Opinion
3:14-CR-00049-TMB
11-20-2023
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. DWIGHT WILLIAMS, Defendant.
ORDER EXPEDITING SURGERY DATE; OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, COMPELLING TESTIMONY OF NAPHCARE AND BOP REPRESENTATIVES
TIMOTHY M. BURGESS, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This matter comes before the Court on Defendant's Motion for Compassionate Release (the “Motion”)seeking an order releasing Dwight Williams, on the grounds that extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant release. The Motion argues that the Court should release Williams because he is legally blind and requires cataract surgery which has been delayed since diagnosed in 2022.
Dkts. 281 (Motion for Sentence Reduction) and 294 (Supplement in Support of Motion).
Id.
The United States Probation Office (“USPO”) raised concerns regarding apparent delays in scheduling Williams' medically necessary cataract surgery.The Court held a motion hearing on November 15, 2023, in which BOP explained that NaphCare, a contractor operating under contract with the Government, schedules medical procedures for some federal inmates, including Williams.
Dkt. 298 (USPO Memorandum) at 3.
At the November 15 hearing, FCI Phoenix's Clinical Director, Dr. Isaiah Ford, indicated that the cataract surgery Williams needs is typically an outpatient procedure that takes a single day. Further, in describing the desired time frame to perform the surgery, Dr. Ford advised that they “typically would like to have them [in] three months” but “[t]he best case scenario, we like to see them in a month if we could to be honest.”FCI Phoenix physicians indicated Williams' cataracts surgery is “medically necessary,” and Williams is “legally blind” under BOP policy. Under BOP's Ophthalmology Guidance, “[m]edically indicated . . . ophthalmologic surgeries should never be delayed.”
Dkt. 320 (Hearing Transcript) at 9: 21-24.
Id. at 23:10-20.
Dkt. 303-2 at 2; Dkt. 316 at 1-2.
BOP MANAGEMENT OF INMATES WITH DISABILITIES POLICY: P5200.05 app. A (Oct. 27, 2017).
BOP OPHTHALMOLOGY GUIDANCE 6 (October 2018). The BOP Ophthalmology Guidance states: “Medically indicated, emergent or urgent ophthalmologic surgeries should never be delayed, and should be approved by the Clinical Director (or designee) at the local institution. Proper and complete documentation is required.” Id. (emphasis in original). Dr. Ford confirmed that Williams' case is nonemergent and nonurgent. But the Court's understanding is that Williams' cataract surgery remains “medically indicated,” and is therefore included in the Guidance's list of types of ophthalmologic surgeries which should never be delayed. See id.
But when questioned regarding the almost two-year delay between Williams' need for cataract surgery first being identified in June 2022 and the target surgery date set in March 2024, Dr. Ford explained that “the bottleneck is the availability based on the outside providers”and that the only providers available “are contracted with NaphCare” and “are networked within our insurance system.”Dr. Ford identified this as “one of the main reasons” for the delay in obtaining Williams' surgery.Further, BOP Counsel indicated that BOP “submit[s] referrals for specialty care to [NaphCare] and then they procure the specialty care and tell [BOP] where to go and when to be there.”
Dkt. 320 at 10: 22-23.
Id. at 17: 5-9.
Id. at 25: 9-15.
Id. at 32: 15-18.
Notwithstanding, the Government stated that Williams' surgery could not be performed until the BOP Regional Director approved it, as “required by policy,” and that thereafter “the approval will be submitted to Naphcare . . . who will give the BOP a date for the surgery.”The Government indicated that the BOP Regional Director did not approve the cataract surgery until October 3, 2023, and that on October 4, 2023, FCI Phoenix submitted the approval to NaphCare. In other words, NaphCare has only had the required BOP approval and request for surgery for about one month and thus cannot be the source of the almost two-year delay. Instead, it appears from the record that the BOP medical staff at FCI Phoenix are responsible for the delay.
Dkt. 302 (Status Report Per Order (Dkt. 301)) at 2.
Dkt. 306 (Status Report Per Order (Dkt. 305)) at 1.
THEREFORE, in light of the testimony of FCI Phoenix Clinical Director Dr. Isaiah Ford, and the parties in this matter, as well as the evidence:
1. The Court ORDERS BOP and Naphcare to expedite Williams' medically necessary cataract surgery to be performed within thirty (30) days from the date of this Order.
2. The Government shall file a Status Report under seal on or before 5:00 pm (Alaska Standard Time) on November 27, 2023, indicating confirmation of a surgery dateprior to December 21, 2023. Upon receipt of the Status Report noted above, the Hearing set for November 28, 2023, will be vacated. However, in the event the Court does not receive confirmation of a surgery date prior to December 21, 2023, the parties shall appear at a status hearing set for Tuesday, November 28, 2023, at 10:00 AM (Alaska Standard Time) where the Court will schedule a hearing to include presence of counsel as well as in-person testimony from BOP and NaphCare Representatives in December 2023.
In the interest of privacy and security, the surgery date should be provided as a range, e.g., "the week of December 11 - 15, 2023” instead of a single date, e.g., “December 14, 2023.”
3. AUSA Walker will convey this Order to BOP so that BOP ensures Williams is available for remote participation in the November 28, 2023, status hearing.
IT IS SO ORDERED.