Opinion
2:20cv1311
03-22-2023
MICHAEL MARKOWITZ, Plaintiff, v. WILLIAM NICHOLSON, ROBERT GILMORE, JAMES FETTERMAN, SHARON CPLAIZZI, and DR. TIMOTHY KROSS, Defendants.
Electronic Filing
MEMORANDUM ORDER
DAVID STEWART CERCONE SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
AND NOW, this 22nd day of March, 2023, upon due consideration of 1) defendants William Nicolson and Robert Gilmore's motion for summary judgment and the parties' submissions in conjunction therewith and 2) the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge addressing the same and [114] plaintiffs objections thereto, and after de novo review of the record, IT IS ORDERED that [88] defendants' motion for summary judgment be, and the same hereby is, granted. The [109] Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge as augmented therein is adopted as the opinion of the court.
Plaintiff's objections are without merit. Plaintiff conflates a showing that the nonmedical prison officials were aware that he was complaining that the alternative course of pain medication prescribed by the medical practitioners was not providing him with the desired relief with a showing that the non-medical officials had a basis to believe or were aware that the medical treatment providers were "mistreating (or not treating)" him. Pearson v. Prison Health Services, 850 F.3d 526, 543 (3d Cir. 2017). As discussed in more detail in the Magistrate Judge's report and recommendation, the scienter requirement for liability in the instant context requires something more than an acknowledgement by such officials that they were aware that an inmate had complained that a new course of treatment prescribed by medical staff for long term pain was ineffective and filed grievances registering those complaints. And as further explained, the record here lacks sufficient evidence to meet the required level of scienter needed to prove deliberate indifference. Consequently, these defendants are entitled to summary judgment; and
IT FURTHER IS ORDERED that pursuant to Rule 4(a)(1) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure if plaintiff desires to appeal from this Order she must do so within thirty (30) days by filing a notice of appeal as provided in Rule 3, Fed. R. App. P.