Free Complaint - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:07-cv-00063-SLR

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
Jeffrey K. Bartels Del. ID # 2249 Kenneth William Richmond pro hac vice Attorneys for Plaintiffs 401 South Maryland Avenue Wilmington, DE 19804 302-995-6211

Daniel Maldonado 1181 Paddock Road Smyrna, DE 19967 Plaintiff v First Correctional Medical, Inc. 6861 North Oracle P. O. Box 69370 Tucson, Arizona 85737-0015 Defendant and Correctional Medical Services 12647 Olive Boulevard St. Louis, MO 63141-9052 Defendant and Dr. Jose A. Aramburo, Jr., MD 13427 Worthington Roadl Philadelphia, PA 19116 Defendant and Dr. Sitta Gombeh-Ali, MD 802 Ridge Court Middletown, DE 19709 Defendant and Commissioner Stanley Taylor Delaware Department of Corrections Administration Building 245 McKee Road Dover, Delaware 19904 Defendant and Joyce Talley, Bureau Chief of

Civil Action No.

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

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Management Services Delaware Department of Corrections Administration Building 245 McKee Road Dover, Delaware 19904 Defendant

COMPLAINT FEDERAL CLAIM I. JURISDICTION 1. 28 U.S.C.S. 1331 Federal Question: This is a civil action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C.S. 1983 alleging that each of the defendants named above, while acting under color of state law, in the manner described below, violated the decedent's right under U.S. Const. amend. VIII, to be free of the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment and deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm from denial of needed medical treatment.

II THE PARTIES 2. The Plaintiff, Daniel Maldonado is currently residing at the above captioned address at the Delaware Correction Center having SBI number 276883, and has been in custody with the Delaware Department of Correction since November of 2004.

3. Defendant, First Correctional Medical, Inc of 6861 N. Oracle, Tucson, Arizona, 85737 is a Corporation whose approval was required but withheld for

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needed prescriptions, hospital specialist medical care that the Plaintiff suffered during an emergency medical episode that occurred in February, 2005 while he was incarcerated at the facility known as Gander Hill. 4. Defendant, Correctional Medical Services has been the private Medical Care Vendor to the Delaware Department of Correction since July of 2005 and withheld needed prescriptions, hospital specialist medical care that the Plaintiff suffered during an emergency medical episode that occurred in May of 2006 while he was incarcerated at the Delaware Correctional Center. 5. Defendant Jose Aramburo, Jr. MD was a physician licensed in Delaware who contracted to or was under the employ of First Correctional Medical of Delaware, LLC and who knowingly withheld medical care to the Plaintiff while under the employ of both Correctional Medical Services and First Correctional Medical of Delaware, LLC, the alter-ego of the Arizona Defendant. 6. Defendant Sitta Gombeh-Ali, MD was a physician licensed in Delaware who provided medical care and who oversaw the infirmary at Delaware Correctional Center where needed medical care was withheld from the Plaintiff. 7. Defendant Stanley Taylor is the Commissioner of Corrections for the State of Delaware who, on or about June 17, 2002, entered into an Agreement with First Correctional Medical-Delaware, LLC, the alter-ego for Defendant First Correctional Medical for the provision of comprehensive medical care for inmates incarcerated by the Delaware Department of Corrections.

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8. Defendant Joyce Talley is the Bureau Chief for the Bureau of Management Services, Delaware Department of Corrections, who was specifically charged with oversight of inmate health care services and the medical vendor contract compliance, including responsibility for detailed reviews of inmate medical grievances, during the events described below. III THE FACTS 9. First Correctional Medical, Inc., is an Arizona Corporation which is a vendor of medical services that had responded to a Delaware Department of Correction Request for Proposal that had been published and circulated among Medical Care Vendors some time between January 1, 2002 and May 1, 2002. The Defendant First Correctional Medical presented its proposal and its accreditation from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care when submitting its bid to the Delaware Department of Corrections to provide Medicare Care to Inmates. 10. On or about July 1, 2002, an alter ego or subsidiary corporation known as First Correctional Medical of Delaware, LLC commenced business as the actual vendor for the medical care being provided to the Delaware Department of Corrections, while the Defendant First Correctional Medical in Arizona retained control over hospital and specialty care referrals for the Plaintiff in February, 2005. 11. It is believed and therefore averred that at no time prior to July, 2005 did the Delaware, LLC receive independent accreditation from the National

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Commission on Correctional Healthcare, and at all times relevant the Defendants Taylor and Talley, who were ultimately responsible for the contract performance of the medical vendor, relied upon the NCCHC accreditation of the parent company, First Correctional Medical, Inc., in Arizona. 12. In spite of requests for his medical records set forth in grievances, the Plaintiff has been denied access to them, and therefore the dates set forth are approximate. Sometime in November, 2004, following sentencing, the Plaintiff advised the intake nurse at Gander Hill that he was a mutative hemophiliac from birth, that he bleeds once per month, and requires 3000 to 4000 units of "Factor 8" during episodes of bleeding. 13. In addition to the Plaintiff's indication, his mother Betty Pollack was employed at Gander Hill as a nursing assistant in November, 2004 and installed conspicuous medical flags upon the Plaintiff's medical chart that indicated he was hemophiliac. 14. On Friday February 18, 2005, the Plaintiff experienced the onset of internal groin pain and was seen in the infirmary at Gander Hill by a nurse who attempted to prescribe contraindicated aspirin. The Plaintiff advised the nurse that he was a hemophiliac and was likely bleeding internally and needed Factor 8, but she indicated that there was nothing in the chart and she could do nothing, not even admit him to the prison infirmary because a Doctor would not be available until Monday-whereupon the Plaintiff was returned to his cell in the general population.

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15.

On Monday, February 21, 2005, the Plaintiff was in severe internal

pain with a stomach visibly distended, and he had to be carried by a correctional officer and an inmate to a wheel chair and then to the infirmary at Gander Hill where he saw a nurse with a breast tag showing a first name of "Colleen". 16. This nurse described the Plaintiff's appearance and complaints over

the phone to a physician believed to be Defendant Jose Aramburo, Jr., who advised the nurse to install a penile catheter, whereupon the Plaintiff was placed in a room, underwent the painful procedure and was left there unattended for a full day. 17. On the following day, believed to be Tuesday, February 22, 2005,

another nurse came to the Plaintiff and discovered that he had vomited a significant quantity of blood, whereupon the Plaintiff was removed to Saint Francis Hospital, where he was admitted to intensive care for life threatening liver and kidney bleeding. 18. On or about the end of March 2005, the Plaintiff was discharged

directly from intensive monitored care at Saint Francis to the Gander Hill infirmary where his chemistry and functions went unmonitored and the medication that had been prescribed at Saint Francis was withheld. As a result, his internal bleeding recurred, once again threatening his life and causing his return to the IC unit at Saint Francis for approximately thirty days.

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19.

As a result of the pressure from internal bleeding, the Plaintiff

suffered severe permanent neuropathy through his right lower extremity. 20. After approximately 30 days, the Plaintiff was returned to Gander

Hill and its infirmary where he remained receiving only intermittent Factor 8 medication and nothing for the intolerable pain through his right lower nerve distribution despite prescriptions for Neurontin and electrical stimulation. 21. At all times relevant to his treatment through July 1, 2005, the

Plaintiff's medical care was being conducted under the direct supervision of Defendant Dr. Sitta Gombeh-Ali who, as Medical Director of First Correctional Medical of Delaware, LLC required the approval of First Correctional Medical of Arizona in order to secure certain medications, treatment and specialist referral for the Plaintiff who was under her charge. It is believed and therefore averred that Defendant Gombeh-Ali knowingly and intentionally declined to obtain the needed approvals for the serious medical needs of the Plaintiff for reasons of unjustified and constitutionally impermissible cost containment practices.

22.

It is believed and therefore averred that Dr. Philip Blatt, the

Plaintiff's hematologist from childhood, intervened at some point due to his mother's supplication and the Plaintiff received a CAT scan, after which he was transferred to the Medical Tier of the Delaware Correction Center in May of 2005. It is believed and therefore averred that Dr. Blatt consulted with a Dr. Muhammed Niaz and both physicians again prescribed therapy, electrical stimulation and

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Factor 8 together with Neurontin in an effort to address the Plaintiff's neuropathy and hemophilia.

23.

It is believed and therefore averred that Correctional Medical

Services, Inc., became the medical contractor for the Delaware Department of Correction in July 2005 and thereafter assumed responsibility for the care of the Plaintiff. 24. In spite of the above referenced prescriptions, the Plaintiff was

denied the modalities and his neuropathy progressed until he presently experiences only numbness and pain in his right lower extremity together with a disability, immobility and loss of strength that requires his dependence on a cane.

25.

On or about October, 2005, the Plaintiff filed a medical grievance

requesting to see a physician for the pain, for special shoes, a cane and the therapy that had been denied since his arrival at Delaware Correctional Center.

26.

On or about February 2006, the Plaintiff bled internally at his knee

and while he was given Factor 8, he had no physician follow up in spite of requests to see a physician. 27. On or about May 2006, the Plaintiff suffered another bleed in his

kidney and requested Factor 8 immediately upon the onset of his symptoms, but

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the nurse on duty could not locate his medical file and stated that she could not administer injections. 28. As a result of not receiving the timely administration of Factor 8, the

Plaintiff again bled internally in a kidney causing extreme pain, fear of death, and he had to be taken to Bayhealth-Kent General Hospital for admission to the Intensive Care Unit for approximately thirty days. 29. It is believed and therefore averred that the physician under whose

care the Plaintiff fell while at Kent General Hospital became so alarmed at the third protracted hospitalization that he addressed correspondence to Correctional Medical Services indicating that the Plaintiff should be released so that he could be followed closely by a hematologist. 30. Through the present, the Plaintiff has not received either prescribed,

therapy, required medication, or requested shoes from Correctional Medical Services. COUNT I Plaintiffs v. Defendants Taylor and Talley 42 U. S. C. 1983 U. S. CONSTITUTION amend. VIII 31. Each of the foregoing paragraphs are incorporated herein as though fully set forth and in addition, Plaintiffs allege that at all times relevant hereto, Defendants Taylor and Talley were under budgetary constraints which they knew or should have known were inadequate to meet the medical needs of the inmate population they were charged with overseeing.

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23. It was known to Defendants Taylor and Talley that the profit of the medical vendor, First Correctional Medical and its alter ego or subsidiary, First Correctional of Delaware, LLC was inescapably dependent on restricting access to outside hospital and specialty care.

24. In addition to the foregoing, Defendants Taylor and Talley, as the ultimate persons responsible for contract compliance for the medical vendor at the times relevant to this complaint, intentionally neglected to investigate the actual care delivered to inmates in general in spite of knowledge that the vendor had difficulty in securing payment for care from the DHSS Medicaid Administrators in Delaware which caused severe $ 800,000.00 arrearages in the payments to outside medical providers.

25. In addition to the foregoing, the Defendants Taylor and Talley intentionally, or with deliberate indifference (to a substantial risk of harm to the inmates needing outside medical care) withheld needed cooperation from First Correctional Medical to obtain inmate eligibility for Medicaid, all while knowing that the medical vendor was unwilling or unable to pay for outside medical services.

26. At no time during the period between July 1, 2002 and July 2005 did Defendants Taylor and Talley implement, order or undertake any investigation to

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determine the level or care being provided to inmates in general by monitoring medical grievances, by review or audit of specific items recommended by the NCCHC or by requiring any explanation for the inordinate number of inmate deaths as reported by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, except for ordering an audit by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care after discovering that outside vendor bills were going unpaid.

27. At no time during the tenure of First Correctional Medical did Defendants Taylor or Talley seek or even discuss medical budget increases from the Budget Director in the Office of the Governor, or from the legislature all while knowing that the vendor prior to First Correctional Medical could not deliver needed inmate medical care at budgeted amounts for 2001 and 2002 that were greater than those bid by First Correctional Medical.

28. As a result of the conscious, deliberate indifference to the serious medical needs of inmates as described, the Defendants, First Correctional Medical, Gombeh-Ali and Aramburo, and Correctional Medical Services were enabled in the denial of urgently needed medical care in the present case which resulted in the Constitutionally forbidden pain and disability for the Plaintiff.

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff respectfully demands judgment against the Defendants Taylor and Talley pain, suffering, for future loss of earnings the Plaintiff would have realized without the disability and for humiliation he

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experienced from the needed but withheld medical treatment together with punitive damages, costs and attorney fees as permitted. COUNT II Plaintiffs v. First Correctional Medical, Gombeh-ali and Aramburo and Correctional Medical Services 42 U.S.C. 1983 CONSTITUTION amend. VIII 29. Each of the foregoing allegations are incorporated herein as though

fully set forth, and in addition it is alleged that Defendants First Correctional Medical, Correctional Medical Services, Sitta Gombeh-Ali and Jose Aramburo, Jr. acted or failed to act despite knowledge of a substantial risk of serious harm could actually befall the Plaintiff, Daniel Maldonado as a direct result of withholding needed medical care 30. Each of the Defendants in this Count were directly responsible for the medical care and supervision of the DCC infirmary at the times indicated above and actually knew or clearly should have known that the decedent suffered from a severe medical malady and required treatment and referral in time to prevent complications and permanent disability.

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff respectfully demands judgment against the Defendants Correctional Medical Services, First Correctional Medical, GombehAli and Aramburo, Jr. for loss earnings the decedent would have realized and for the pain, suffering, humiliation he experienced from the needed but withheld

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medical treatment, together with punitive damages, costs and attorney fees as permitted. Respectfully submitted /s/__________________________ Jeffrey K. Bartels Kenneth William Richmond, pro hac vice 401 South Maryland Ave. Wilmington, DE 19804 302-995-6211

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CERTIFICATION

Kenneth William Richmond, Counsel for the Plaintiff in the foregoing action certifies that he has investigated the facts underlying the allegations contained in the attached Complaint and that each of the allegations set forth are true and correct according to his best information and belief.

Dated January 27, 2007

/s/_____________________________ Kenneth William Richmond 2019 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-523-9200

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