Summary
predicting the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would extend corporate negligence to a company that is responsible for inmate health care
Summary of this case from Robinson v. Corizon Health, Inc.Opinion
CIVIL ACTION No. 09-410.
September 1, 2010
ORDER
AND NOW, this 1st day of September, 2010, upon consideration of defendants Beard and DiGuglielmo's motion to dismiss, the motion of Prison Health Services, Inc. and John Doe #1 (Richard Stefanic, M.D.), and plaintiff's responses thereto; following a conference at which all parties were present and heard, and for the reasons set forth in the accompanying memorandum, it is ORDERED that:
1. Defendants Beard and DiGuglielmo's motion to dismiss [ paper no. 31] is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. It is GRANTED as to plaintiff's request for compensatory damages. It is DENIED without prejudice to a motion for summary judgment as to the official-capacity action for injunctive relief.
2. The motion of Prison Health Services, Inc. ("PHS") and John Doe #1 [ paper no. 32] is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. It is GRANTED as to: (a) Count I against John Doe #1; (b) Count II in its entirety; and (c) Count III against PHS and John Doe #1. Because Count II fails as a matter of law, it shall not be reasserted in a third amended complaint. The motion is DENIED without prejudice to a motion for summary judgment as to Count I (plaintiff's Eighth Amendment claim) against PHS. The motion to dismiss based on the applicable statute of limitations is DENIED without prejudice to a motion reasserting the argument against the third amended complaint.
3. Plaintiff shall have forty-five (45) days to file a third amended complaint: (a) correcting the caption by obtaining the names of the new secretary of the Department of Corrections and the new warden at SCI-Graterford; (b) substituting the John Doe defendants with properly named individuals; (c) addressing exhaustion of administrative remedies and the statute of limitations; and (d) specifying the nature of the requested prospective relief. During this forty-five (45) day period, plaintiff may conduct limited discovery regarding the identity of the John Doe defendants and the statute of limitations.