Hansen v. Wexford Health

Filing 5

OPINION AND ORDER: The court DIRECTS the clerk to place this cause number on a blank Prisoner Complaint Pro Se 14 (INND Rev. 2/20) and send it to Blaine M. Hansen and GRANTS Blaine M. Hansen until 7/15/2021 to file an amended complaint on that form. If Mr. Hansen doesnt respond by July 15, 2021, this case will be dismissed without further notice pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A because the current complaint doesn't state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Signed by Judge Robert L Miller, Jr on 6/14/2021. (Copy mailed to pro se party with form)(bas) Modified on 6/14/2021 (bas).

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
SOUTH BEND DIVISION
BLAINE M. HANSEN,
Plaintiff,
v.

CAUSE NO. 3:21-CV-235-RLM-MGG

WEXFORD HEALTH,
Defendant.
OPINION AND ORDER
Blaine M. Hansen, a prisoner without a lawyer, filed a complaint against
Wexford Health. A filing by an unrepresented party “is to be liberally construed, and
a pro se complaint, however, inartfully pleaded, must be held to less stringent
standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S.
89, 94 (2007) (quotation marks and citations omitted). The court must review the
merits of a prisoner complaint and dismiss it if the action is frivolous or malicious,
fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief
against a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A.
Mr. Hansen says he dropped a hotpot on his foot on June 15, 2020, causing
second and third degree burns. ECF 1 at 3. Medical staff cleaned and bandaged his
foot each day, except that the medical staff refused to provide him with daily
treatment and change his bandages when Miami Correctional Facility was on
lockdown from June 27 to July 4, 2020. Id. at 3-4. He claims Wexford Health was
deliberately indifferent to his serious need for medical treatment, which violated his

Eighth Amendment rights and he was also subjected to medical malpractice by
Wexford. Id.
Mr. Hansen is suing Wexford Health, the private company that provides
medical care at the prison. He is trying to hold Wexford Health liable because it
employs the medical staff. Wexford Health isn’t liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for what
its employees did. Chavez v. Illinois State Police, 251 F.3d 612, 651 (7th Cir.
2001); see also Johnson v. Dossey, 515 F.3d 778, 782 (7th Cir. 2008) (“[A] private
corporation is not vicariously liable under § 1983 for its employees’ deprivations of
others civil rights.”). Because Mr. Hansen’s complaint against Wexford Health
appears to be based only on Wexford Health’s medical staff’s decisions pertaining to
the treatment of his foot injury, he can’t proceed against Wexford Health.
Mr. Hansen has also asserted a state law claim for medical malpractice. The
Indiana Medical Malpractice Act governs medical malpractice claims. Jeffries v.
Clark Mem’l Hosp., 832 N.E.2d 571, 573 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005). “Before a medical
malpractice action may be commenced in any court of [Indiana], the Medical
Malpractice Act requires that a proposed complaint be presented to a medical review
panel and an opinion rendered by the panel.” H.D. v. BHC Meadows Hosp., Inc., 884
N.E.2d 849, 853 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008); Ind. Code § 34-18-8-4. Mr. Hansen hasn’t
indicated he complied with the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act, so he can’t proceed
on this claim.
While Mr. Hansen’s complaint doesn’t state a claim upon which relief can be
granted, the court will give him a chance to file an amended complaint, if after

2

reviewing this order, he believes he can state a claim. Luevano v. WalMart Stores,
Inc., 722 F.3d 1014, 1022-1023, 1025 (7th Cir. 2013); Loubser v. Thacker, 440 F.3d
439, 443 (7th Cir. 2006). If he decides to file an amended complaint, Mr. Hansen
should explain in his own words what happened, when it happened, where it
happened, who was involved, and how he was personally injured, providing as much
detail as possible.
For these reasons, the court:
(1) DIRECTS the clerk to place this cause number on a blank Prisoner
Complaint Pro Se 14 (INND Rev. 2/20) and send it to Blaine M. Hansen; and
(2) GRANTS Blaine M. Hansen until July 15, 2021, to file an amended
complaint on that form.
If Mr. Hansen doesn’t respond by July 15, this case will be dismissed without
further notice pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A because the current complaint doesn’t
state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
SO ORDERED on June 14, 2021
s/ Robert L. Miller, Jr.
JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

3