Filed: Apr. 12, 2001
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 00-60544 Conference Calendar JOHN MCFADDEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus THOMAS STEPHENS et al., Defendants-Appellees. - - - - - - - - - - Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC No. 3:98-CV-523-WS - - - - - - - - - - April 11, 2001 Before JOLLY, HIGGINBOTHAM, and JONES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Dr. John McFadden, a medical doctor licensed to practice medicine in Mississippi, fil
Summary: IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 00-60544 Conference Calendar JOHN MCFADDEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus THOMAS STEPHENS et al., Defendants-Appellees. - - - - - - - - - - Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC No. 3:98-CV-523-WS - - - - - - - - - - April 11, 2001 Before JOLLY, HIGGINBOTHAM, and JONES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Dr. John McFadden, a medical doctor licensed to practice medicine in Mississippi, file..
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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 00-60544
Conference Calendar
JOHN MCFADDEN,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
THOMAS STEPHENS et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.
- - - - - - - - - -
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Mississippi
USDC No. 3:98-CV-523-WS
- - - - - - - - - -
April 11, 2001
Before JOLLY, HIGGINBOTHAM, and JONES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Dr. John McFadden, a medical doctor licensed to practice
medicine in Mississippi, filed a complaint in the district court
seeking to stop the investigations of the Mississippi State Board
of Medical Licensure (the Board) into his compliance with the
Mississippi Medical Practice Act. He named the Board and its
numerous members as defendants.
McFadden alleged that, as part of an investigation of his
tendency to prescribe narcotics, the Board subpoenaed a number of
his patients’ medical records. Although the Board had yet to
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.
R. 47.5.4.
No. 00-60544
-2-
take any disciplinary action, McFadden sought in his suit to have
the court enter a declaratory judgment and injunction stating
that, if at some time in the future such action were taken, his
constitutional rights would be violated. The district court
dismissed McFadden’s complaint because it did not allege a “case
or controversy” under Article III of the Constitution, failing to
establish “a real and immediate injury or threat of injury.”
McFadden appeals that decision.
In his amended complaint, McFadden stated:
Dr. McFadden believes that in the future, he will be
the subject of disciplinary proceedings. There is no
current disciplinary proceeding pending before the
Defendants, but there is a likelihood that such a
proceeding will be brought in the future[.]
On appeal, McFadden asserts that he has suffered an injury in
fact because the actions of the Board in subpoenaing his
patients’ medical records make “the threat of prosecution actual
and imminent and not merely conjectural.” He asserts that the
resulting “chilling effect” amounts to a restriction of his
medical license because he “cannot provide his patients with the
treatment he would normally provide them due to his fear of
prosecution by a biased complaints tribunal.”
McFadden’s argument is without merit. Despite McFadden’s
current assertion of a perceived chilling effect on his practice,
the nature of any actual injury McFadden may suffer remains
entirely speculative, not concrete and particularized. See Soc’y
of Separationists, Inc. v. Herman,
959 F.2d 1283, 1285 (5th Cir.
1992) (en banc). McFadden thus has not met his burden of showing
that his claim meets the standing and ripeness requirements for
No. 00-60544
-3-
review under Article III. Accordingly, the district court’s
judgment of dismissal on this basis was not in error. McFadden’s
appeal is without merit, and it is DISMISSED as frivolous. See
Howard v. King,
707 F.2d 215, 219- 20 (5th Cir. 1983); 5TH CIR. R.
42.2. The appellees’ motion to dismiss the appeal on unrelated
grounds is DENIED as moot.