Meherg v. Skrivan

SCOTT K. MEHERG, JR., Plaintiff, v. PAUL SKRIVAN, AKINRINOLA FATOKI,and CHARLES PEWITT, Defendants.

No. 18 C 4696

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

January 22, 2020

Judge Sara L. Ellis

OPINION AND ORDER

During his incarceration in Illinois and Missouri jails, Plaintiff Scott Meherg was hospitalized twice after receiving medication to treat his high blood pressure. He now brings this § 1983 suit against Defendants Paul Skrivan, Akinrinola Fatoki, and Charles Pewitt, alleging they acted with deliberate indifference to his medical needs in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Fatoki and Pewitt move to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and Skrivan moves to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Because Meherg has not alleged facts sufficient for the Court to exercise personal jurisdiction over Fatoki and Pewitt, the Court severs his claims against Fatoki and Pewitt and transfers them to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Because Meherg has pleaded sufficient facts to state a claim of deliberate indifference as to Skrivan, he may proceed with that claim in this Court.

BACKGROUND¹

Meherg is a resident of Illinois, currently incarcerated at the Lake County Community Based Correctional Center in Waukegan, Illinois. He was arrested approximately on September 19, 2016, and held at two different jails before he was taken to the Saint Genevieve Sheriff's Office Detention Center ("Saint Genevieve Jail") in Saint Genevieve, Missouri, on October 29. While he was there, a doctor diagnosed Meherg with hypertension, and prescribed him two medications, metoprolol and lisinopril. The metoprolol caused allergic reactions in Meherg, including a rash and an accelerated heart rate. Pewitt, a primary care physician at the Saint Genevieve Jail, switched the metoprolol prescription to clonidine. Meherg then began to suffer side effects, including shortness of breath, dizziness, and fatigue. After his symptoms did not improve over several months, Pewitt increased Meherg's clonidine prescription from .1 milligrams twice a day to .2 milligrams twice a day.

Around March 2017, Fatoki became Meherg's primary care physician at the Saint Genevieve Jail although Pewitt continued to treat Meherg. Fatoki, a Missouri resident, is licensed to practice medicine in Missouri as well as in Illinois where he has treated patients, including at the Fayette County Jail in Vandalia, Illinois.

Meherg continued to suffer worsening side effects related to the clonidine until he was taken to the emergency room at Saint Genevieve County Memorial Hospital on March 24 for shortness of breath and an unstable heart rate. An EKG test showed sinus tachycardia and an abnormal rhythm. The hospital performed blood work that showed Meherg had elevated bloodglucose and low white blood cell counts. The hospital provided a copy of the medical report to Fatoki and recommended the jail reevaluate Meherg's medications. Pewitt subsequently increased Meherg's clonidine to .3 milligrams twice a day. On May 17, Pewitt prescribed an asthma medication to treat Meherg's shortness of breath. Neither Fatoki or Pewitt followed up on the results of Meherg's blood work and Meherg continued to suffer allergic reactions to the clonidine.

Around August 23, Meherg was transferred to the Cook County Department of Corrections ("Cook County Jail"), in Chicago, Illinois, where Skrivan, a certified physician's assistant with the Cook County Health and Hospitals System, conducted an intake medical evaluation. Meherg mentioned that the staff at Saint Genevieve Jail prescribed him clonidine for high blood pressure. Without reviewing Meherg's medical records from Saint Genevieve Jail, Skrivan switched the clonidine prescription to amlodipine. Meherg was unaware that discontinuing clonidine suddenly could cause withdrawal symptoms in individuals who had developed a dependency on the drug. Two days later, on August 25, Meherg suffered from vomiting, shortness of breath, excessive sweating, dry mouth, elevated heart rate, and an inability to eat. He asked to be seen by a nurse or doctor regarding his medication and was subsequently sent to the jail's health services emergency room. Meherg then transferred to Stroger hospital where doctors diagnosed him with clonidine withdrawal. The hospital placed Meherg back on clonidine in order to wean him off the medication through a series of tapered doses. After Meherg stabilized, hospital staff released him back to Cook County Jail.

ANALYSIS

I. Fatoki and Pewitt

A. Legal Standard

A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(2) challenges whether the Court has jurisdiction over a party. The party asserting jurisdiction has the burden of proof. See Tamburo v. Dworkin, 601 F.3d 693, 701 (7th Cir. 2010). The Court may consider affidavits and other competent evidence submitted by the parties. Purdue Research Found. v. Sanofi-Synthelabo, S.A., 338 F.3d 773, 782 (7th Cir. 2003). If the Court rules on the motion without a hearing, the plaintiff need only establish a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction. GCIU-Emp'r Ret. Fund v. Goldfarb Corp., 565 F.3d 1018, 1023 (7th Cir. 2009). The Court will "read the complaint liberally, in its entirety, and with every inference drawn in favor of" the plaintiff. Cent. States, Se. & Sw. Areas Pension Fund v. Phencorp Reinsurance Co., 440 F.3d 870, 878 (7th Cir. 2006) (quoting Textor v. Bd. of Regents of N. Ill. Univ., 711 F.2d 1387, 1393 (7th Cir. 1993)). "[O]nce the defendant has submitted affidavits or other evidence in opposition to the exercise of jurisdiction," however, "the plaintiff must go beyond the pleadings and submit affirmative evidence supporting the exercise of jurisdiction." Purdue, 338 F.3d at 783. Any dispute concerning relevant facts is resolved in the plaintiff's favor. Id. at 782-83.

B. Personal Jurisdiction

Fatoki and Pewitt argue that the Court lacks personal jurisdiction over Meherg's claims against them. Because § 1983 does not provide any rules regarding service of process, the Court may exercise personal jurisdiction to the extent authorized by Illinois law. Kinslow v. Pullara, 538 F.3d 687, 690 (7th Cir. 2008). The Illinois long-arm statute authorizes courts to exercise personal jurisdiction on any basis permitted by the Illinois and United States Constitutions. KMEnters., Inc. v. Global Traffic Techs., Inc., 725 F.3d 718, 732 (7th Cir. 2013) (citing 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/2-209(c)). To the extent the federal constitutional and Illinois statutory inquiries diverge, "the Illinois constitutional standard is likely more restrictive than its federal counterpart," but both essentially focus on whether exercising jurisdiction over a defendant is fair and reasonable and thus a single inquiry suffices. Id.; C.H. Johnson Consulting, Inc. v. Roosevelt Rds. Naval Station Lands & Facilities Redevelopment Auth., No. 1:12-cv-08759, 2013 WL 5926062, at *2 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 5, 2013) ("In light of the Seventh Circuit's assessment in Hyatt and the absence of post-Rollins [v. Elwood, 565 N.E.2d 1302, 1315 (Ill. 1990)] guidance from the Illinois courts as to how Illinois and federal law may differ as a practical matter in regard to personal jurisdiction, a single due process inquiry will suffice.").

The Due Process Clause allows personal jurisdiction over a defendant if he has "certain minimum contacts with [the forum state] such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend 'traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.'" Int'l Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S. Ct. 154, 90 L. Ed. 95 (1945) (quoting Milliken v. Meyer, 311 U.S. 457, 463, 61 S. Ct. 339, 85 L. Ed. 278 (1940)). Personal jurisdiction comes in two forms: general and specific. General jurisdiction arises when the defendant's contacts with a state are so "'continuous and systematic' as to render them essentially at home in the forum state." Goodyear Dunlop Tires Ops., S.A. v. Brown, 564 U.S. 915, 919, 131 S. Ct. 2846, 180 L. Ed. 2d 796 (2011) (quoting Int'l Shoe, 326 U.S. at 317); see also Tamburo, 601 F.3d at 701 ("The threshold for general jurisdiction is high; the contacts must be sufficiently extensive and pervasive to approximate physical presence."). Specific jurisdiction exists "when the defendant purposefully directs its activities at the forum state and the alleged injury arises out of those activities." Mobile Anesthesiologists Chicago, LLC v. Anesthesia Assocs. of Houston Metroplex, P.A., 623 F.3d 440,444 (7th Cir. 2010). The Court looks to the "defendant's suit-related conduct" and its connection to the forum state; "a defendant's relationship with a plaintiff or third party, standing alone, is an insufficient basis for jurisdiction." Walden v. Fiore, 571 U.S. 277, 284, 286, 134 S. Ct. 1115, 188 L. Ed. 2d 12 (2014); Philos Techs., Inc. v. Philos & D, Inc., 802 F.3d 905, 915-16 (7th Cir. 2015).

Meherg does not allege that Fatoki or Pewitt ever treated him within the state of Illinois. Normally, this would indicate only general jurisdiction was at issue. Aspen Am. Ins. Co. v. Interstate Warehousing, Inc., 90 N.E.3d 440, 446, 2017 IL 121281, 418 Ill. Dec. 282 (2017) ("In this case, plaintiff does not complain of any conduct committed by defendant in Illinois. Thus, only general jurisdiction is at issue here."). Curiously, Meherg asserts that the Court has general jurisdiction over Fatoki but specific jurisdiction over Pewitt. The Court considers these claims in turn.

Fatoki does not submit any evidence to contradict Meherg's assertions, so Meherg need only make out a prima facie case for general jurisdiction. He has not. Meherg alleges that Fatoki "has a long-standing history of practicing medicine in Illinois." Doc. 31 at 3. Meherg contends that this establishes continuous and systematic contacts sufficient to subject him to the Court's jurisdiction. But that is not enough. General jurisdiction requires contacts substantial enough to...