A former University of Nebraska Medical Center student is suing the NU Board of Regents, the med center and a number of its officials for discriminating against him because of his acute depression.

In two lawsuits filed in July and October in Lancaster County District Court, the former student -- identified as John Doe -- alleges his poor evaluations and ultimate dismissal from medical school in November 2006 were the result of prejudicial treatment by med center staff.

Despite a "major depressive disorder" that forced him to take a brief leave of absence from his studies, the student argues in the lawsuits, he was qualified to remain in medical school and should not have been treated differently than non-disabled students.

He says he has suffered harm to his reputation, shame and emotional distress. He is requesting a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages, plus a refund of tuition and fee money and compensation for loss of income because he hasn't been able to finish medical school.

In a response to the first lawsuit, the Omaha attorney representing the med center denies virtually all of the student's allegations -- including the claim he suffered from such severe depression it qualified as a disability -- and requests the suit be dismissed.

The med center's decision to dismiss the student was done in accordance with College of Medicine policies, attorney Amy Longo argues.

"UNMC and its employees have the responsibility to educate medical students, to evaluate their academic performance and to make decisions about the suitability of medical students to progress and ultimately become physicians who are entrusted with the care and treatment of individuals seeking their expertise," Longo writes.

Reached this week, Longo declined further comment.

In his lawsuits, the former student says he took a leave of absence during his second year of medical school because depression was limiting his ability to concentrate and sleep.

He says he was prescribed medications to treat depression, anxiety and insomnia.

Upon returning to school, he began his clerkships -- a series of six real-world clinical experiences required during medical students' third year -- in late 2005.

The student failed a clerkship in internal medicine. He says he met with clerkship director David O'Dell to discuss an appeal of his grade.

But, he alleges, O'Dell told him the grade could not be appealed -- even though he claims a fellow student who did not have a disability had failed the same clerkship and was allowed to appeal. (In her response, Longo denies that claim.)

The student also was given a failing grade for his OB-GYN clerkship. The student says he e-mailed clerkship director Sonja Kinney asking for copies of his written evaluations, but says Kinney would not provide them.

The former student says he was asked by Jeffrey Hill, associate dean for admissions and students, to sign a contract that laid out conditions for his continued enrollment in medical school.

The student e-mailed Hill to say his mental health was deteriorating and he needed to see a med center psychologist. Hill did not respond to the e-mail, the student says.

The student did not sign the contract. Ultimately, the matter went before the med center's Scholastic Evaluation Committee on Oct. 3, 2006.

At that time, the student says, a clause was added to the contract stating negative ratings for professionalism in future clerkships were grounds for dismissal.

The student claims he was forced to sign the contract, even though no non-disabled students in a similar academic situation were required to do so.

The student later went to the emergency room for severe abdominal pain related to a hernia. He scheduled an operation for Oct. 20, 2006, the day after he was set to finish his surgery clerkship.

On Oct. 19, Michael Spann, a plastic surgery fellow at the med center, asked the student to conduct patient rounds the next morning. The student says he asked Spann not to impose such a requirement because it would require him to wake up at 4:30 a.m., and he was taking Vicodin and would not be able to eat anything before his surgery.

Spann didn't relent, the student alleges. And, he says, Spann later gave him a poor evaluation for his surgery clerkship -- a move the student calls "retaliatory, prejudiced, discriminatory, arbitrary, capricious and in bad faith."

As a result of the poor evaluation, the student was again called before the Scholastic Evaluation Committee on Nov. 7, 2006.

During the hearing, he says, he was told he had violated the professionalism clause from his contract and therefore would be dismissed from medical school.

The student, who lives in Omaha, filed a similar lawsuit in Douglas County District Court last year, but a judge dismissed it.

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.