HCA HEALTH SERVICES OF FLORIDA, INC., D/B/A HCA MEDICAL CENTER OF PORT ST. LUCIE, AND PERRY R. LLOYD III, M.D., APPELLANTS,
v.
GUS BRANCHESI, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF ADRIA BRANCHESI, DECEASED, APPELLEE
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ANSTEAD, Judge.
At issue is whether the trial court erred in ruling that certain provisions of the Florida medical malpractice statutes were unconstitutional. We affirm.
At the center of the constitutional debate are provisions of the act mandating caps on non-economic damages in malpractice actions and providing for arbitration of such claims. Because we find ourselves in substantial agreement with the reasoning of the Third District in considering the same issues in University of Miami v. Echarte, 585 So. 2d 293 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991), we decline to set out our reasoning in detail. Instead, we affirm the trial court’s judgment based upon the reasoning set out in Judge Baskin’s opinion in Echarte, and we expressly hold that sections 766.207 and 766.209, Florida Statutes (1989) violate the provisions for access to the courts and for jury trial as set out in the Florida Constitution, and as interpreted by the Florida Supreme Court in Smith v. Department of Insurance, 507 So. 2d 1080 (Fla.1987).
HERSEY and GARRETT, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Santelli v. Victor M. Arean, M.D., 616 So. 2d 1149 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993)…the defendants timely accepted their offer to arbitrate, the limitations and damage caps imposed upon them by electing arbitration are unconstitutional. The Santellis rely on the recent decisions of HCA Health Services of Florida, Inc. v. Branchesi, 597 So. 2d 414 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), and University of Miami v. Echarte, 585 So. 2d 293 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991). In these cases, which are currently on appeal in the Florida Supreme Court, the district courts held that sections 766.207 and 766.209 violate the constituti…
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HCA Health Servs. OF Fla., Inc. v. Gus Branchesi, 620 So. 2d 176 (Fla. 1993)…PER CURIAM. We have on appeal HCA Health Services of Florida v. Branchesi, 597 So. 2d 414 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), in which the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s ruling that sections 766.207 and 766.209, Florida Statutes (1989), violated the right of access to the courts. Art. I, § 21, Fla. Const. Both HCA Health Servi…
Authorities Cited
- Smith v. Dep't OF Ins., 507 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 1987)
- Univ. OF Miami v. Echarte, 585 So. 2d 293 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)