Hageseth v. Superior Court

In Hageseth v. Superior Court (2007) 150 Cal.App.4th 1399, the court applied sections 27 and 778, in concluding that a physician who was never physically present in California could be subject to criminal prosecution in this state for practicing medicine without a California medical license. In that case, a California resident (McKay), initiated an online purchase of a generic version of the drug Prozac from a Web site that was outside the United States. (Hageseth, supra, 150 Cal.App.4th at p. 1404.) McKay initiated the purchase by submitting, over the internet, a questionnaire in which he identified himself as a California resident and requested that the drug be sent to him at a California address. (Ibid.) The Web site operator forwarded McKay's completed questionnaire to a company (JRB), which had its headquarters in Florida and operated a computer server in Texas. (Ibid.) JRB forwarded McKay's purchase request and questionnaire to defendant Hageseth, who was physically located in Colorado and licensed to practice medicine in that state. Hageseth issued an online prescription to JRB's server in Texas, which forwarded the prescription to a pharmacy in Mississippi. (Ibid.) The pharmacy filled the prescription and mailed the drug to McKay at his California address. (Ibid.) In summarizing these facts, the Hageseth court stated, "A preponderance of the evidence shows Hageseth prescribed medication for a resident of this state, aware of the virtual certainty his conduct would cause the prescribed medication to be sent that person at his residence in California." (Id. at p. 1418.)