Carter v. Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office et al

Filing 19

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS 18 . Signed by Chief Judge Sarah S. Vance on 11/8/13.(jjs, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
STEVEN M. CARTER

CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS

NO: 13-4896

LAFOURCHE PARISH SHERIFF’S
OFFICE ET AL.

SECTION: R(2)

ORDER AND REASONS
Before the Court is Steven Carter’s prisoner complaint,1 his
amended complaint,2 and the Magistrate Judge’s Report and
Recommendation that the petition be dismissed with prejudice.3
The Court, having reviewed de novo the petition, the record, the
applicable law and the Magistrate Judge's unopposed Report and
Recommendation, hereby approves the Magistrate Judge's Report and
Recommendation and adopts it as its opinion with the addition of
the following analysis.
In order to state a claim for damages for inadequate medical
care under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a prisoner must demonstrate that
prison officials or other state actors exhibited "deliberate
indifference to serious medical needs." Estelle v. Gamble, 429
U.S. 97, 104 (1976). Where a delay in medical treatment is the
basis for a claim of inadequate medical care, the plaintiff must
not only show deliberate indifference, but also that it resulted

1

R. Doc. 1.

2

R. Doc. 8.

3

R. Doc. 18.

in substantial harm. Easter v. Powell, 467 F.3d 459, 461 & n.2
(5th Cir. 2006) (citing Mendoza v. Lynaugh, 989 F.2d 191, 195
(5th Cir. 1993) ("[D]elay in medical care can only constitute an
Eighth Amendment violation if there has been deliberate
indifference, which results in substantial harm.")). As discussed
in the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, Carter fails
sufficiently to allege deliberate indifference.4 In addition, he
fails to allege that the two- or three-week delay in obtaining
surgery resulted in substantial harm. Carter received ongoing
medical care during the interim period between the recommendation
of surgery and his actual surgery and does not allege substantial
harm resulting from the delay or interim treatment. Accordingly,
Steven Carter’s complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.

New Orleans, Louisiana, this _____ day of November, 2013.
8th

SARAH S. VANCE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

4

Id. at 12-17.
2