Opinion ID: 2791343
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Objective Test: Serious Medical Need

Text: As to the objective prong, we have held that a serious medical need does not require that an inmate receive the best possible treatment that money can buy. Kosilek, 774 F.3d at 85 (quoting United States v. DeCologero, 821 F.2d 39, 42 (1st Cir. 1987)). However, a serious medical need is one that is so obvious that even a lay person would easily recognize the necessity for a doctor's attention. Gaudreault v. Municipality of Salem, Mass., 923 F.2d 203, 208 (1st Cir. 1990). Even a significant risk of future harm may suffice. Kosilek, 774 F.3d at 85 (citing Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25, 35 (1993)). In the instant case, given the force involved in the altercation, and accepting Perry's version of his symptoms as presented to the nurses (a clenched jaw that would not open fully and was causing pain sufficient for him to announce that he thought it was broken), a lay person could find it obvious that the nurses should at least have examined the jaw. -10-