8th Amendment Deliberate Indifference.

Byline: Derek Hawkins

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Dennis Davis v. Francis Kayira

Case No.: 18-2456

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and FLAUM and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Focus: 8th Amendment Deliberate Indifference

Dennis Davis is an Illinois prisoner suffering from kidney disease. After receiving dialysis on a Saturday morning, he told a prison nurse that his mind was fuzzy and his body was weak. Both complaints were similar to side effects he had experienced in the past after dialysis. The nurse called Dr. Francis Kayira, the prison's medical director, who was on call. The doctor asked her whether Davis had asymmetrical grip strength, facial droop, or was droolingall classic signs of a stroke. When she said "no," Dr. Kayira determined that Davis was experiencing the same dialysis-related side effects as before rather than something more serious. He told the nurse to monitor the problem and call him if the symptoms got worse. Dr. Kayira didn't hear anything else for the rest of the weekend, but on Monday morning he examined Davis and discovered that he had in fact suffered a stroke.

Davis later sued Dr. Kayira, alleging that he acted with deliberate indifference to his medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Davis also raised a state-law medical-malpractice claim. The district court entered summary judgment for Dr. Kayira on both...