Monthly Law Journal Artice: Civil Liability for Inadequate Prisoner Medical Care, 2007 (9) AELE Mo. L.J. 301.
     Monthly Law Journal Article: Forced Feeding or Medication of Prisoners, 2007 (12) AELE Mo. L. J. 301.
     A psychiatrist's deliberate indifference caused a mentally ill prisoner's death from severe dehydration he experienced after he was kept in a 90 to 100 degree observation room for several days. A jury awarded $2 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages. The compensatory damage award was reduced to $1.5 million. A federal appeals court rejected arguments that the remaining damage awards were excessive, and found that there was sufficient evidence for the deliberate indifference finding, as well as a medical malpractice claim. Further proceedings were ordered on the trial court's reasons for allocating the compensatory damage award between the federal deliberate indifference claim and a state law medical malpractice claim, which was subject to a cap on non-economic damages. Gibson v. Moskowitz, No. 07-1074, 2008 U.S. App. Lexis 9233 (6th Cir.).
     A federal civil detainee sufficiently presented a claim that prison employees acted with deliberate indifference to his mental health needs by denying him needed psychiatric treatment despite his deteriorating condition, which went beyond mere negligence in care. Because he was a civil detainee, and not a prisoner, he was not required to exhaust available administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1997e(a). Additionally, as a civil detainee, his claims were analyzed under the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, rather than under the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The detainee was confined under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 4246(a), providing for the hospitalization (and continued detention) of a person in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons when their sentence is about to expire or when criminal charges against them have been dismissed on the basis of their mental condition, if they suffer from a mental disease or defect as a result of which their release would create a "substantial risk of bodily harm to another persons or serious damage to property of another." Hicks v. James, No. 06-6786, 2007 U.S. App. Lexis 28251 (4th Cir.).
     In a lawsuit over the death of an allegedly mentally ill pretrial detainee while in custody in a county jail, the plaintiff failed to show that the decedent had been discriminated against because of his alleged disability of mental illness or that there had been deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. There was also no proof of an official policy or custom of depriving mentally ill detainees of needed medical treatment. The cause of the detainee's death was a previously undiagnosed physical ailment of  "peritonitis due to a perforated ulcer," and the prisoner's mental illness may have rendered meaningful communication with the medical personnel who treated him "almost impossible." In the absence of accurate information from the patient, the medical personnel were denied information that might have aided in their ability to timely diagnose the perforated ulcer. Winters v. Arkansas Dep't of Health & Human Servs., No. 06-2787 2007 U.S. App. Lexis 15486. (8th Cir.).
     A New York prisoner failed to show that correctional officials violated his due process rights by putting him on a restrictive diet that he claimed aggravated his existing mental health condition, resulting in him suffering a mental breakdown. There was no violation of due process, based on the fact that a medical clearance was given before the diet was implemented. A federal appeals court, however, reinstated the prisoner's Eighth Amendment claim, finding that the trial court used too high a standard, requiring the prisoner to show that correctional officials acted in a sadistic and malicious manner, rather than with deliberate indifference to his health or safety. The prisoner adequately alleged that correctional officials knew about the seriousness of his mental condition, and intentionally used a false charge to impose the restricted diet which caused his breakdown, requiring further proceedings. Guilbert v. Sennet, No. 05-6594, 2007 U.S. App. Lexis 13401 (2nd Cir.).
     While a prisoner suffering from a bipolar disorder and severe depression showed that he had serious medical needs, he failed to show that a mental health counselor acted with deliberate indifference to these needs by denying him medication after learning from a psychiatrist that he had been self-medicating himself. The counselor made a good-faith effort to determine whether the inmate's symptoms justified medication and allegedly determined that they did not. Goodrich v. Clinton County Prison, No. 04-3741, 2007 U.S. App. Lexis 1148 (3rd Cir.). [N/R]
     New York state corrections law does not give prison superintendents authority to authorize the commitment of inmates who are sexual offenders to psychiatric hospitals in a unilateral manner. Prisoners are entitled, prior to such commitment, to procedural safeguards, including a right to be heard in court. New York ex rel. Harkavy v. Consilvio, No. 140, 2006 N.Y. Lexis 3580. [N/R]
     Despite prior suicide attempt by detainee, jail caseworker/counselor was not liable for 18-year-old's subsequent successful suicide when she returned him to a single person cell in the general population of the jail. She was entitled to qualified immunity, as there was no clearly established law indicating that her actions would violate his constitutional rights, even if she arguably acted with poor judgment. Perez v. Oakland County, No. 05-1583, 2006 U.S. App. Lexis 25754 (6th Cir.). [2006 JB Dec]
     Detainee in county jail presented a viable equal protection claim by alleging that the jail had a policy and practice of discrimination and that an officer there discriminated against him in his conditions of confinement because of his mental illness of bi-polar disorder. Glisson v. Sangamon County Sheriff's Department, No. 05-3250, 408 F. Supp. 2d 609 (C.D. Ill. 2006). [N/R]
     Bipolar prisoner who saw mental health staff, counselors, and doctors 38 times in a 13 month period failed to show that prison authorities acted with deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, or retaliated against him for filing a grievance by pursuing misconduct charges against him or transferring him to another facility. Moots v. Lombardi, No. 05-1594, 2006 U.S. App. Lexis 17479 (8th Cir.). [2006 JB Sep]
     Prisoner's claim that officials violated his due process rights by requiring him to agree to take anti-psychotic medications specified by a program coordinator of a sex offender treatment program as a condition of parole was not frivolous, and should not have been dismissed on that basis. The prisoner stated a possible claim for infringement on his liberty interest in avoiding the unwanted administration of anti-psychotic medications. Bundy v. Stommel, No. 05-1099, 168 Fed. Appx. 870 (10th Cir. 2006). [N/R]
     Under Kentucky state law, a county jail, rather than the state, had the financial responsibility of providing indigent prisoners with psychotropic medications. Osborne v. Commonwealth, No. 2004-SC-000566, 185 S.W.2d 645 (Ky. 2006). [N/R]
     Nebraska prisoner did not have a clear right under state law to access to his mental health records, nor a federally protected constitutional right to such access, and therefore was not entitled to a court order requiring correctional officials to provide him with a copy of the records. State ex rel. Jacob v. Bohn, No. S-04-1410, 711 N.W.2d 884 (Neb. 2006). [N/R]
     Schizophrenic prisoner who murdered Jeffrey Dahmer and two other persons failed to show that prison officials at Supermax facility knew that the heat in his cell, the constant illumination there, and the denial of his request for audiotapes to "still the voices" in his head were making his mental illness worse. Scarver v. Litscher, No. 05-2999, 2006 U.S. App. Lexis 1135 (7th Cir.). [2006 JB Mar]
     Man detained by the State of Wisconsin as a sexually violent person failed to show that he was provided with constitutionally inadequate mental health treatment. He failed to show that decisions about his treatment were either made by unqualified personnel or that his treatment was "outside the bounds" of acceptable professional judgment. Williams v. Nelson, No. 04-C-774C, 398 F. Supp. 2d 977 (W.D. Wis. 2005). [N/R]
     Connecticut prisoner's allegation that his meetings with mental health staff at the prison were conducted on the cell tier, within the hearing of other inmates, adequately stated a possible claim for violation of his right to privacy concerning his mental health issues under federal and state law. Hunnicutt v. Armstrong, No. 04-1565, 152 Fed. Appx. 34 (2nd Cir. 2005). [N/R]
     In lawsuit claiming that county failed to provide adequate medical care to mentally ill prisoners, a report by a consulting expert retained by the county to evaluate health services and programs at the county's jails was not protected from discovery under the work products doctrine protecting materials prepared in anticipation of litigation. The expert was not asked to investigate any particular claims but rather to help the county develop long range planning and analysis of its health care needs. There was no evidence that the county's outside litigation attorney was involved in or directed the preparation of the report. Mims v. Dallas County, No. 3-04-CV-2754, 230 F.R.D. 479 (N.D. Tex. 2005). [N/R]
     Detainee suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, acute psychosis, impulse-control disorder, and "polysubstance abuse" could not assert disability discrimination claims since his impairments, because they could be corrected "or mitigated" by medication, did not constitute disabilities. Jail personnel did not use excessive force in using pepper spray to subdue him when he actively resisted his transfer to a hospital for treatment, and did not violate his right to receive adequate medical attention. Atwell v. Hart County, Kentucky, No. 03-6421, 122 Fed. Appx. 215 (6th Cir. 2005). [2005 JB Dec]
    Prison officials did not show deliberate indifference to the serious needs of a mentally ill and suicidal prisoner by failing to provide requested therapeutic art supplies, when they did provide a medical examination and anti-psychotic medications. Scarver v. Litscher, No.01C497, 371 S. Supp. 2d 986 (W.D. Wis. 2005). [N/R]
     Mere three-day delay between the date a prisoner was incarcerated in a county jail and the date she was seen by a psychiatrist did not establish deliberate indifference by the County or its Commissioner to her serious medical needs. Evidence in the record showed that she was seen by mental health personnel whenever she requested, and that problems with her medication were remedied as soon as those problems were brought to the attention of medical personnel. Atkins v. County of Orange, No. 01CIV.11536, 372 F. Supp. 2d 377 (S.D.N.Y. 2005). [N/R]
     A jail doctor's decision not to put a pre-trial detainee on psychiatric medications after he attempted to swallow a razor blade was not deliberate indifference to a serious medical need. The doctor made a medical determination that the detainee was not psychotic, and had him placed in segregation and under close monitoring and supervision by the jail's mental health personnel. Edmonds v. Horton, No. 03-6031, 113 Fed. Appx. 62 (6th Cir. 2004). [N/R]
     Federal trial court applied the wrong legal standard in denying certification of a class action lawsuit challenging the alleged denial of access to mental health care at a county jail. Shook v. El Paso County, No. 03-1397, 386 F.3d 963 (10th Cir. 2004). [2005 JB Jan]
     Statements by state prison psychologist to mentally ill prisoner who made suicidal threats that no one would care if he died did not constitute deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, when psychologist also recommended that the prisoner remain under observation, and the prisoner had access to other psychologists at the prison, as well as to a psychiatrist to whom he had been referred. Means v. Cullen, 297 F. Supp. 1148 (W.D. Wis. 2003). [N/R]
     Private psychiatric hospital and not-for-profit company which owned it were not immune under Tennessee law for potential liability for county jail inmate's suicide on the basis of their employee's alleged action in telling county jail that suicide protocol precautions were not necessary for this prisoner. Employee also qualified as a "state employee" because of his service in screening prisoners to determine if hospitalization was appropriate, and as a state employee, he was entitled to statutory immunity, but this did not alter the result as to the hospital or its owner. Shelburne v. Frontier Health, 126 S.W.3d 838 (Tenn. 2003). [N/R]
     Psychiatrist was entitled to summary judgment on prisoner's claim against him alleging unjustified forced administration of anti-psychotic drugs and excessive doses of one such drug, causing memory loss, headaches, twitching, and confusion. Prisoner failed to properly present expert testimony or other medical evidence sufficient to establish a claim of deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, or that the psychiatrist had subjective knowledge that there was an excessive risk to the prisoner's health and that the psychiatrist then failed to act on the basis of that knowledge. Roberson v. Goodman, 293 F. Supp. 2d 1075 (D.N.D. 2003). [N/R]
     California Supreme Court rules that mentally ill inmates, placed in mental institutions after the conclusion of their sentences, may not be forced to take anti-psychotic drugs unless they are found to be an immediate danger to themselves or others or incompetent to refuse treatment. In re Qawi, No. S100099, 2004 Cal. LEXIS 1, 7 Cal. Rptr. 3d 780, 81 P.3d 224. [2004 JB Feb]
     Plaintiff failed to show that county had a policy of deliberate indifference in training correctional officers in the handling of mentally ill detainees, or that any such inadequacy in county's training caused detainee's death. No liability for county for the death of detainee from heart failure while incarcerated. Carey v. Helton, No. 01-5623, 70 Fed. Appx. 291 (6th Cir. 2003). [N/R]
     Prisoners asserting claims against county and sheriff for alleged systemic violations of their rights as persons with "serious mental health needs" were not required to exhaust available administrative remedies before filing suit when there was "no available administrative remedies" that the plaintiffs could have used for relief. Shook v. Bd. of County Commissioners of the County of El Paso, 216 F.R.D. 644 (D. Colo. 2003). [N/R]
     Mentally ill county jail inmates could not pursue their claims for disability discrimination against the county and county officials for alleged degrading treatment. They failed to show that they were denied the benefits of any services, program or activity of the jail, or that violent and self-destructive inmates who were mentally ill were treated any differently than violent and self-destructive inmates not suffering from a mental illness. Atkins v. County of Orange, 251 F. Supp. 2d 1225 (S.D.N.Y. 2003). [2003 JB Aug]
     Montana Supreme Court finds that prison's practice of subjecting certain inmates to behavior modification plans, along with the living conditions in the areas where such inmates were housed, violated the state constitutional right to "human dignity" of mentally ill prisoner and represented cruel and unusual punishment, especially when used as a substitute for medical treatment for disruptive and suicidal prisoner. Walker v. State of Montana, #01-528, 68 P.3d 872 (Mont. 2003). [2003 JB Aug]
    Federal appeals court establishes legal standard for medicating criminal defendants involuntarily to enable them to be competent for trial. United States v. Gomes, No. 01-1143, 289 F.3d 71 (2nd Cir. 2002). [2002 JB Oct]
     Widow of manic depressive detainee who suffered a heart attack and died while in custody could pursue claim that county policy of delaying medical screening of combative inmates constituted a substantial risk of serious harm to the decedent. Gibson v. County of Washoe, Nevada, #99-17338, 290 F.3d 1175 (9th Cir. 2002). [2002 JB Oct]
     Prisoner's mental health disorder, diagnosed as bipolar disorder, was sufficiently serious so that deliberate indifference to his resulting medical needs, including anxiety he allegedly suffered due to a lack of medication review, would violate the Eighth Amendment. Further proceedings ordered as to whether manager of counseling treatment services purposefully misdiagnosed prisoner's mental illness or denied medication review. Page v. Norvell, 186 F. Supp. 2d 1134 (D. Ore. 2000). [N/R]
     Federal trial court prohibits housing of seriously mentally ill inmates at "super-maximum" security state prison, based on claim that conditions there, as applied to the mentally ill, amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Jones 'El v. Berge, #00-C-421-C, 164 F. Supp. 2d 1096 (W.D. Wis. 2001). [2002 JB Apr]
     290:22 Mentally ill prisoners in New York City jails are entitled, under state law, to help in obtaining continuing treatment on their discharge; trial court issues preliminary injunction requiring discharge planning for such prisoners. Brad v. City of New York, 712 N.Y.S.2d (Sup. 2000).
     278:24 New Jersey reaches wide-ranging $16 million settlement in lawsuit over allegedly inadequate treatment of mentally-ill prisoners and disability discrimination against them; plaintiffs' attorneys to receive $1.22 million in attorneys' fees; disciplinary policies to take prisoners' mental illness into account; all new prisoners to receive mental health assessment within 72 hours. D.M. v. Terhune, 67 F. Supp. 2d 401 (D.N.J. 1999).
     [N/R] Pretrial detainee who was incompetent to stand trial could immediately appeal administrative order permitting medical personnel to forcibly administer anti- psychotic medication, but was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing before the district court when administrative proceeding complied with due process. U.S. v. Morgan, No. 99-6245, 193 F.3d 252 (4th Cir. 1999).