Does collateral estoppel bar an applicant from accessing medical care?

It is the doctrine of collateral estoppel (issue preclusion rather than cause of action preclusion) with which we are concerned here, i.e., applicant's entitlement to medical care. Application of the collateral estoppel doctrine may bar relitigation of a particular issue, when there has been a prior adjudication of the issue in another action, but it is utilized more flexibly than is the doctrine of res judicata. It has been said that collateral estoppel is based on equitable principles, and that the issue in question must have been sufficiently litigated in the prior forum to produce a firm and conclusive resolution. (Sandoval v. Superior Court (1983) 140 Cal.App.3d 932, 936, 190 Cal.Rptr. 29; Rest.2d Judgments, 13, com. a, p. 132.)