What is the test for a prisoner to bring an Eighth Amendment claim for medical malpractice?

MultiRegion, United States of America

The following excerpt is from Keel v. Early, CASE NO. 1:99-cv-06720-AWI-SMS PC (E.D. Cal. 2010):

Id. citing Farmer, 511 U.S. at 835. Rather, the official's conduct must have been "wanton," which turns not upon its effect on the prisoner, but rather, upon the constraints facing the official. Id. citing Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 302-03 (1991).

Where a prisoner's Eighth Amendment claim is based on medical issues, the prisoner must allege and prove "acts or omissions sufficiently harmful to evidence deliberate indifference to serious medical needs." Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 106 (1976). Such a claim has two elements, "the seriousness of the prisoner's medical need and the nature of the defendant's response to that need." McGuckin v. Smith, 974 F.2d 1050, 1059 (9th Cir.1991). A medical need is serious "if the failure to treat the prisoner's condition could result in further significant injury or the 'unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain.'" McGuckin, 974 F.2d at 1059 (quoting Estelle, 429 U.S. at 104). Indications of a serious medical need include "the presence of a medical condition that significantly affects an individual's daily activities." Id. at 1059-60. By establishing the existence of a serious medical need, a prisoner satisfies the objective requirement for proving an Eighth Amendment violation. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834.

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