White v. Corizon, Inc.

MARK EARL WHITE, Plaintiff, v. CORIZON, INC. et al., Defendants.

Case No. 1:19-cv-948

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

February 19, 2020

Honorable Robert J. Jonker

OPINION

This is a civil rights action brought by a state prisoner under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Americans With Disabilites Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, Pub. L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (1996) (PLRA), the Court is required to dismiss any prisoner action brought under federal law if the complaint is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2), 1915A; 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(c). The Court must read Plaintiff's pro se complaint indulgently, see Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972), and accept Plaintiff's allegations as true, unless they are clearly irrational or wholly incredible. Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25, 33 (1992). Applying these standards, the Court will dismiss Plaintiff's complaint for failure to state a claim against Defendants Badder and Aetna Life & Casualty. The Court also will dismiss Plaintiff's pending motions.

Discussion

I. Factual Allegations

Plaintiff is presently incarcerated with the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) at the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility (IBC) in Ionia, Ionia County, Michigan. The events about which he complains occurred at that facility and the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility (MTU) in Ionia, Ionia County, Michigan and the Lakeland Correctional Facility (LCF) in Coldwater, Branch County, Michigan. Plaintiff sues the following Defendants in their official and personal capacities: Corizon, Inc.; MDOC Acting Chief Medical Officer (ACMO) Dr. (unknown) Coleman; Aetna Life & Casualty; Corizon Doctor Peter E. Sices, who is employed at IBC and MTU; Corizon Physician Assistant E. Coe Hill and Nurse (unknown) Stillman, who are employed at LCF; and Corizon Nurse Kristie Badder, who is employed at MTU.

Plaintiff raises a number of claims about Defendants' failures to provide constitutionally adequate medical care for his serious medical needs from March 2018 to the present. On March 23, 2018, Plaintiff went to health care at MTU for treatment of a severe gastrointestinal virus. Plaintiff asked the nurse to look up who had cancelled his diabetic snack bag the previous night, while he was on insulin therapy for his diabetes, because he needed the name to file a grievance. The nurse responded, "if you are going to start that sh*t you can leave." (Compl., ECF No. 1, PageID.6.) When Plaintiff asked for the nurse's name, she responded, "Nurse Pr*ck. Later that day, Plaintiff filed a grievance against Defendant Sices for removing his snack-bag accommodation, despite the fact that Plaintiff was on insulin, which could cause dangerously low blood sugar. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Sices has been the subject of multiple complaints, due to his attempts to cut medical costs.

On March 26, 2018, Plaintiff saw Defendant Sices about renewal of Plaintiff's accommodations. Defendant Sices tested Plaintiff's feet and confirmed neuropathy. Sicesinformed Plaintiff, however, that Defendant ACMO Coleman had denied the renewal of neoprene braces for Plaintiff's right knee and left ankle, which had been issued as permanent accommodations in 2010.

Approximately a year later, on March 25, 2019, Plaintiff was sent to Duane Waters Hospital (DWH) by a healthcare provider at LCF for an assessment for a knee replacement. A DWH physical therapist noted a serious discrepancy in leg length, with the right leg shorter by 1.5 to 2 inches, due to bone bowing from the removal of the right leg brace. The therapist recommended a "patellar tracking brace" to forestall the need for a knee replacement within the next year. The therapist also recommended orthopedic athletic shoes with an insole and adjusters to increase the right leg length. Defendants Coe Hill and Coleman denied the claims, ostensibly based on guidelines established by Defendant Aetna, which were adopted by the MDOC and Corizon. Plaintiff appealed, allegedly submitting documentation showing that state-issued shoes cut into Plaintiff's feet and caused problems, due to his diabetic neuropathy. Plaintiff's request for orthopedic athletic shoes was again denied. Plaintiff was provided state-issued shoes, which severely cut and scarred Plaintiff's right foot. Plaintiff filed a grievance. The shoes were stolen when Plaintiff was transferred on July 21, 2019, and, at the time of filing, Plaintiff had not yet received replacements.

Plaintiff also complains that the two-inch lifts provided in the state shoes were too high, causing Plaintiff to walk off-balance. On June 11, 2019, while Plaintiff again was arguing for placement at LCF in the handicap unit, one of the elderly inmates lost control of his dog, which crashed into Plaintiff's left leg and caused Plaintiff to fail. Plaintiff began suffering numbness and severe nerve pain in his lower back and right leg. Plaintiff was seen the following day, for substantial bruising on his leg and lower back. Plaintiff underwent x-rays, which showed a seriousdeformity in the L-4/L-5 spine that was crushing the sciatic nerve. Plaintiff requested an air mattress and pillow, which were recommended by the x-ray technician. The technician also advised Plaintiff to stay off his feet until he had surgery. On July 10, 2019, healthcare issued a wheelchair to Plaintiff. Two days later, however, Defendant Stillman ordered Plaintiff to return the wheelchair to healthcare and to use the "unit chair," that is, the wheelchair in his unit. (Compl., ECF No. 1, PageID.8.) Plaintiff explained that the unit chair was being used by a gang member who threatened anyone who attempted to use the chair. Defendant Stillman, however, did not change her order.

Due to the intense nerve pain in his lower back and right leg, Plaintiff sought nerve-pain medication on two occasions. Nurse Practitioner Groff (not a Defendant) advised Plaintiff that, because he was on Ultram for arthritis and a prior injury to the T-5 spine, a request for additional pain medication could result in Corizon cancelling the Ultram and refusing to reissue it. Plaintiff complained to the LCF psychiatrist that he was suffering depression and nerve pain. The psychiatrist ordered 80 mg of Cymbalta to treat the depression and nerve pain. Plaintiff received some relief from the Cymbalta. However, when he was transferred to IBC, the attending psychiatrist immediately reduced the dose to 20 mg, which resulted in a recurrence of severe pain. Plaintiff then asked for nerve-pain medication from Defendant Sices. Sices responded that Ultram treated nerve pain and that Plaintiff had already been on Ultram too long. Defendant Sices warned Plaintiff that, if he grieved the denial of additional medication, Sices would take Plaintiff's Ultram away and give him nothing. Defendant Sices told Plaintiff, "You are costing too much." (Compl., ECF No. 1, PageID.9.) Plaintiff was too terrified of losing his pain medication to file a grievance.

On August 19, 2019, Plaintiff was taken to a neurology clinic. Doctor Dimosthenis Constantinos Dafnis (not a Defendant) conducted a nerve test on Plaintiff's sciatic nerve,remarking that Plaintiff had the worst case he had ever seen and recommending an immediate MRI and surgery. The doctor advised that, until the surgery, Plaintiff required a soft mattress and a pillow for placement between his legs. Physician Assistant Roslyn Jindal (not a Defendant) submitted requests for all of the accommodations, but Defendant Coleman denied them.

On September 2, 2019, after another transfer, Plaintiff met with Defendant Sices at IBC. Defendant Sices recorded that the numbness in Plaintiff's right leg had spread to the lower back, left arm, and whole leg. Sices therefore ordered an MRI, which was performed on October 22, 2019, at Sparrow Hospital. The MRI technician advised Plaintiff that, as a result of the delays in treatment, Plaintiff had nerve damage that would get worse and result in paralysis if not treated soon. Plaintiff filed a grievance seeking emergency processing of surgery to prevent the swift degeneration of his nerves and to prevent paralysis in his right arm and hand.

On October 1, 2019, Defendant Sices abruptly removed Plaintiff from insulin therapy and snack-bag detail, citing an A1c test¹ that purportedly did not qualify for diabetes treatment under the Corizon and Aetna guidelines. Plaintiff had been actively treated for diabetes for ten years and had been issued his own glucometer in 2010. On October 22, 2019, without examining Plaintiff, Defendant Sices ordered Plaintiff to return all diabetic material. Plaintiff attempted to return some Metformin, which he had been using to self-medicate his diabetes, but the duty nurse advised Plaintiff to keep it. Plaintiff explained that he was trying to comply with a direct order. Shortly thereafter, a custody staff member came to search for the Metformin. Plaintiff tested his blood one last time, recording a blood sugar of 183. Plaintiff filed an emergency grievance against Defendant Sices, indicating that the removal of diabetic treatment was lifethreatening and could result in Plaintiff going into hyperglycemic coma. On November 22, 2019, after 56 days of being denied diabetic treatment, Plaintiff met with Defendant Sices. Defendant Sices agreed to approve Glucophage (Metformin) and Glipizide. Plaintiff asked for a high-protein diet to accompany the Glipizide. Defendant Sices accused Plaintiff of attempting to sabotage Defendant Sices attempts to save money to pay for Plaintiff's upcoming specialist review and surgeries.

Plaintiff alleges that, when he arrived at IBC in September 2019, his A1c was 6.2, with an average blood sugar in the 90 to 113 range. On November 22, 2019, Plaintiff's A1c had risen to 7.0. Plaint...