Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-90-08013/USCOURTS-ca10-90-08013-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 

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,I 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

VINCENT APODACA, ) 

) 

Plaintiff-Appellant, ) 

) 

v. ) 

FILED 

Unit.cl State. Court of Appeals T-:-"!th ~h-:mit 

SEP 1 9 19SO 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

No. 90-8013 

) 

DUANE SHILLINGER, Warden; WYOMING BOARD) 

OF CHARITIES AND REFORM; C.M. JOHNSON; ) 

JANET OMMEN; and ARCHIE KIRSCH, ) 

(D.C. No. Misc. 89-98) 

(D. Wyo.) 

) 

Defendants-Appellees. ) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT * 

Before LOGAN, SEYMOUR, and TACHA, Circuit Judges. 

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 

34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The case is therefore ordered 

submitted without oral argument. 

Vincent Apodaca appeals from the district court's order 

dismissing his prose civil rights action. Apodaca contends that 

the district court erred in finding he had stated no claim of 

indifference to serious medical needs. We affirm. 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall 

not be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, 

except for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of 

the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 

36.3. 

Appellate Case: 90-8013 Document: 010110042224 Date Filed: 09/19/1990 Page: 1 
I 

) 

The essence of Apodaca's claim is that state prison officials 

are interfering with his medical treatment by refusing to 

transport him to a chiropractor located in another city. Apodaca 

does not allege that the medical care offered by the prison 

physician is somehow inadequate; indeed, the prison has offered 

Apodaca surgery, which he declined as unnecessary. Instead, 

Apodaca claims that refusal to let his original physician continue 

treatment somehow rises to the level of deliberate indifference. 

This contention is meritless. "The right to be free from cruel 

and unusual punishment does not include the right to the treatment 

of one's choice." Layne Y...!.. Vinzant, 657 F.2d 468, 473 (1st Cir. 

1981). Apodaca's liberty, including his ability to continue with 

his preferred chiropractor, is necessarily restricted by the 

subsequent fact of his conviction. An inmate has no independent 

constitutional right to medical care beyond that provided in 

prison. See Jackson Y...!.. Fair, 846 F.2d 811, 817-18 (1st Cir. 

1988). 

Apodaca has not made the necessary showing to survive 

dismissal. See Coppedge Y...!.. United States, 369 U.S. 438 (1962). 

Accordingly, the appeal is DISMISSED. The mandate shall issue 

forthwith. 

2 

ENTERED FOR THE COURT 

Deanell Reece Tacha 

Circuit Judge 

Appellate Case: 90-8013 Document: 010110042224 Date Filed: 09/19/1990 Page: 2