Case Name: Melvin GAMAGE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Lorenzo CABE, Doctor, Defendant-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2005-04-05
Citations: 125 F. App'x 572
Docket Number: No. 04-60563
Parties: Melvin GAMAGE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Lorenzo CABE, Doctor, Defendant-Appellee.
Judges: Before JONES, BARKSDALE and PRADO, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 125
Pages: 572–573

Head Matter:
Melvin GAMAGE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Lorenzo CABE, Doctor, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 04-60563.
Summary Calendar.
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
Decided April 5, 2005.
Melvin Gamage, Mississippi Department of Corrections S Mississippi Correctional Institution, Leakesville, MS, pro se.
Before JONES, BARKSDALE and PRADO, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM:
Melvin Gamage, Mississippi prisoner # 56705, has appealed the district court's order denying his application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis ("IFP") and ordering his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 case closed on the ground that he had failed to exhaust administrative remedies by pursuing relief through the prison grievance system. In his complaint, Gamage alleged that Dr. Lorenzo Cabe was deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs during the course of Dr. Cabe's treatment of Gamage's in-grown toenail.
Prisoners who wish to seek relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 are required to exhaust their prison administrative remedies prior to filing their complaint irrespective of the type of relief sought. See 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a); Ferrington v. Louisiana Dep't of Corr., 315 F.3d 529, 531 (5th Cir.2002). Whether the district court procedurally erred, or did not err, in denying IFP and administratively closing the case on the basis of failure to exhaust, compare Watson v. Ault, 525 F.2d 886, 891-92 (5th Cir.1976), because the record shows that Gamage had not exhausted his administrative remedies at the time he filed his complaint on February 2, 2004, and because his deliberate-indifference claim is without merit, the error, if any, was harmless. Alexander v. Tippah County, Miss., 351 F.3d 626, 630 (5th Cir.2003); Varnado v. Lynaugh, 920 F.2d 320, 321 (5th Cir.1991). The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.
AFFIRMED.
Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.