Judge halts medical board reprimand of UMC surgeon

By Cy Ryan

Friday, Sept. 16, 2011 | 12:23 p.m.

A Clark County District Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order halting the state Board of Medical Examiners from issuing a public reprimand of Dr. James Tate for his conduct toward relatives of a patient.

District Judge Elizabeth Gonzales approved the restraining order and set Oct. 24 for a hearing whether the state board rightfully ruled that Tate brought disrepute to the medical profession.

The medical board last week issued the reprimand, fined the surgeon $1,000 and ordered him to take 10 hours of continuing medical education.

Tate, in August 2008, recommended that a 14-year-old boy who had been run over by a car two days earlier be released from University Medical Center. The surgeon was called back the following day for another evaluation and again recommended the boy be allowed to go home.

The father and grandmother disagreed with Tate. And an argument ensued. The medical board said Tate made a comment "denigrating" the grandmother.

The argument grew more heated and the grandmother was struck when she tried to separate the father and the doctor. Tate's attorney, Jacob Hafter, told the Medical Board that the surgeon had apologized and that father and grandmother did not think Tate had brought disrepute to the medical profession.

Hafter also said Judge Gonzales ruled unconstitutional a law that says the court shall not stay an order by the board pending a final decision by the court.

Hafter said the Constitution empowers the court to issue injunctions. "The Medical Board's statute, however, improperly limits the court's constitutional powers without the benefit of a constitutional amendment."

Bradley Van Ry, deputy general counsel for the Medical Board, could not be reached for comment.

Gonzales ordered the briefing schedule on the merits of the board's reprimand to be speeded up for the Oct. 24 hearing.