Professional Negligence Law Reporter

A federal district court dismissed without prejudice a pretrial detainee’s claim alleging he was wrongfully deprived of medical care.

Theopholus Jordan, a pretrial detainee in the Brevard County Jail, sued YesCare, which allegedly supervised the employees providing medical care at the jail. The plaintiff claimed that he was deprived of medical care for an extended period when he had a tooth infection and that he had extracted the tooth himself but still had to wait to have the root removed.

Dismissing the complaint without prejudice, the court ruled that the plaintiff may not sue YesCare simply because the company supervises employees providing medical care at the jail. To establish a Section 1983 claim, the court found, the plaintiff must show that the defendant instituted a custom or policy that resulted in deliberate indifference to constitutional rights. Here, the plaintiff alleged that for a time, there was no dentist available to run the dental department at the jail. His complaint did not specify the length of such period or allege he was unable to obtain medical treatment for the infection through other means.

The court also found that the plaintiff did not allege that the defendant was subjectively aware of the seriousness of his infection or pain. He failed to describe the symptoms he listed in his requests for care or the type of treatment he sought, the court said, as well as the defendant’s actions that caused the alleged constitutional violation.

Consequently, the court dismissed, noting that the plaintiff was entitled to file a timely amended complaint.

Citation: Jordan v. YesCare, 2023 WL 4847586 (M.D. Fla. July 27, 2023).