No. 19-3299 ___________________________

Elvin Redmond

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellant

v.

Joel Kosinski, M.D.; Jana Hacker, NP; Robert Johnson, Warden, Fort Dodge; James McKinney, Warden; Greg Ort, Deputy Warden; Michael Willey, M.D.; Kimberly Leman, M.D.

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants - Appellees ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Des Moines ____________

Submitted: January 14, 2021 Filed: June 7, 2021 ____________ Before LOKEN, GRASZ, and KOBES, Circuit Judges. ____________ KOBES, Circuit Judge.

Elvin Redmond, an Iowa Department of Corrections inmate, says that the defendants delayed treatment for a sore on his right foot, allowing it to become a major medical crisis resulting in a below-the-knee amputation. Redmond filed a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the defendants violated his Eighth Amendment rights by acting with deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs and safety. The district court1 granted summary judgment to all defendants and we affirm.

I.

Redmond first reported that the fifth toe of his right foot was painful and swollen on March 27, 2017. Redmond has diabetes and hepatitis, serious medical conditions requiring ongoing management. Jana Hacker, a nurse practitioner at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility, examined his foot, prescribed pain medication, and scheduled a follow-up visit two days later. When she later saw a blister had formed, Hacker prescribed an antibiotic injection, a daily oral antibiotic, and a twice-a-day topical cream. After Redmond’s blister opened and he ran a temperature, Hacker sent him to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics emergency room on March 31. UIHC staff evaluated the infection, x-rayed his foot, and sent him back to the prison that same day with an order for an oral antibiotic, which an IDOC physician substituted with a different antibiotic. Hacker saw Redmond on two follow-up visits and, on April 7, when she saw that the wound was larger and the flesh around the wound was changing color, she sent him back to UIHC’s emergency room and he was hospitalized.

UIHC orthopedic surgeon Michael Willey examined Redmond’s foot on April 8, ordered tests, recommended a vascular consultation, and noted that “[a]s he is hemodynamically stable there is no need for urgent operative intervention at this point.” On April 11, UIHC discharged Redmond to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center, a medical correction facility. Joel Kosinski, a physician at IMCC, saw Redmond multiple times in April and May, evaluated the infection, ordered his wound care and disease management treatments, prescribed medications, 1 The Honorable Stephanie M. Rose, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa.

-2- and documented that Redmond needed a toe amputation. After Redmond filed an April 29 grievance saying that he had been forced to miss UIHC medical appointments, he was taken to the UIHC Orthopedic Department where staff placed a cast on Redmond’s foot. His follow-up appointment with the orthopedic department was also delayed, and Redmond filed another grievance. On May 18, Willey evaluated Redmond’s foot and noted that he planned a possible toe amputation after a vascular consult.

Redmond’s condition worsened, and he was hospitalized again at UIHC on May 26. The infection had spread to Redmond’s fourth toe, and Willey removed the two toes on May