By: Derek Hawkins//May 8, 2017//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Derrick Echols, Jr. v. Frederick A. Craig
Case No.: 14-1829
Officials: EASTERBROOK, KANNE, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges
Focus: 8th Amendment violation – Deliberate Indifference
Derrick Echols, an Illinois in‐ mate, claims in this suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that prison dentist Dr. Frederick Craig (an employee of Wexford Health Sources) violated the Eighth Amendment by providing dental care with deliberate indifference to Echols’ serious health needs. While Dr. Craig was extracting a wisdom tooth, a drill bit broke. Dr. Craig sutured Echols’ gum with gauze and at least one half‐inch long piece of the broken bit still inside, where it caused pain for about two weeks before it was finally removed. Knowledge is the key issue in this lawsuit. Echols alleges that Craig sutured the extraction site after intentionally packing it with non‐soluble gauze and without first locating the missing shards from the broken drill bit. The district court screened Echols’ operative complaint, see 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, and dismissed it with the explanation that Echols’ allegations are factually frivolous. On appeal, we conclude that Echols’ allegations are quite plausible and state a claim for violation of the Eighth Amendment. We vacate the judgment and remand for further proceedings.
Vacated and remanded