A Conway man was ordered by a court Thursday to stop publicly complaining about his former surgeon until the doctor's defamation lawsuit against him can be decided at trial.
Neurosurgeon James Michael Calhoun testified before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza that former patient James Blazier's public protests and letter-writing campaign to authorities, including the president and the governor, has irrevocably damaged his reputation.
Calhoun also told the judge that Blazier's picketing at a clinic where he works in Conway and the North Little Rock hospital where he operated on Blazier has discouraged his patients from keeping their appointments.
"Let's stop all of this until we have a trial," Piazza told Blazier.
The doctor, licensed since 1989, filed his defamation suit against Blazier, a 57-year-old electrician, about a week after the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway ran a story about Blazier's picketing of the clinic where Calhoun works, with the newspaper quoting Blazier as saying he planned more public protests.
Seeking a temporary restraining order ahead of a trial yet to be scheduled, Calhoun said Blazier is unsatisfied with the results of neck surgery he performed in September 2011, and that he's had three independent doctors review his work and each found he had done nothing wrong.
"The allegations are hurting my practice," Calhoun told the judge during the 25-minute hearing. "I think it [picketing] does keep patients from getting to me."
Calhoun's attorney Tre Kitchens described Blazier's efforts as a "smear campaign," with Calhoun testifying that the damage to his reputation and practice could not be restored, even if he won a $10 million judgment against Blazier.
Blazier never filed a malpractice suit against the doctor, and the statute of limitations now bars such a suit, Kitchens said. Blazier has also filed two complaints with the Arkansas State Medical Board, but both have been dismissed, he said.
Blazier, acting as his own attorney, declined the opportunity to question Calhoun. Blazier testified that he has given up his protests to focus on defending himself from the lawsuit.
"I have not protested any further since I got the order to appear [in court]," he told the judge. "I believe I've been exercising my right to free speech."
Questioned by Kitchens, he acknowledged printing posters and making T-shirts outlining his complaints. He said he consulted a lawyer about suing for malpractice but did not get around to it, partly because he was undergoing rehabilitative treatment and partly because he did not understand the legal system.
His complaint against Calhoun has since grown to complaints about the system, including the medical board, that he feels has excluded him.
"I felt unfairly treated," he told the judge.
Granting Calhoun's request for a temporary restraining order against Blazier, the judge also encouraged the defendant to hire an attorney if he could, predicting a nonlawyer will have difficulty navigating the intricacies of defending against a defamation accusation.
Metro on 04/03/2015