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Adamson v. Correctional Medical Services6/14/2000
contractors similar to Respondent, indicated the IGO would not entertain such complaints. A third letter, dated 27 January 1999, originated from the Office of the State Attorney General. The letter, signed by an Assistant Attorney General, was in response to a request from a judge of the District Court apparently seeking clarification of DOC Directive 185-002, Section IV.C.2 (addressing the ARP), in a different case pending before the District Court of Maryland sitting in Anne Arundel County. The author opined that the DOC's ARP procedure was not available to an inmate asserting negligence against a private medical contractor.
Respondent argued that Petitioner's claim must undergo at least the DOC and perhaps the IGO administrative gauntlet, pursuant to PLA § 5-1001, et seq., before filing a civil action against Respondent in the District or Circuit Court. The court agreed with Respondent and found that Petitioner had "failed to provide proof that he exhausted the Administrative Remedy Procedure or that, in fact, he exhausted the remedy." The court cited to PLA § 5-1003, et seq., to support its decision.
II.
In reviewing the underlying grant of a motion to dismiss, we must assume the truth of the well-pleaded factual allegations of the complaint, including the reasonable inferences that may be drawn from those allegations. Allied Inv. Corp. v. Jasen, 354 Md. 547, 555, 731 A.2d 957, 961 (1999); Stone v. Chicago Title Ins. Co. of Maryland, 330 Md. 329, 333, 624 A.2d 496, 498 (1993); Tafflin v. Levitt, 92 Md. App. 375, 379, 608 A.2d 817, 819 (1992). We have noted that "the facts comprising the cause of action must be pleaded with sufficient specificity. Bald assertions and conclusory statements by the pleader will not suffice." Bobo v. State, 346 Md. 706, 708-09, 697 A.2d 1371, 1372 (1997)(citations omitted). In the end, " ismissal is proper only if the alleged facts and permissible inferences, so viewed, would, if proven, nonetheless fail to afford relief to the plaintiff." Bobo, 346 Md. at 709, 697 A.2d at 1373. See also Allied Inv. Corp., 354 Md. at 555, 731 A.2d at 961. In sum, because we must deem the facts to be true, our task is confined to determining whether the trial court was legally correct in its decision to dismiss. See Allied Inv. Corp., 354 Md. at 555, 731 A.2d at 961; Bobo, 346 Md. at 709, 697 A.2d at 1373. With the appellate review standard in mind, we consider the legal issue in this case.
Petitioner, acquiring legal representation following the Circuit Court's ruling, now argues more pointedly that the PLA's administrative exhaustion requirement does not apply to prisoner malpractice claims against private medical providers under contract with the State. He asserts that the PLA process was designed only to apply to prisoner grievances regarding conditions of confinement against the State of Maryland, the DOC, and its officials and employees. Petitioner reasons that the purpose of the statute was threefold: to weed out frivolous claims against the State, to conserve judicial resources, and to relieve the burden on the Attorney General of defending an influx of lawsuits filed in state courts following passage of the federal analog to the PLA. He contends that the complaint filed in the District Court does not relate to conditions of his confinement, but rather to an injury (past and ongoing pain and suffering) inflicted by medical treatment or the lack thereof attributable to Respondent. Furthermore, he argues, the PLA was not designed to be used by private contractors as a screening device for prisoner complaints because the available administrative procedures are not equipped to deal with malpractice claims, nor do any such procedures empower the DOC t
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