The Colorado doctor facing local charges stemming from an online Prozac prescription he filled for a Stanford student who subsequently committed suicide delayed the court hearing considered the first step in his renewed effort to fight extradition back to San Mateo County.

Dr. Christian Ellis Hageseth III, 66,  has been battling extradition since county prosecutors charged him with one count of practicing medicine without a license.

The effort took a new turn earlier this month when Nebraska police stopped Hageseth for reportedly speeding and learned of his $500,00 felony arrest warrant out of California.

On Thursday, Hageseth appeared in a Sidney, Neb. courtroom on the allegation he is a fugitive from justice. He postponed his arraignment until Nov. 8, according to officials there.

Hageseth defense attorney Carl Briggs said after his client’s arrest the current situation is no different than before — his client is not on the lam because he cannot legally be prosecuted when he wasn’t physically in the state when the prescription was issued.

In June 2005, John McKay, a freshman at Stanford University and former student at Menlo-Atherton High School, purchased 90 capsules of generic Prozac via credit card at the online pharmacy site USAnewRX.com which was then shipped from the Mississippi-based Gruich Pharmacy Shoppe.

Online sites like the one used by McKay do not require a physical examination prior to receiving a prescription. Instead, the buyer fills out an online questionnaire which a doctor is supposed to review before signing off on the drugs.

Hageseth signed off on the prescription of fluoxetine without a consultation. On Aug. 2, 2005, McKay committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, reportedly with alcohol and fluoxetine in his system.

At the time of McKay’s online purchase, Hageseth had a restricted medical license at the time because of an unrelated relationship with a patient he later married and was not allowed to fill prescriptions.

He currently does not have a Colorado medical license because it was suspended after the charge.

The following February, McKay’s parents, David and Sheila, filed a federal lawsuit against Hageseth and the pharmacies, alleging negligence and wrongful death. That lawsuit has now been dismissed after experts testified that the fluoxetene did not cause McKay’s suicide, Briggs said.

Meanwhile, the Medical Board of California launched its own investigation and the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges last May.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.