Eroc T. Waltermeyer v. Robert Hazlewood, et al.

Concord, New Hampshire civil rights lawyer represented the Plaintiff on an 8th Amendment violation theory.



Waltermeyer's operative complaint alleges he received inadequate medical treatment while incarcerated at the Federal

Correctional Institute in Berlin, New Hampshire from May 2018 through July 2019. Afterwards, he was transferred to a different federal correctional facility, FCC Coleman Low. He remains incarcerated at the time of this appeal. In September 2018, Waltermeyer requested diagnostic imaging for his chronic knee pain. His doctor at FCI Berlin, defendant Dr. Kistler, honored his request; she requested and obtained approval for an MRI, which was conducted a little over two months later. Waltermeyer attached his MRI results to his initial pleading such that they are included in the operative complaint. The MRI results state that Dr. Kistler reviewed them, and they include handwritten notes saying, "no surgery needed," "physical therapy," and "ultimate solution: knee total replacement." The notes also read: "interim solution [:]

(1) chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine supplements (2) knee bracing (3) no sports or weightlifting (4) pendulum exercises 2 x 1 day - 50 reps (5) on . . . lam [sic] for pain." Waltermeyer admits that Dr. Kistler told him that an outside specialist recommended deferring the knee surgery until he was older. Having reviewed the results of the MRI, Dr. Kistler declined to order surgery at that time but provided non-surgical alternative treatments for his knee condition, and these choices are at the heart of Waltermeyer's operative complaint. In Waltermeyer's view, "[t]he reward outweighs the risk of surgical knee replacements irrespective of Plaintiff's age, or related conditions," and the denial of surgery makes his case like Carlson.

Dismissed.



Affirmed