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Adamson v. Correctional Medical Services6/14/2000
malpractice is a condition of confinement as referenced in the PLA, let alone the PLRA. In Wilson, the conditions of confinement that were discussed related to a violation of a prisoner's federal rights. See 501 U.S. at 304-05, 111 S. Ct. at 2327, 115 L.Ed.2d at 282-83. Indeed, all of the federal cases cited by Respondent were decided in the context of a 42 U.S.C. ยง 1983 action where the prisoner "must allege the violation of right secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and must show that the alleged deprivation was committed by a person acting under color of state law." West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 47, 108 S. Ct. 2250 2255, 101 L.E.2d 40, 48-49 (1988). Medical malpractice claims ordinarily do not rise to the level of violating a prisoner's federal civil rights and Petitioner does not claim that his grievance against Respondent amounts to a violation of his civil rights. In Estelle v. Gamble, Justice Marshall, writing for the majority, held:
complaint that a physician has been negligent in diagnosing or treating a [prisoner's] medical condition does not state a valid claim of medical mistreatment under the Eighth Amendment. Medical malpractice does not become a constitutional violation merely because the victim is a prisoner. In order to state a cognizable claim, a prisoner must allege acts or omissions sufficiently harmful to evidence deliberate indifference to serious medical needs. It is only such indifference that can offend "evolving standards of decency" in violation of the Eighth Amendment. 429 U.S. 97, 106, 97 S. Ct. 285, 292, 50 L.Ed.2d 251, 261(1976). A claim of malpractice is usually a state tort law claim and not an abridgement of a fundamental right under federal constitutional mores. See Estelle, 429 U.S. at 107, 97 S. Ct. at 293, 50 L.Ed.2d at 262. See also Harris v. Hegmann, 198 F.3d 153, 159 (5th Cir. 1999)(malpractice does not rise to a constitutional tort); Sosebee v. Murphy, 797 F.2d 179, 181 (4th Cir. 1986)(negligence is a tort law claim not arising to constitutional principles); Hampton v. Holmesburg Prison Officials, 546 F.2d 1077, 1080 (3d Cir. 1976)(malpractice is state law claim not constitutional abridgement).
The purposes for requiring the exhaustion of administrative remedies would hardly be achieved by accepting Respondent's interpretation of the PLA as it seeks to apply it here. First, the administrative agency's expertise is not circumvented by allowing for judicial determination of Petitioner's claim because the DOC and the IGO apparently claim no expertise in resolving or adjudicating medical malpractice claims against private medical service providers. The record shows the IGO will not entertain a grievance such as alleged by Petitioner because it believes it has no jurisdiction to do so. At oral argument before this Court, Respondent admitted that the IGO and the Office of Administrative Hearings will not hear Petitioner's claim. Moreover, unlike the battery of an inmate in his cell by a prison guard as alleged in McCullough, the allegations of Petitioner's complaint are not "obviously a matter falling within the expertise of the ." 314 Md. at 610, 552 A.2d at 885.
We are unconvinced that judicial resources will be saved by interpreting the PLA to require Petitioner to file his grievance with the DOC or the IGO before filing suit in state court. Respondent claims that the DOC will at least investigate Petitioner's grievance, yet the record does not support necessarily such a conclusion. Assuming arguendo that the DOC would investigate, Respondent admits that no entity in its conception of the administrative remedy process would issue findings of fact or conclusions of law in a form that would provide a basis for judicial review
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