Facts

Keith Wayne Sekerke was incarcerated at the San Diego County Jail. Sekerke arrived at the San Diego County Jail on October 11, 2018, and requested that jail official obtain prescription records from his pharmacy to verify his active morphine prescription. Dr. Arturo Leon examined Sekerke in October 2018 but refused to provide morphine. On January 7, 2019, Sekerke, proceeding pro se, filed a civil rights action against the County of San Diego and Dr. Leon, alleging constitutional violations. Each defendant separately filed motions for summary judgment.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff contended that prior to his incarceration, Dr. John Qian treated his medical condition by prescribing him morphine three times a day because all other non-narcotic medications were ineffective. Further, plaintiff alleged that defendants violated his constitutional rights by denying him any narcotic pain medications, such as morphine to treat the pain associated with his diagnosis of cervical and spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, and scoliosis, pursuant to the jail's blanket "no narcotics" policy. Plaintiff maintained that as a result of defendants' refusal to provide morphine, he suffered pain, loss of sleep, and an increase in his blood pressure. Additionally, plaintiff argued that Dr. Leon failed to adequately treat plaintiff's pain condition and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus skin infection in deliberate indifference to his medical needs. Finally, plaintiff contended that as a result of this failure to treat his infection, he developed a permanent black scar on his ankle and suffered from numbness that caused a painful sensation in his foot.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants alleged that there was no absolute "no narcotics" policy in place at the jail and that their actual policy explicitly allowed for narcotic medications for certain chronic, non-cancer pain. Additionally, defendants denied that Dr. Leon chose his alternative treatment plan in conscious disregard of a serious medical risk to plaintiff and that Dr. Leon's treatment of plaintiff's skin and ankle conditions were medically unacceptable under the circumstances.

Result

The court granted defendants' motions for summary judgment.