Mathison v. Moats, No. 14-3549 (7th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseAt 3 a.m., inmate Mathison, who suffers from chronic high blood pressure, was awakened by excruciating pain in his chest and left arm and other symptoms of a heart attack. He summoned a guard (Wickman), who summoned supervising lieutenant Omelson, who called the nurse on call (Wall). Wall stated that Mathison’s condition was not an emergency and instructed that Mathison to go to the infirmary in the morning. Mathison went at 6:45 a.m., almost four hours after he suffering a heart attack, and was transported by ambulance to the nearest hospital emergency room, in Pekin. From Pekin he was taken immediately to a Peoria hospital to receive advanced cardiac care. He stayed in the hospital for two days. The district court rejected Mathison’s claims of deliberate indifference on summary judgment. The Seventh Circuit affirmed as to Wickman and the prison doctor, but reversed dismissal of the claims against Omelson and Wall. The court stated that “civilization requires more in a life and death situation,” and questioned “what the judge thinks the minimum level of care is to which a prisoner who is suffering a heart attack is entitled.”
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