Snead v. Bendigo

This appeal requires us to decide whether a judgment in favor of a physician in an action to collect fees operates as a collateral estoppel bar against a later malpractice action by the patient against the physician. We conclude that it does not.

The essential facts are undisputed. In 1984, Guy Finney Snead (the patient) suffered a broken leg in an automobile accident. He obtained medical treatment from Leopoldo L. Bendigo, M.D. In 1987, after the patient had failed to pay the physician’s bill for these services, Dr. Bendigo filed a notice of motion for judgment against him in the General…