Jardine v. Unknown

Filing 16

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Allison Claire on 06/13/16 ordering the clerk of court is directed to send plaintiff, together with a copy of this order, acopy of the form complaint used by prisoners in this district to commence a civil rights actionunder 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff shall, within thirty 30 days after service of this order, complete and file acomplaint on the form provided with this order.(Plummer, M)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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DALE JARDINE,

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Plaintiff,

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No. 2:15-cv-1749 AC P

v.

ORDER

UNKNOWN,

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Defendant.

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Plaintiff is a state prisoner incarcerated at the California Medical Facility (CMF) under the

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authority of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), who proceeds

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pro se with this putative civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff has consented to the

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jurisdiction of the undersigned Magistrate Judge for all purposes pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c)

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and Local Rule 305(a). See ECF No. 7.

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Plaintiff sought to commence this action by filing a letter requesting an investigation into

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the alleged violation of plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment right to constitutionally adequate medical

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care. See ECF No. 1. By order filed September 14, 2015, this court directed plaintiff to file a

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complaint on the form provided and to pay the filing fee or submit an application to proceed in

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forma pauperis. See ECF No. 3.

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Plaintiff has not yet filed a complaint in this action.1 He did, however, file an application

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to proceed in forma pauperis, ECF No. 6, and a copy of his prisoner trust account statement, ECF

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No. 11. Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis is now complete, but will be granted

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only if plaintiff files a complaint that states a cognizable claim – plaintiff does not need to file

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any additional matters in support of his in forma pauperis application. The court will not act

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on plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis until plaintiff files a proper complaint.

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Plaintiff must promptly file a complaint in this action, on the form provided with this order, as

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required by Rule 3, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. To assist plaintiff in submitting his

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complaint, he is informed of the elements for stating an Eighth Amendment claim for deliberate

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indifference to serious medical needs.

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STANDARDS GOVERNING EIGHTH AMENDMENT MEDICAL CLAIMS

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To state any cognizable claim under Section 1983, plaintiff must allege an actual

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connection or link between the challenged conduct of a specific defendant and plaintiff’s alleged

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constitutional deprivation. See Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978);

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Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362 (1976). “The inquiry into causation must be individualized and

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focus on the duties and responsibilities of each individual defendant whose acts or omissions are

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alleged to have caused a constitutional deprivation.” Leer v. Murphy, 844 F.2d 628, 633 (9th

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Cir.1988) (citations omitted).

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To state a Section 1983 claim for violation of the Eighth Amendment premised on

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allegedly unconstitutional medical care, plaintiff must allege “acts or omissions sufficiently

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harmful to evidence deliberate indifference to [his] serious medical needs.” Estelle v. Gamble,

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429 U.S. 97, 106 (1976). Plaintiff must allege both that his medical needs were objectively

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serious, and that defendants possessed a sufficiently culpable state of mind. Wilson v. Seiter, 501

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U.S. 294, 299 (1991); McKinney v. Anderson, 959 F.2d 853, 854 (9th Cir. 1992) (on remand).

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A serious medical need exists if the failure to treat a prisoner’s condition could result in further

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Plaintiff has, however, informed the court of his anticipated medical treatment, ECF No. 10;
filed miscellaneous matters, see ECF Nos. 8, 12, 13; and notified the court of his change of
address, ECF No. 14. Most recently, plaintiff inquired as to the status of this case. ECF No. 15.
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significant injury or the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain. Indications that a prisoner has

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a serious medical need are the following: the existence of an injury that a reasonable doctor or

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patient would find important and worthy of comment or treatment; the presence of a medical

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condition that significantly affects an individual’s daily activities; or the existence of chronic and

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substantial pain. See e.g. Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1337-41 (9th Cir. 1990) (citing

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cases); Hunt v. Dental Dept., 865 F.2d 198, 200-01 (9th Cir. 1989).

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The defendant’s requisite state of mind to sustain a prisoner medical claim is “deliberate

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indifference.” Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 5 (1992). In Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825

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(1994), the Supreme Court established a very demanding standard for “deliberate indifference.”

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Negligence is insufficient. Id. at 835. Even civil recklessness (failure to act in the face of an

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unjustifiably high risk of harm which is so obvious that it should be known) is insufficient to

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establish an Eighth Amendment violation. Id. at 836-37. It is not enough that a reasonable

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person would have known of the risk or that a defendant should have known of the risk. Id. at

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842.

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In the Ninth Circuit, the test for deliberate indifference consists of two parts. First, the

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plaintiff must show a serious medical need by demonstrating that failure to treat a prisoner’s

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condition could result in further significant injury or the unnecessary and wanton infliction of

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pain. Second, the plaintiff must show the defendant’s response to the need was deliberately

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indifferent. This second prong . . . is satisfied by showing (a) a purposeful act or failure to

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respond to a prisoner’s pain or possible medical need and (b) harm caused by the indifference.

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Jett v. Penner, 439 F.3d 1091, 1096 (9th Cir. 2006) (internal citations, punctuation and quotation

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marks omitted). To state a claim for deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, a prisoner

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must allege that a prison official “kn[ew] of and disregard [ed] an excessive risk to inmate health

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or safety; the official must both be aware of the facts from which the inference could be drawn

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that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must also draw the inference.” Farmer, 511

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U.S. at 837.

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A difference of opinion between an inmate and prison medical personnel – or between
medical professionals – regarding appropriate medical diagnosis and treatment are not enough to
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establish a deliberate indifference claim. Sanchez v. Vild, 891 F.2d 240, 242 (9th Cir. 1989);

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Toguchi v. Chung, 391 F.3d 1051, 1058 (9th Cir. 2004). To establish a difference of opinion

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rising to the level of deliberate indifference, “plaintiff must show that the course of treatment the

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doctors chose was medically unacceptable under the circumstances.” Jackson v. McIntosh, 90

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F.3d 330, 332 (9th Cir. 1996).

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CONCLUSION

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For the reasons explained above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1. The Clerk of Court is directed to send plaintiff, together with a copy of this order, a

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copy of the form complaint used by prisoners in this district to commence a civil rights action

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under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
2. Plaintiff shall, within thirty (30) days after service of this order, complete and file a
complaint on the form provided with this order.
3. Plaintiff’s failure to timely comply with this order will result in the dismissal of this
action without prejudice.

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SO ORDERED.

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DATED: June 13, 2016

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