A Colorado inmate has sued four prison officials in federal court claiming that inattention to an agonizing tooth infection nearly cost him his life and left him with permanent injuries.
Christopher Tantlinger, 32, an inmate at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Ordway, filed the lawsuit against the prison’s warden, Randy Lind, a nurse and two correctional officers. Tantlinger is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, according to the suit, filed by Denver attorney David Lane.
Colorado Department of Corrections officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Tantlinger is serving a 32-year sentence out of Denver for threatening a police officer with a gun.
On Sept. 19, 2012, Tantlinger’s wisdom teeth were extracted. No antibiotics were used and the inmate’s mouth became infected, the lawsuit says. His pleas for medical care were ignored, the suit says. Later, when his neck and jaw became seriously infected, he was given ibuprofen. He couldn’t eat or drink, the lawsuit says.
Four days after the extraction, he was taken to a Pueblo hospital. The next day, when he spoke with a correctional officer, he was allegedly told, “I hope you (expletive) die,” the suit says.
Tantlinger was too ill to get out of bed the next day, Sept. 25. Officers ignored pleas from his cellmate, Justin Hammond, for help. He was taken to a hospital the next day, only when it appeared he was “near death,” the suit says.
Tantlinger was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of Ludwig’s angina, a mouth infection. A tracheotomy was done, as well as emergency mouth surgery. On Sept. 28, he was taken to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Denver, where he was treated until Nov. 13. He was then taken to the clinic at the Denver Diagnostic and Reception Center, a prison, where he remained until Dec. 11.
Tantlinger continues to suffer from a near paralysis of his tongue and his speech is severely impaired, the suit says.
