Burton v. Downey, No. 14-3591 (7th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseBurton had been treated for back pain, anxiety, acid reflux, herpes simplex, hyperlipidemia, and depression. In addition to other medications, he was intermittently prescribed an opioid pain medication similar to Vicodin. Burton was diagnosed with avascular necrosis, a loss of blood circulation that causes bone death, and one week before his detention, had core decompression surgery. The detention center confiscated all of his medications. He received medications prescribed by a physicians’ assistant at the detention center and saw medical staff 26 times during 18 months of pretrial detention. Burton told a judge that he was not receiving the medications that he had been prescribed before he was detained and that he was experiencing severe pain. The judge ordered that the sheriff provide an extra mattress and furnish Burton with all medicines prescribed for him. The jail did not comply. Burton filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983. The district court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment, rejecting a defense of qualified immunity. The Seventh Circuit reversed, finding that no reasonable jury could find that Burton was deprived of essential medical care or that staff was deliberately indifferent to his serious needs.
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