What is the standard for deliberate indifference in the context of medical malpractice cases?

Deliberate indifference is a very strict standard. It is more than "mere negligence." Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 835, (1994). Even civil recklessnessfailure "to act in the face of an unjustifiably high risk of harm that is either known or so obvious that it should be known"is insufficient to establish an Eighth Amendment claim. Id. at 836-37 & n.5 (citation omitted). A prison official will be found liable under the Eighth Amendment when "the official knows of and disregards an excessive risk to inmate health or safety; the official must both be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must also draw the inference." Id. at 837. A plaintiff can establish deliberate

Page 5