Professional Negligence Action Against Prison Doctor.

Plaintiff was a prisoner in state prison when he alleges he was negligently treated by a doctor. The trial court granted summary judgment for the doctor on plaintiff’s two causes of action: breach of fiduciary duty and professional negligence. The appellate court reversed, stating: “With respect to his breach of fiduciary duty claim, [plaintiff] alleged in his complaint that [the doctor] breached his fiduciary duty by prescribing the drug interferon to [plaintiff] without first having obtained [plaintiff’s] informed consent. [The doctor] failed to address this theory of liability in his moving papers, and thus failed to carry his burden of making a ‘prima facie showing of the nonexistence of any triable issue of material fact.’” With respect to plaintiff’s cause of action for medical negligence, the appellate court stated: “[Plaintiff’s] professional negligence claim is not premised on a failure to cure [plaintiff], but rather, on the allegation that [the doctor] performed below the standard of care in unnecessarily prescribing a medication that had significant and damaging side effects at a time when [plaintiff] was not suffering from hepatitis.” Jameson v. Desta  (Cal. App. Fourth Dist., Div. 1; April 29, 2013) 215 Cal.App.4th 1144, [155 Cal.Rptr.3d 755].