Opinion
No. 97 Civ. 1569 (MGC)
May 30, 2002
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Plaintiff Joseph Concepción brought this suit, alleging that unsafe prison conditions caused him injuries that were aggravated by medical indifference on the part of the prison medical staff. This action is dismissed because of plaintiff's failure to exhaust the available administrative remedies as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("PLRA").
The PLRA provides in pertinent part that:
no action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under section 1983 of this title, or any other federal law, by a prisoner confined in any jail, prison or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted.42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). The Second Circuit has held that allegations about poor medical treatment are "garden variety complaints about prison conditions" to which the PLRA's exhaustion requirement applies. Neal v. Goord, 267 F.3d 116, 119-20 (2d Cir. 2001); see also Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 122 S.Ct. 983, 992 (Feb. 24, 2002) ("PLRA's exhaustion requirement applies to all inmate suits about prison life").
The New York State Department of Correctional Services ("DOCS") has established an "Inmate Grievance Program" for filing grievances in each of its prison facilities. See N.Y. Comp. Codes R. Regs. tit. 7, § 701.7. The Inmate Grievance Program contains a three-step grievance procedure, the last of which is an appeal to the Central Office Review Committee ("CORC"). Id. Defendants have submitted an affidavit from Thomas G. Eagan, Director of the Inmate Grievance Program for DOCS. Eagan attests that plaintiff did not fully exhaust his administrative remedies because he did not appeal his grievance to the CORC. Plaintiff has not submitted any evidence to the contrary.
Accordingly, this action is dismissed.
SO ORDERED.