What constitutes deliberate indifference by a prison officer to a medical issue?

MultiRegion, United States of America

The following excerpt is from In re Deadmon, Case No. 1:14-cv-00316-LJO-MJS (PC) (E.D. Cal. 2015):

"the existence of an injury that a reasonable doctor or patient would find important and worthy of comment or treatment; the presence of a medical condition that significantly affects an individual's daily activities; or the existence of chronic and substantial pain." Colwell v. Bannister, 763 F.3d 1060, 1066 (9th Cir. 2014).

A prison official shows deliberate indifference to such a need if he "knows of and disregards an excessive risk to inmate health." Peralta, 744 F.3d at 1082(citing Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 837 (1994)). This "requires more than ordinary lack of due care." Colwell, 763 F.3d at 1066 (citing Farmer, 511 U.S. at 835). Instead, the prison official must "be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must also draw the inference." Colwell, 763 F.3d at 1066. Prison officials may demonstrate deliberate indifference when they "deny, delay, or intentionally interfere with medical treatment," and prison doctors may be deliberately indifferent in their provision of care. Id.

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