Court Opinion

ID: 9956850
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-03 00:00:42.214803+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:17:56.172580
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-40316           Document: 49-1        Page: 1      Date Filed: 04/02/2024

          United States Court of Appeals
               for the Fifth Circuit
                                  ____________                   United States Court of Appeals
                                                                          Fifth Circuit

                                   No. 23-40316
                                                                        FILED
                                                                     April 2, 2024
                                 Summary Calendar
                                 ____________                      Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                        Clerk
Austin D. Birdow,

                                                                 Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                         versus

Isaac Kwarteng, Medical Director,

                                            Defendant—Appellee.
                  ______________________________

                  Appeal from the United States District Court
                      for the Southern District of Texas
                            USDC No. 2:21-CV-102
                  ______________________________

Before Jolly, Engelhardt, and Douglas, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam: *
      Austin D. Birdow, Texas prisoner # 02900272, filed a 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983 suit against Dr. Isaac Kwarteng, Medical Director of the McConnell
Unit where Birdow is housed, complaining that Dr. Kwarteng had been
deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs when Birdow sought
treatment for a laceration on his tongue. The district court determined that

      _____________________
      *
          This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-40316       Document: 49-1        Page: 2    Date Filed: 04/02/2024

                                 No. 23-40316

Dr. Kwarteng was entitled to qualified immunity because Birdow failed to
show a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Dr. Kwarteng acted with
deliberate indifference to Birdow’s serious medical needs and granted the
doctor’s motion for summary judgment. See Pratt v. Harris Cnty., Tex., 822
F.3d 174, 180 (5th Cir. 2016).
       Birdow reiterates his claims and asserts that the district court erred by
granting the motion for summary judgment. We review de novo the district
court’s ruling on the motion for summary judgment. Nickell v. Beau View of
Biloxi, LLC, 636 F.3d 752, 754 (5th Cir. 2011).
       The nature of Birdow’s allegations against Dr. Kwarteng is a challenge
to the medical judgment he exercised when treating and accessing Birdow’s
tongue injury, which does not give rise to a constitutional violation. See
Gobert v. Caldwell, 463 F.3d 339, 346 (5th Cir. 2006). The district court did
not err by granting Dr. Kwarteng’s motion for summary judgment and
denying Birdow’s cross motion for summary judgment. See Fed. R. Civ.
P. 56(a).
       Accordingly, the district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.

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