Opinion
No. 4:08CV149-A-S.
November 26, 2008
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter comes before the court on the pro se prisoner complaint of Gerard Douglas Buckner, who challenges the conditions of his confinement under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. For the purposes of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, the court notes that the plaintiff was incarcerated when he filed this suit. For the reasons set forth below, the plaintiff's claims against defendant Christopher Epps shall be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, and the plaintiff's claims against defendant Dr. Benford shall proceed.
Factual Allegations
On January 22, 2008, the plaintiff visited Dr. Benford about swollen glands due to infected teeth. Dr. Benford told the plaintiff that a lower back tooth and the tooth above it (both on the left side) required extraction. The extraction was delayed because of the infection. On January 24, 2008, the plaintiff visited Dr. Benford again for the extraction. When the planitiff arrived, he noticed that Dr. Benford had the plaintiff's Mississippi Department of Corrections internet site profile displayed on his computer with the plaintiff's rape charge highlighted. When Dr. Benford performed the extraction, he pulled three bottom teeth on the plaintiff's left side. In doing so, one of the plaintiff's teeth broke off, and Benford left the tooth fragment in the plaintiff's jaw. The plaintiff did not receive a prescription for pain or for antibiotics.