Ruiz v. Arakaki

Filing 40

FINDINGS and RECOMMENDATIONS Regarding Defendants' 35 Motion to Dismiss the Action for Failure to State a Cognizable Claim for Relief signed by Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone on 08/17/2018. Referred to Judge Ishii; Objections to F&R due by 9/20/2018. (Flores, E)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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ROGELIO MAY RUIZ,

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Plaintiff,

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v.
L. ARAKAKI, et al.,
Defendants.

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Case No. 1:17-cv-01404-AWI-SAB (PC)
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
REGARDING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO
DISMISS THE ACTION FOR FAILURE TO
STATE A COGNIZABLE CLAIM FOR RELIEF
[ECF No. 38]

Plaintiff Rogelio May Ruiz is appearing pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action
pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Currently before the Court is Defendants’ motion to dismiss, filed April 5, 2018.

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I.

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PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

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This action is proceeding against Defendants L. Arakaki and F. Hanna for deliberate
indifference to a serious dental need in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
On April 5, 2018, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the action for failure to state a

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cognizable claim for relief. (ECF No. 38.) Plaintiff filed an opposition on April 19, 2018, and

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Defendants filed a reply on April 26, 2018. (ECF Nos. 37, 38.)

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Therefore, Defendants’ motion to dismiss is deemed submitted for review, without oral
argument. Local Rule 230(l).
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II.

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LEGAL STANDARD

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A motion to dismiss, based on res judicata grounds, is properly made under Federal Rule of

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Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). Gupta v. Thai Airways Intern., Ltd., 487 F.3d 759, 763 (9th Cir. 2007).

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However, the court applies California law on claim preclusion to cases brought in federal court under

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42 U.S.C. § 1983. “Congress has specifically required all federal courts to give preclusive effect to

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state-court judgments whenever the courts of the State from which the judgments emerged would do

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so.” Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 96 (1980).

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A motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) tests the legal sufficiency of a claim,

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and dismissal is proper if there is a lack of a cognizable legal theory or the absence of sufficient facts

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alleged under a cognizable legal theory. Conservation Force v. Salazar, 646 F.3d 1240, 1241-42 (9th

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Cir. 2011) (quotation marks and citations omitted). In resolving a 12(b)(6) motion, a court’s review is

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generally limited to the operative pleading. Daniels-Hall v. National Educ. Ass’n, 629 F.3d 992, 998

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(9th Cir. 2010); Sanders v. Brown, 504 F.3d 903, 910 (9th Cir. 2007); Schneider v. California Dept. of

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Corr., 151 F.3d 1194, 1197 n.1 (9th Cir. 1998).

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To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as

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true, to state a claim that is plausible on its face. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing

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Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)) (quotation marks omitted); Conservation

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Force, 646 F.3d at 1242; Moss v. U.S. Secret Service, 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The Court

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must accept the factual allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-

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moving party. Daniels-Hall, 629 F.3d at 998; Sanders, 504 F.3d at 910; Morales v. City of Los

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Angeles, 214 F.3d 1151, 1153 (9th Cir. 2000).

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Pro se litigants are entitled to have their pleadings liberally construed and to have any doubt

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resolved in their favor. Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d 1113, 1121 (9th Cir. 2012); Watison v. Carter,

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668 F.3d 1108, 1112 (9th Cir. 2012); Silva v. Di Vittorio, 658 F.3d 1090, 1101 (9th Cir. 2011); Hebbe

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v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010).

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III.

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DISCUSSION
Summary of Plaintiff’s Complaint

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A.

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Plaintiff names Doctors Arakaki and Hanna who are both dentists. When Plaintiff transferred

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to Corcoran State Prison (CSP), Dr. Arakaki made an appointment for a root canal to be conducted on

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teeth numbers twenty-five, twenty-seven, and twenty-eight. (Sec. Am. Compl. at 4; ECF No. 29.)

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However, when Plaintiff arrived at his appoint Dr. Hanna told him to sign a form authorizing

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extraction of the teeth instead. (Id.) Dr. Hanna told Plaintiff that if he refused to sign the consent

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form, it would be his last appointment. (Id.) When Plaintiff asked why the root canal surgery would

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not be conducted, Dr. Arakaki said it was because Dr. Hanna did not want to allow the treatment to

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continue. (Id. at 8.) Plaintiff refused to sign the form and refused the extraction. (Id. at 4, 8.) Drs.

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Arakaki and Hanna have not fixed Plaintiff’s teeth and insisted only on extracting them. (Id. at 9.)
Analysis of Defendants’ Motion

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B.

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Defendants argue that Plaintiff has alleged no facts to indicate a culpable state of mind on the

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part of Defendants or that the course of treatment they offered was medically unacceptable under the

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circumstances.

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A prisoner’s claim of inadequate medical care does not constitute cruel and unusual

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punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment unless the mistreatment rises to the level of

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“deliberate indifference to serious medical needs.” Jett v. Penner, 439 F.3d 1091, 1096 (9th Cir. 2006)

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(quoting Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104 (1976)). The two-part test for deliberate indifference

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requires Plaintiff to show (1) “a ‘serious medical need’ by demonstrating that failure to treat a

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prisoner’s condition could result in further significant injury or the ‘unnecessary and wanton infliction

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of pain,’” and (2) “the defendant’s response to the need was deliberately indifferent.” Jett, 439 F.3d at

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1096. A defendant does not act in a deliberately indifferent manner unless the defendant “knows of

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and disregards an excessive risk to inmate health or safety.” Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 837

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(1994). “Deliberate indifference is a high legal standard,” Simmons v. Navajo County Ariz., 609 F.3d

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1011, 1019 (9th Cir. 2010); Toguchi v. Chung, 391 F.3d 1051, 1060 (9th Cir. 2004), and is shown

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where there was “a purposeful act or failure to respond to a prisoner’s pain or possible medical need”
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and the indifference caused harm. Jett, 439 F.3d at 1096.

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Negligence or medical malpractice do not rise to the level of deliberate indifference.

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Broughton v. Cutter Laboratories, 622 F.2d 458, 460 (9th Cir. 1980) (citing Estelle, 429 U.S. at 105-

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106). “[A] complaint that a physician has been negligent in diagnosing or treating a medical condition

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does not state a valid claim of medical mistreatment under the Eighth Amendment.

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malpractice does not become a constitutional violation merely because the victim is a prisoner.”

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Estelle, 429 U.S. at 106; see also Anderson v. County of Kern, 45 F.3d 1310, 1316 (9th Cir. 1995).

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Even gross negligence is insufficient to establish deliberate indifference to serious medical needs. See

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Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1334 (9th Cir. 1990).

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Additionally, a prisoner’s mere

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disagreement with diagnosis or treatment does not support a claim of deliberate indifference. Sanchez

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v. Vild, 891 F.2d 240, 242 (9th Cir. 1989).
Plaintiff’s allegations that Defendants initially indicated that a root canal would be provided,

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but then ordered extraction only without any explanation and without any other dental treatment is

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sufficient, at the pleading stage, to state a cognizable claim for deliberate indifference. While

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Defendants are correct a mere difference of opinion does not amount to deliberate indifference, the

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allegations in Plaintiff’s complaint plausibly amount to more than a difference of opinion based on the

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allegations that extraction of his teeth was medically unacceptable under the circumstances. Based on

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Plaintiff’s factual allegations, viewed in the light most favorable to him, he states a cognizable claim

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for deliberate indifference to his dental needs against Defendants Doctors Arakaki and Hanna. It

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remains possible for Plaintiff to prove that extraction was ordered in conscious disregard to his dental

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health.

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Defendants citation to Powell v. Marlais, 2016 WL 5462443 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 28, 2016) and

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Dixon v. Bannister, 854 F.Supp.3d 1136 (N. Nev. 2012) in support of their argument that Plaintiff has

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shown nothing more than a difference of opinion and lack of subjective knowledge, is inapposite. In

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Powell and Dixon, the determinations of whether the dentists were deliberately indifferent to the

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plaintiff’s serious dental needs were decided at the summary judgment stage, not the pleading stage.

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IV.

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RECOMMENDATION
Based on the foregoing, it is HEREBY RECOMMENDED that Defendants’ motion to dismiss

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be denied.

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This Findings and Recommendation will be submitted to the United States District Judge

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assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within thirty (30) days after

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being served with this Findings and Recommendation, the parties may file written objections with the

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Court. The document should be captioned “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and

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Recommendation.” The parties are advised that failure to file objections within the specified time may

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result in the waiver of rights on appeal. Wilkerson v. Wheeler, 772 F.3d 834, 838-39 (9th Cir. 2014)

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(citing Baxter v. Sullivan, 923 F.2d 1391, 1394 (9th Cir. 1991)).

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated:

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August 17, 2018
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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