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Gubanc v. Warren12/16/1998
DICKINSON, Judge.
Plaintiff Stan Gubane has appealed from an order of the Summit County Common Pleas Court that granted summary judgment to defendants Richard Warren, Michael Toth, and Tim Davis on federal claims based on Section 1983, Title 42, U.S. Code, and state claims based on negligence. He has argued that the trial court incorrectly granted summary judgment (1) on his federal claims, because a genuine issue of material fact existed concerning whether defendants acted with deliberate indifference in failing to provide him with adequate medical care, and (2) on his state law claims, because a genuine issue of material fact existed concerning whether defendants acted maliciously or willfully to deprive him of adequate medical care. This court affirms the judgment of the trial coursbecause plaintiff, in his response to defendants' motion for summary judgment, failed to demonstrate any genuine issue of material fact regarding his claims.
On September 11, 1995, plaintiff was incarcerated at the Summit County Jail to begin serving a sixteen-day sentence for several misdemeanor violations. He informed the staff at the jail that he was an insulin-dependent diabetic and that he required certain doses of medication at specific times during the day. ARA Correctional Medical Services Inc., a company hired by the county to provide around-the-clock medical services to inmates, suggested that plaintiff be held in the medical unit of the jail. Each cell in that section contains a medical services button that an inmate may press to summon medical help when needed.
Plaintiff claimed that he became violently ill when the medical staff refused to provide him with the specific doses of medication that he requested. Plaintiff alleged that his condition grew progressively worse over a thirty-six-hour period. During that time, deputies monitored plaintiffs condition and alerted ARA staff on several occasions. Furthermore, plaintiff was examined by the medical staff several times. His condition, however, apparently did not improve. On September 14, 1995, a referee of the Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court ordered plaintiff released. According to defendants, upon request by the sheriffs office, the trial court routinely released sick inmates who were not in emergency or life-threatening situations, who were serving sentences for misdemeanor convictions, and who posed no danger to the community. Because he was ill, and fearing that he would not seek medical treatment himself, deputies drove plaintiff to Akron City Hospital. His attending physician noted that he was "admitted DKA," which means, according to plaintiff, that he was suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis, "a potentially life-threatening condition requiring emergency medical treatment."
On September 11, 1996, plaintiff filed a complaint in the Summit County Common Pleas Court. He claimed that defendants had violated his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment by "the individual and collective acts of the Defendants through their exhibition of deliberate indifference to Plaintiff's serious medical needs." According to plaintiff, the sheriffs deputies ignored his repeated requests for assistance and, when his condition became so serious that hospitalization was necessary, they released him from jail, drove him to the hospital, and left him at the curb.
On July 24, 1997, defendants filed a joint motion for summary judgment, which was granted by the trial court on October 9, 1997. The trial court determined that plaintiff failed to demonstrate that "a custom, policy, or practice of the county caused Plaintiffs alleged constitutional deprivation," thus b
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