Court Opinion

ID: 9908188
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-12-08 01:00:36.183229+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:48:58.537210
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-40198        Document: 00516994147             Page: 1      Date Filed: 12/07/2023

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

                                      No. 23-40198
                                                                             FILED
                                                                     December 7, 2023
                                     ____________
                                                                        Lyle W. Cayce
   Tony Epps,                                                                Clerk

                                                                    Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                            versus

   University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston;
   Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Institutional
   Division; Unknown Drug Company; David Callender,
   President, UTMB; Raymund S. Greenberg, Executive V.C. Health
   Affairs, UTMB; Bobby Lumpkin, Director, Texas Department of
   Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division; Gilead Sciences,
   Incorporated; Doctor Melvin Wright; Doctor Maria E.
   Berger; Doctor Julius Danzinger; Doctor R. G. Peil,

                                              Defendants—Appellees.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Eastern District of Texas
                               USDC No. 6:20-CV-407
                     ______________________________

   Before Smith, Southwick, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-40198        Document: 00516994147              Page: 2      Date Filed: 12/07/2023

                                         No. 23-40198

           Tony Epps, Texas prisoner # 450886, asserted in an amended 42
   U.S.C. § 1983 complaint that Dr. Melvin Wright, Dr. Maria E. Berger, Dr.
   Julius Danzinger, and Dr. R. G. Peil, in conjunction with Gilead Sciences,
   Inc. (Gilead), administered medication with serious negative side effects to
   him and other inmates.1 The district court dismissed Epps’s complaint for
   failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. See 28 U.S.C.
   §§ 1915(e)(2)(B) and 1915A(b)(1).               Epps has now filed a motion for
   authorization to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) on appeal, which
   constitutes a challenge to the district court’s certification that any appeal
   would not be taken in good faith because Epps will not present a nonfrivolous
   appellate issue. See Baugh v. Taylor, 117 F.3d 197, 202 (5th Cir. 1997).
           Epps does not mention Gilead, Dr. Danzinger, or Dr. Peil in his brief
   before this court or challenge the district court’s reasons for dismissing his
   claims against the defendants for failure to state a claim upon which relief
   may be granted. Thus, the claims against these defendants are deemed
   abandoned. See Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 224-25 (5th Cir. 1993);
   Brinkmann v. Dallas Cnty. Sheriff Abner, 813 F.2d 744, 748 (5th Cir. 1987).
   With respect to Dr. Wright and Dr. Berger, Epps makes the conclusional
   assertion that they prescribed the “crippling drugs.” Epps, however, does
   not provide sufficient facts surrounding the personal involvement of these
   defendants; nor does he meaningfully brief a substantive argument
   challenging the district court’s determination that his claims of medical
   malpractice are not cognizable in a § 1983 action. Thus, Epps’s claims

           _____________________
           1
            UTMB, Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Institutional Division, Unknown
   Drug Company, David Callender, Raymund S. Greenberg, and Bobby Lumpkin were
   dismissed by the district court without prejudice pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil
   Procedure 41(a). This decision by the district court is not at issue in the instant appeal.

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Case: 23-40198      Document: 00516994147           Page: 3    Date Filed: 12/07/2023

                                     No. 23-40198

   against these defendants are also deemed abandoned. See Coleman v. Lincoln
   Par. Det. Ctr., 858 F.3d 307, 309 (5th Cir. 2017); Brinkmann, 813 F.2d at 748.
          The appeal is without arguable merit and is thus frivolous. See Howard
   v. King, 707 F.2d 215, 220 (5th Cir. 1983). Epps’s motion to proceed IFP on
   appeal is DENIED, and the appeal is DISMISSED. See 5th Cir. R.
   42.2. The dismissal as frivolous of this appeal counts as a strike under 28
   U.S.C. § 1915(g). See Adepegba v. Hammons, 103 F.3d 383, 388 (5th Cir.
   1996), abrogated in part on other grounds by Coleman v. Tollefson, 575 U.S. 532,
   537 (2015). In addition, the district court’s dismissal of his original complaint
   for failure to state a claim upon which relief maybe granted also counts as a
   strike. See § 1915(g); Adepegba, 103 F.3d at 388. Epps is WARNED that if
   he accumulates three strikes, he will no longer be allowed to proceed IFP in
   any civil action or appeal filed while he is incarcerated or detained in any
   facility unless he is under imminent danger of serious physical injury. See
   § 1915(g).

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