Dist. Ct. did not err in granting motion for judgment as matter of law filed by defendant (entity providing medical services to prison) after jury rendered $25,000 in favor of plaintiff-prisoner in section 1983 action alleging that 20-month delay in plaintiff’s obtaining surgery to reconstruct damaged ACL violated his 8th Amendment rights. Dist. Ct. could properly exclude plaintiff’s proffered evidence regarding delays in medical care attributed to defendant in four other prisoner cases, since circumstances in those cases either did not concern defendant’s “collegial review process” that required off-site physician review of medical file of prisoner seeking off-site treatment, or lacked evidence that requested services were medically appropriate. Moreover, defendant’s collegial review process was not unconstitutional on its face, and instant delay was attributable to medical judgment of off-site physician who initially recommended against surgery until it became absolutely necessary. As such, instant delay cannot be attributable to deliberate indifference, especially when off-site reviewing doctor regularly assessed whether it was medically appropriate for plaintiff to received ACL surgery.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Prisoners