ARTIS v. JIN et al

Filing 82

MEMORANDUM ORDER granting 64 , 68 defendants' Motions to Dismiss, overruling 81 plaintiff's objections and adopting 76 the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation as augmented in the Memorandum Order as the Opinion of the Court. The Clerk is directed to mark this Case Closed. Signed by Judge David S. Cercone on 8/14/15. (kak)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
IVES T. ARTIS,
Plaintiff,
v.
BYUNGHAK JIN Medical Director
(individual capacity) and CORIZON
HEALTH Formerly Prison Healthcare
Services (official capacity),
Defendants.

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2:13cv1226
Electronic Filing

MEMORANDUM ORDER
AND NOW, this 14th day of August, 2015, upon de novo review of the record and after
consideration of [81] plaintiff Ives T. Artis' objections to [76] the magistrate judge’s report and
recommendation of May 21, 2015, which recommends that defendants' motions to dismiss be
granted, IT IS ORDERED that [64] the medical defendants' and [68] Corizon Health's motions to
dismiss be, and the same hereby are, granted. The magistrate judge's report and recommendation
as augmented herein is adopted as the opinion of the court.
Plaintiff's objections are without merit. First, that surgery on plaintiff's ankle ultimately
became the preferred and chosen course of treatment does not give rise to the numerous
inferences that plaintiff extrapolates from this fact. Logic does not support the proposition that
the necessity of surgery later supports that it was the only prudent course of medical treatment
earlier. To the contrary, plaintiff's medical records objectively suggest that the more conservative
courses of treatment were well within the bounds of the exercise of sound medical judgment.
And plaintiff's railings to the contrary do not supply a set of facts that plausibly state a claim for
deliberate indifference or the intentional infliction of pain in order to cause needless suffering.

Second, as aptly noted by the magistrate judge, the mere disagreement with the chosen
course of treatment and even a showing of malpractice in selecting the course of treatment does
not begin to meet the heavy burden of establishing the requisite state of mind. The fact that
hindsight suggests that one out of a number of acceptable courses of medical treatment may not
have been the most effective does not supply facts to support deliberate indifference. What it
does supply is a fair indication that the medical providers were attentive to plaintiff's repeated
complaints and sought to provide him with treatment that was aimed at healing his injury.
Unfounded assertions and contentions seeking to color the course of events as inattentive and
vindictive does not set forth a plausible claim of deliberate indifference to a serious medical need
that is plausible on its face.
Finally, bald assertions that Corizon had a "policy" of saving money and alluding to a
track record based on assertions and innuendo in other lawsuits does not set forth facts that give
rise to a plausible showing of entitlement to relief. In this regard it is plaintiff's obligation to
advance a factual basis that meets the standard before proceeding to discovery. On this score
plaintiff has failed to provide any facts to raise the specter of such a policy being at play.
Consequently, the contention that such a policy caused a violation of plaintiff's constitutional
rights is conjecture.
The Clerk of Court is directed to mark the case closed.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, pursuant to Rule 4(a)(1) of the Federal Rules of
Appellate Procedure, if any party wishes to appeal from this Order a notice of appeal, as
provided in Fed. R. App. P. 3, must be filed with the Clerk of Court, United States District Court,

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at 700 Grant Street, Room 3110, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, within thirty (30) days.

s/David Stewart Cercone
David Stewart Cercone
U.S. District Court Judge

cc:

Honorable Maureen P. Kelly
Chief United States Magistrate Judge
Ives T. Artis
HF-0596
SCI Greene
175 Progress Drive
Waynesburg, PA 15370
(Via First Class Mail)
J. Eric Barchiesi, Esquire
(Via CM/ECF Electronic Mail)

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