High court stays out of Hammargren suit

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2000 | 10:47 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court has denied a pre-trial petition sought by former Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren, who is one of the defendants in a medical malpractice suit in Las Vegas.

The court said it would not intervene at this point in the suit brought by William Pollack, who says his back ailment was misdiagnosed and mistreated in 1994.

Hammargren is included as one of the defendants because he allegedly gave advice over the telephone to the treating physician at the emergency room at St. Rose Dominican Hospital, where Pollack was admitted. Pollack was later transferred to Shadow Mountain Transitional Care and Rehabilitation Center.

Hammargren, a neurosurgeon, does not remember having any telephone conversation with the treating physician and says even if he did, he would not give any advice without an examination of the patient. And he says there was no physician-patient relationship established by a telephone conservation.

Justice Bill Maupin, in a concurring opinion, said the District Court should pose a special question to the jury about whether the physician-patient relationship existed. If the jury finds there was a relationship, only then should it start to consider if Hammargren was liable, Maupin said.

The examination at St. Rose Dominican showed Pollack had a bulging or herniated lumbar disc. His suit in Las Vegas seeks in excess of $10,000 in damages.