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Prisoner Treatment – Deliberate Indifference – Cruel and Unusual Punishment

By: Derek Hawkins//December 1, 2015//

Prisoner Treatment – Deliberate Indifference – Cruel and Unusual Punishment

By: Derek Hawkins//December 1, 2015//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case No.: 14-2272

Case Name: Lester Dobbey v. Jacqueline Mitchell-Lawshea & Michael Dangerfield

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and POSNER and EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judges.

Pertinent Practice Areas: Prisoner Treatment – Deliberate Indifference – Cruel and Unusual Punishment      

Failure to treat prisoner’s infected tooth after knowledge of infection amounted to deliberate indifference, warrants reversal of summary judgment.

“In granting summary judgment in favor of the defend‐ ants, the district judge failed to appreciate the gravity of a tooth abscess or attach sufficient weight to the slack response of prison staff to Dobbey’s medical problem. A tooth abscess is not a simple toothache. It is a bacterial infection of the root of the tooth, and it can spread to the adjacent gum and beyond—way beyond. It is often painful and can be dangerous. Loss of the tooth is common, though can some‐ times be prevented by prompt detection and treatment of the abscess. Dobbey does not connect his abdominal woes to the abscess, but he may well not have known that stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting are common consequences of a tooth abscess and so may have been caused or aggravated by his abscess.”

Reversed and Remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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