Inmate can sue over batteries to hear

A federal appeals court reinstated a lawsuit Monday by a hardofhearing prisoner who said that when the batteries on his hearing aid died, officers waited as long as 74 days to replace them.

When the batteries first went out in September 2017, Raymond Whitall said, nursing and mental health staff at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad told him they would be replaced immediately, but they weren’t. He was taken to a hospital, returned to his cell nine days later, and said he learned that the batteries had been available right away but were not provided to him.

In December 2017, Whitall said, the battery in his left hearing aid failed and was not replaced for 74 days, making it impossible for him to take part in mental health therapy. He said his left hearing aid broke in April 201t and was replaced 65 days later. He said he was told a certified audiologist had to approve the replacements, but the audiologist simply removed the new earpiece, a different make and model from Whitall’s other earpiece, from a box and put it in Whitall’s ear without any inspection.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco dismissed Whitall’s suit, saying his claims, if proved, would show only that prison officials had been negligent, an insufficient basis