Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis pulled out of a court hearing on Friday – because he is sick with an infection in Mexico.

Francis was due to face up to a civil suit filed by four Florida women who allege the sex movie boss filmed them while they were underage, but opted out of appearing in court after falling deathly ill during a trip to Mexico.

The embattled adult filmmaker was scheduled to appear before a judge in Panama City, Florida but his attorney provided a doctor’s note and explained the Francis is in a Mexican hospital, fighting off an ear infection and a high fever.

The lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal troubles for Joe Francis, who was slammed with a multimillion tax invasion lawsuit from the Internal Revenue Service last week.