am. Compl. ¶ 37; Def.’s Mtn. Transfer Venue, Ex. 11.) These inmates also noticed that Weintraub seemed ill while being loaded onto the van and during the trip. One inmate described Weintraub as sweaty, pale, and “looking like the ‘walking dead’ ” while being loaded into the van. (Am. Compl. ¶ 37; Pl.’s Resp., Ex. A at 10.) Weintraub’s fellow inmates observed that he was unable to get into the van on his own and had to be picked up by the PTS transport agents and loaded into the van. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 37-38; Def.’s Mtn. Transfer Venue, Ex. 12 at 2.) Several inmates reported that the PTS and ACH employees made fun of Weintraub and mocked him. (Am. Compl. ¶ 39.)

Plaintiff alleges that during the early morning hours of April 25, 2014, approximately 15 minutes before pulling into the Union County, Georgia Sheriffs Office to drop off inmates, Weintraub fell over, slumped forward, urinated on himself, and became unresponsive to other inmates in the van. (Id. ¶ 41.) The inmates called out to the PTS agents that Weintraub needed help, but their requests were ignored. (Id.) When the van stopped at the Georgia detention center 15 minutes later, PTS agents checked on Weintraub and found him apparently deceased. (Id. ¶ 42.) An autopsy report prepared by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation determined that the cause of death was a perforated duodenal ulcer and septic infection. (Id. ¶ 46; Pl.’s Resp., Ex. H at 2.)

B. Plaintiff’s Asserted Claims

Plaintiff asserts a claim against PTS for negligence (Count I) and punitive damages (Count IV).

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161 F. Supp. 3d 1272, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178215, 2015 WL 10939544, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weintraub-ex-rel-weintraub-v-advanced-correctional-healthcare-inc-gand-2015.