FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
September 7, 2012
TENTH CIRCUIT
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
EARL WILLIAM CAMPBELL, JR.,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
No. 11-1468
v. (D.C. No.1:09-CV-01041-CMA-KLM)
(D. Colorado)
DR. GAGEN SINGH, M.D.; DR.
PAULA FRANTZ, M.D.; KATHERN
RITTENHOUSE, P.A.C.; SERGEANT
JOHNSON, LU-3, Sterling Regional
Medical Center,
Defendants - Appellees.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before MURPHY, EBEL, and HARTZ, Circuit Judges.
In May 2009 Plaintiff Earl William Campbell filed a complaint under
42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
*
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of
this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is
therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is
not binding precedent except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata,
and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value
consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
alleging that 11 defendants violated his constitutional rights while he was a
prisoner at Sterling Correctional Facility (the Correctional Facility) in Sterling,
Colorado. The district court dismissed some claims in Plaintiff’s amended
complaint for failing to state a claim, allowed Plaintiff to file a final amended
complaint, and then granted summary judgment against Plaintiff on the remaining
claims. On appeal Plaintiff challenges only the dismissal of his claims under the
Eighth Amendment for cruel and unusual punishment. We have jurisdiction under
28 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm.
I. THE ALLEGATIONS
Plaintiff’s amended complaint and final amended complaint allege
misconduct over several years. Some allegations were disputed or explained by
the defendants in responsive pleadings, but we begin by reciting Plaintiff’s
version.
In 2001 Plaintiff was diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament
(ACL). In September 2002 defendant Dr. Floyd Pohlman performed
reconstructive surgery to repair the tear. After months of pain during which
Plaintiff complained repeatedly about how his knee was healing, Plaintiff had an
MRI of the knee in September 2003. It revealed that the ACL graft had failed, so
Plaintiff had a second surgery the following month. Plaintiff returned to the
Correctional Facility the day after surgery and was not provided any walking aids.
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The next day, Plaintiff was walking to obtain his medicine when he slipped
on icy pavement. After some delay he was taken by ambulance to Sterling
Regional Medical Center, where he had surgery to repair a broken patella and a
torn patellar tendon. At that time Pohlman told Plaintiff that he was unsure
whether the fall had affected the ACL graft.
After returning to the Correctional Facility, Plaintiff’s knee was very
painful and he requested medical attention and treatment—requests that, for a
period of time, were either ignored or denied. On December 5, 2003, Plaintiff
complained about the pain and showed the housing staff his knee, which was
swollen, hot to the touch, and showed signs of infection. Plaintiff was taken to
Denver Receiving and Diagnostic Center for antibiotic treatment and then to
Denver Health Medical Center, where his knee was debrided and the incision
closed. He returned to the Correctional Facility on December 23. Over the next
months, Plaintiff’s knee became somewhat better and his mobility improved,
although it continued to be very painful and he had no pain medication.
On August 27, 2004, Plaintiff received follow-up care at Denver Health.
After this appointment, a group of healthcare providers, including several
defendants, determined that no further treatment or consultations associated with
Plaintiff’s left knee would be authorized. Even so, sometime in November or
December of that year, Plaintiff was evaluated by McDonald Physical Therapy
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and Sports Medicine, which recommended additional surgery and a knee brace.
Plaintiff was given a knee brace that was improperly fitted.
About one year later, on November 23, 2005, defendant Leon Johnson, a
corrections officer, moved Plaintiff to a top bunk. Plaintiff fell from the top
bunk, requiring an ambulance trip to Sterling Regional Medical Center for
injuries to his head and left knee. Over the next several years, he suffered from
pain and disorientation resulting from these injuries.
Plaintiff received an MRI in January 2006, which showed that the ACL
graft had not taken and his knee was unchanged from the September 2003 MRI
that justified his second surgery. In February 2007 defendant Dr. Paula Frantz
informed Plaintiff that he would be receiving no additional treatment beyond a
cane and daily Tylenol.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
We review de novo the district court’s dismissal for failure to state a claim
under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). See Casanova v. Ulibarri, 595 F.3d 1120, 1124
(10th Cir. 2010). To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a plaintiff’s well-pleaded
factual allegations must, when taken as true and viewed in the light most
favorable to the plaintiff, state a claim for relief “‘that is plausible on its face.’”
Id. at 1124 (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)).
“Because [Plaintiff] is proceeding pro se, we liberally construe his filings.” Id. at
1125.
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We also review de novo a district court’s grant of summary judgment under
Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). See Jones v. Okla. City Pub. Sch., 617 F.3d 1273, 1277
(10th Cir. 2010). Summary judgement is appropriate “if the movant shows that
there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to
judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). We view the evidence in the
light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. See Roberts v.
Barreras, 484 F.3d 1236, 1239 (10th Cir. 2007).
III. DISCUSSION
The district court dismissed without prejudice the claims against defendant
Brian Webster because he was never served. We affirm. The dismissal was
clearly correct and not challenged in Plaintiff’s appellate briefs.
The claim against defendant Dr. Floyd Pohlman was dismissed with
prejudice as barred by the statute of limitations. The complaint alleged no action
by Pohlman after October 2003. The only issue below was whether the
limitations period was extended by equitable tolling because of representations
that Plaintiff would receive further treatment. But Pohlman filed an affidavit that
his last communication with Plaintiff was in January 2004 and that he moved to
Hawaii in 2006. No admissible evidence contradicted these statements. And
Plaintiff does not argue the tolling issue on appeal. We affirm.
Defendant Sterling Regional Medical Center was dismissed with prejudice
on the ground that it could not be held liable for the conduct of physicians who
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practice there. See Rosane v. Senger, 149 P.2d 372, 374 (Colo. 1944) (“That a
hospital employs doctors on its staff does not make it liable for the discharge of
their professional duty since it is powerless, under the law, to command or forbid
any act by them in the practice of their profession.”); Estate of Harper v. Denver
Health & Hosp. Auth., 140 P.3d 273, 275–78 (Colo. App. 2006) (describing
statutory developments making clear that “legal relationships do not expose
professional corporations and hospitals to vicarious liability for the negligent acts
of their medical professionals”). Plaintiff does not argue this point on appeal, and
we affirm.
Several defendants were alleged to have violated the Eighth Amendment in
providing (or failing to provide) medical treatment to Plaintiff: Dr. Gagan Singh,
Dr. Paula Frantz, nurse practitioner Kathern Rittenhouse, physician assistant
Joann Stock, and Dr. J.G. Fortunato. The Eighth Amendment requires that
“prison officials . . . ensure that inmates receive adequate food, clothing, shelter,
and medical care, and . . . take reasonable measures to guarantee the safety of the
inmates.” Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832 (1994) (internal quotation
marks omitted). For a prison official’s action to violate the Eighth Amendment,
two requirements must be met. First, the inmate must be deprived of a serious
need. See id. at 834 (“[T]he deprivation alleged must be, objectively, sufficiently
serious . . . [and] result in the denial of the minimal civilized measure of life’s
necessities.” (citations and internal quotation marks omitted)). Second, the
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official must act with deliberate indifference to the inmate’s health or safety. See
id. An official’s failure to act is with deliberate indifference when that official is
“aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of
serious harm exists, and . . . also draw[s] the inference.” Id. at 837.
The district court properly ruled that the claims against these five
defendants should be dismissed with prejudice because of failure to allege
adequately or failure to produce evidence that any of them acted with deliberate
indifference to Plaintiff’s medical needs. At most, Plaintiff showed his difference
of opinion regarding his treatment, but a medical provider does not violate the
Eighth Amendment simply by rejecting a patient’s requests, or even by
negligence. See Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 106 (1976) (“[A] complaint that
a physician has been negligent in diagnosing or treating a medical condition does
not state a valid claim of medical mistreatment under the Eighth Amendment.”);
Thompson v. Gibson, 289 F.3d 1218, 1222 (10th Cir. 2002) (“medical difference
of opinion . . . is not actionable under the Eighth Amendment”).
Plaintiff alleged that defendant Leon Johnson, a sergeant with the Colorado
Department of Corrections, violated his Eighth Amendment rights by forcing him
to move to a top bunk in November 2005 despite knowing that his knee problems
would make such a move dangerous, and then harassed him after he filed a
grievance against Johnson. We affirm the grant of summary judgment against
Plaintiff on this claim. As stated by the magistrate judge, Johnson’s affidavit
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showed that there was “no genuine issue of material fact regarding whether
Johnson knew that placing Plaintiff in a top bunk posed an excessive risk to
Plaintiff’s health or safety.” Aplee. Br., Attach. 7 at 1143 (Recommendation of
United States Magistrate Judge at 15, Campbell v. Singh, No. 09-cv-01041-CMA-
KLM (Aug. 8, 2011)) (citing Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837). We further note that
Plaintiff’s allegations of retaliation are too vague to support a cause of action.
Defendant Kevin Milyard is the warden at the Correctional Facility. He
could be subject to supervisory liability under § 1983 if he was “personally
involved in the constitutional violation,” and “a sufficient causal connection . . .
[existed] between [him] and the constitutional violation.” Serna v. Colo. Dep’t of
Corr., 455 F.3d 1146, 1151 (10th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks omitted).
“[A] plaintiff must establish that the supervisor acted knowingly or with
deliberate indifference that a constitutional violation would occur.” Id. at 1151
(internal quotation marks omitted). Plaintiff, however, makes no effort to argue
on appeal that Milyard was personally liable. We therefore must affirm the
dismissal of Plaintiff’s claims against him.
Similarly, defendant Beverly Dowis was the health services administrator
for the Correctional Facility. But Plaintiff failed to allege adequately the
requisites for supervisory liability. In response to Dowis’s motion to dismiss,
Plaintiff relied solely on the general duties and responsibilities of a medical
administrator. Plaintiff does not argue on appeal, and we do not discern, any
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basis for her liability. We therefore affirm the district court’s dismissal of
Plaintiff’s claims against her.
Finally, Plaintiff argues several procedural issues on appeal. First, he
complains that he was not provided an adequate opportunity for discovery before
the district court granted summary judgment. But the district court properly
observed that Plaintiff had been granted ample time for discovery, had not taken
advantage of the court’s granting him additional time to move to compel
discovery responses, and had not indicated how additional discovery would assist
him in opposing summary judgment. Second, Plaintiff’s reply brief on appeal
contends that the defendants’ brief on appeal was untimely. We disagree. On
February 22, 2012, we granted the defendants an extension of time until
March 13, 2012, to file their brief. They filed a brief on that date, but it was
defective. We ordered that a proper brief be filed within 10 days, and the
defendants filed a proper brief on March 21. Third, Plaintiff’s reply brief
complains of the Assistant Attorney General’s failure to file in district court an
entry of appearance as required by Tenth Circuit Rule 46-1. We reject this
complaint, because it was not raised until the reply brief and Plaintiff does not
explain why an appellate rule should apply in district court.
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IV. CONCLUSION
We GRANT Defendant’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis but AFFIRM
the judgment of the district court.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Harris L Hartz
Circuit Judge
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