Ex-inmate alleges N.L. guard performed dental work on him while another filmed

ST. JOHN’S, N.L.— A former inmate of a Newfoundland and Labrador jail is suing the province, a dentist and two correctional officers after a guard allegedly performed a dental procedure on him while he was sedated.

The lawsuit says the incident happened while the former inmate was receiving authorized dental surgery from a licensed surgeon, and it alleges that the surgeon allowed one of the officers to take part while the other officer filmed it.

A statement of claim filed in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court by St. John’s lawyer Bob Buckingham on Dec. 4 says plaintiff Blair Anthony Harris was an inmate at the Bishop’s

Falls Correctional Centre for men when he was taken on Oct. 16 to a dental clinic in Gander, N.L., for major surgery.

The claim says dental surgeon Dr. Louis Bourget performed the surgery and alleges that he allowed Ron McDonald, one of the two guards with Harris, to perform a procedure while Harris was sedated. Roy Goodyear, the other guard, is alleged to have filmed the surgery and shown the video to correctional staff.

Harris is suing Bourget, Bourget’s dental company, the province, McDonald and Goodyear, as well as the dental company that owns Gander Family Dental, where the surgery is alleged to have happened. It does not specify at this point the damages being sought.