Ybarra v. Mee

District Court, D. Hawaii·Decided August 10, 2020·No. 1:20-cv-00167·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII

PEDRO NATIVIDAD YBARRA, III, ) CIV. NO. 20-00167 LEK-WRP #A0189542, ) ) ORDER DISMISSING FIRST Plaintiff, ) AMENDED COMPLAINT AND ) ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE vs. ) ) CAROLINE MEE, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) _______________________________ ) ORDER DISMISSING FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT AND ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE Before the court is pro se Plaintiff Pedro Natividad Ybarra, III’s First Amended Complaint (“FAC”). ECF No. 8.1 Ybarra alleges that Defendants prison officials2 violated his civil rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments by denying him adequate medical care between 2014-2016, and again in 2019 to the present and denying grievances regarding this alleged denial of adequate medical care. 1 Numbering and pagination used for filed documents by the Federal Judiciary’s Case Management/Electronic Case Files (“CM/ECF”). 2 Ybarra names Hawaii Department of Public Safety Corrections Health Administrator Dr. Caroline Mee and Director Nolan Espinda; Halawa Correctional Facility (“HCF”) Warden Scott Harrington, Administrators Marieta Momi`i, Tina Agaran, Gavin Takenaka, and Wesley Munn; HCF medical staff Dr. Deane Hatakayama, Dr. Sisar Paderes, Dr. Miriam Chang, Dr. Barney Toyama, Dr. John Frauens, Nurse Debra Karraker, and Nurse Practitioner Courtney Tanigawa in their official and individual capacities. For the following reasons, the FAC is DISMISSED with leave granted to amend claims that are dismissed without prejudice on or before

October 5, 2020, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e) and 1915A(a). Claims dismissed herein with prejudice are NOT subject to amendment. If Ybarra elects to file an amended pleading, he is ORDERED TO SHOW

CAUSE in writing explaining why his claims are not time-barred. I. STATUTORY SCREENING The court is required to screen all prisoner pleadings pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

§§ 1915(e)(2) and 1915A(a). Byrd v. Phoenix Police Dep’t, 885 F.3d 639, 641 (9th Cir. 2018). Claims or complaints that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim for relief, or seek damages from defendants who are immune from suit must be dismissed. See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1126-27 (9th Cir. 2000) (en

banc); Rhodes v. Robinson, 621 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 2010). Screening under §§ 1915(e)(2) and 1915A(a) involves the same standard of review as that used under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See Rosati v.

Igbinoso, 791 F.3d 1037, 1039 (9th Cir. 2015) (per curiam) (citation omitted). Under Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint must “contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556

U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). A claim is 2 “plausible” when the facts alleged support a reasonable inference that the plaintiff is entitled to relief from a specific defendant for specific misconduct. See id.

(citation omitted). Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “requires only ‘a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in

order to ‘give the defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)). “Threadbare recitals of the

elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (citation omitted). The “mere possibility of misconduct,” or an “unadorned, the defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation” falls short of meeting this plausibility standard. Id. at 678-79 (citations omitted);

see also Moss v. U.S. Secret Serv., 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). Pro se litigants’ pleadings must be liberally construed and all doubts should be resolved in their favor. See Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010)

(citations omitted). The court must grant leave to amend if it appears the plaintiff can correct the defects in the complaint. See Lopez, 203 F.3d at 1130. When a claim cannot be saved by amendment, dismissal with prejudice is appropriate. See

Sylvia Landfield Tr. v. City of Los Angeles, 729 F.3d 1189, 1196 (9th Cir. 2013). 3 II. BACKGROUND Ybarra again asserts two separate sets of claims. The first, Counts I-VII,3

detail incidents that allegedly occurred at HCF from April 2019 until his release on parole or about June 21, 2020. See FAC, ECF No. 8 at #86-92; see Notice of Change of Address, ECF No. 9. The second set of claims, Counts VIII-XIV, relate

to incidents that allegedly occurred at HCF between 2014-2016. Id. at #93-99. A. 2019-2020 Claims: Counts I-VII When Ybarra reentered HCF in April 2019, he sought treatment for severe

pain in his lower back and neck that he had experienced since an assault in December 2013, by an inmate at the Oahu Community Correctional Center (“OCCC”). Ybarra had sought treatment for his injuries and pain at HCF in 2015- 2016, before his release on parole.

Dr. Hatakayama examined Ybarra on June 12, July 13, and December 9, 2019. See FAC, ECF No. 8 at #88 (Count III). Ybarra told Dr. Hatakayama that his private neurosurgeon, Dr. Jon Graham, needed a recent MRI4 scan to determine

whether surgery was needed. Ybarra told Dr. Hatakayama that he was unable to

3 Because Ybarra stopped numbering his claims after Count III, the Court consecutively numbers them from I-XIV. 4 MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging, which produces detailed images of organs and tissues. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146309. 4 undergo an MRI, however, unless he is “knocked out with medicine by a professional.” Id. at #87.5 Dr. Hatakayama prescribed Ybarra pain medication, but

Ybarra alleges that this was intended to “hide” his symptoms and cause him to relapse into opioid addiction. Id. at #90-93, 95-98. Dr. Hatakayama did schedule Ybarra for MRIs, but apparently did not authorize sedation for the procedure.

Ybarra alleges that Nurse Karraker, who allegedly had denied him sedation before an MRI in 2015 or 2016, did so again in 2019. Id. at #89 (Count IV). Ybarra refused to have an MRI unless he was completely sedated.

Ybarra filed grievances regarding his back pain, the denial of general sedation during, and the resulting delay or denial of surgery. Defendants Momi’i denied his first step grievance, Agaran denied his second step grievance, and Takenaka denied his third step grievance. Id. at #90-#92 (Counts V-VII). Ybarra

alleges that HCF Warden Harrington is ultimately responsible for his pain and suffering because he knew or should have known about the denial of sedation and resulting delay in surgery through his overall supervision of the grievance process.

Id. at #87 (Count II). Finally, Ybarra wrote DPS Corrections Health Administrator Dr. Mee, to inform “her of the lack of adequate medical care” that he allegedly

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