Thompson v. Razavi
- Edward Davila
- 5:20-cv-04292
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 10
In Thompson v. Razavi, Judge Davila granted Dr. Tarrara’s summary-judgment motion and dismissed Thompson’s claim for failure to exhaust prison remedies.
John William Thompson’s Eighth Amendment claim against Dr. Tarrara was dismissed; Dr. Tarrara obtained summary judgment. The order did not reconsider the court’s earlier rulings for Dr. Eric Razavi and Dr. Mary Sweet.
What happened
In Thompson v. Razavi, John William Thompson, a prisoner representing himself, sued medical personnel under a federal civil-rights law. The remaining claim against Dr. Tarrara concerned medical treatment, including stopping Thompson’s Gabapentin medication and issues involving his back and leg.
Dr. Tarrara argued that Thompson had not completed the prison grievance process before filing suit. The court found that Thompson’s 2016 grievance stopped after the first level of review, even though the rules then required three levels. The court also rejected Thompson’s reliance on later grievances and health-care request forms, and found that he had not supported his claim that a hospital stay prevented a timely appeal.
Judge Davila granted Dr. Tarrara’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed Thompson’s claim against him for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The order terminated the motion docketed as No. 44.
The detailed version
- Thompson v. Razavi · No. 5:20-cv-04292
- Edward Davila
- Feb. 27, 2023
Background
John William Thompson, a California state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, brought this civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against medical personnel at two correctional facilities. The operative amended complaint asserted Eighth Amendment claims against three defendants. The court had previously granted summary judgment to Dr. Eric Razavi and Dr. Mary Sweet. This order addressed the remaining defendant, Dr. Tarrara, MD.
Thompson alleged that Dr. Tarrara, his primary-care physician at the Correctional Training Facility in 2016, discontinued Gabapentin in May 2016 and recommended continuing Morphine and Ibuprofen. Thompson also alleged that Dr. Tarrara accused him of seeking narcotics and delayed his surgical treatment. In an August 1, 2016 grievance, Thompson asked that Gabapentin be restored and that he be seen by a surgical specialist. A first-level response denied the medication-related part of the grievance and treated the request for surgical evaluation as granted because Thompson had undergone surgery in August 2016. Thompson did not appeal that response.
Dr. Tarrara’s motion
Dr. Tarrara moved for summary judgment based on failure to exhaust available administrative remedies. Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, a prisoner must properly complete available prison grievance procedures before bringing a federal action about prison conditions. Because the events occurred in 2016, the court applied the regulations then in effect, which required health-care grievances to proceed through three levels of review.
Thompson argued that a 2019 grievance and numerous health-care request forms supported exhaustion. The court rejected those arguments. The 2019 grievance did not mention Dr. Tarrara or identify any of his alleged actions, concerned a different time period and facility, and could not substitute for completing the 2016 grievance. The court also held that health-care request forms, or “sick call slips,” were not substitutes for the required grievance forms.
Thompson also asserted that an emergency hospital stay prevented him from timely appealing the first-level response. The court found that he offered only a conclusory assertion and did not explain what the surgery involved, when it occurred, or why it prevented an appeal. Viewing the undisputed evidence in the light most favorable to Thompson, the court concluded that he had not properly exhausted the available administrative remedies.
Disposition
The court held that Dr. Tarrara was entitled to summary judgment under Rule 56 based on failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Judge Davila’s order states that Dr. Tarrara’s motion for summary judgment was GRANTED and that Thompson’s claim against Dr. Tarrara was DISMISSED for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The order terminated Docket No. 44.
Read the full 10-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.