Tuesday, May 25, 2010 | 1:54 p.m.
CARSON CITY – A federal appeals court has refused to reinstate Las Vegas physician Dr. James Tate as a trauma surgeon at University Medical Center after he reportedly pushed members of the family of a patient.
Tate practiced at the hospital for more than 20 years and has had occasional tussles with the administration.
Hospital records say Tate got into a heated argument with the father of an injured teenager over treatment. Tate and the father were standing chest to chest when the grandmother tried to step in. Tate pushed her away, but denies he hit her.
The hospital in August 2008 canceled his work as a trauma on-call surgeon saying he “could pose an unreasonable danger to UMC patients, visitors, employees and medical staff.”
Tate filed suit saying his constitutional rights were being violated and asked for a court order reinstating him. While that case was pending, the hospital staff terminated his hospital privileges. A separate suit is pending on that action.
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled it cannot restore Tate’s trauma on-call schedule because he no longer has any clinical privileges at the county hospital.
The court said, “If Dr. Tate is ineligible to practice medicine at UMC, then he cannot be reinstated on the trauma on-call schedule at the hospital.”
Judge Richard A. Paez wrote a concurring opinion that Tate could not be reinstated but said the appeal by Tate was moot because the revocation of his clinical privileges precluded the court from granting him any relief.
In 2003, Tate was convicted of a misdemeanor for punching a woman in the back of the head after an argument at a Radio Shack store in Las Vegas. He was fined $1,300.
Records at the state Board of Medical Examiners show no disciplinary action has been taken against him.
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