Florida Hospital Waterman, Inc. v. Buster — Mar. 2008 (Full Text)
Supreme Court of Florida
____________
No. SC06-688
____________
FLORIDA HOSPITAL WATERMAN, INC., etc.,
Petitioner/Cross-Respondent,
vs.
TERESA M. BUSTER, etc., et al.,
Respondents/Cross-Petitioners.
____________
No. SC06-912
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NOTAMI HOSPITAL OF FLORIDA, INC., etc.,
Appellant/Petitioner,
vs.
EVELYN BOWEN, et al.,
Appellees/Respondents.
[March 6, 2008]
PER CURIAM.
These cases are before the Court for review of the decisions of the First and
Fifth District Courts of Appeal in Notami Hospital of Florida, Inc. v. Bowen, 927
So. 2d 139 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006), and Florida Hospital Waterman, Inc. v. Buster,
932 So. 2d 344 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006). Both decisions address the scope of article
X, section 25 of the Florida Constitution, a ballot initiative passed by the voters in
November 2004 and known as amendment 7, the Patients’ Right to Know About
Adverse Medical Incidents. 1 The Fifth District in Buster certified three questions
of great public importance to this Court, and the First District in Notami Hospital
held a statute unconstitutional and certified conflict with Buster. We have
jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.
For the reasons expressed below, we approve in part the decision of the Fifth
District holding amendment 7 to be self-executing and we affirm the First
District’s holdings that the amendment is self-executing and retroactive and its
provisions apply to records existing prior to its passage. We also conclude that
several subsections of section 381.028, Florida Statutes (2005), conflict with
1. The amendment was passed by a vote of 81.2 percent in favor and 18.8
percent against. Fla. Dep’t of State, Div. of Elections, Nov. 2, 2004 General
Election, Official Results, http://election.dos.state.fl.us/elections/resultsarchive/
(select “2004 General” election from dropdown menu; then select “Const.
Amendments” from dropdown menu).
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amendment 7 and are therefore unconstitutional, but we sever those provisions and
hold that the remainder of the statute is valid.
I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Each of these cases addresses amendment 7, approved by the voters on
November 2, 2004, and codified as article X, section 25 of the Florida
Constitution. The amendment provides:
Section 25. Patients’ right to know about adverse medical
incidents.–
(a) In addition to any other similar rights provided herein or by
general law, patients have a right to have access to any records made
or received in the course of business by a health care facility or
provider relating to any adverse medical incident.
(b) In providing such access, the identity of patients involved
in the incidents shall not be disclosed, and any privacy restrictions
imposed by federal law shall be maintained.
(c) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) The phrases “health care facility” and “health care
provider” have the meaning given in general law related to a patient’s
rights and responsibilities.
(2) The term “patient” means an individual who has sought, is
seeking, is undergoing, or has undergone care or treatment in a health
care facility or by a health care provider.
(3) The phrase “adverse medical incident” means medical
negligence, intentional misconduct, and any other act, neglect, or
default of a health care facility or health care provider that caused or
could have caused injury to or death of a patient, including, but not
limited to, those incidents that are required by state or federal law to
be reported to any governmental agency or body, and incidents that
are reported to or reviewed by any health care facility peer review,
risk management, quality assurance, credentials, or similar committee,
or any representative of any such committees.
(4) The phrase “have access to any records” means, in addition
to any other procedure for producing such records provided by general
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law, making the records available for inspection and copying upon
formal or informal request by the patient or a representative of the
patient, provided that current records which have been made publicly
available by publication or on the Internet may be “provided” by
reference to the location at which the records are publicly available.
Art. X, § 25, Fla. Const. The effective date and severability provision provides
that “[t]his amendment shall be effective on the date it is approved by the
electorate.” Advisory Opinion to the Att’y Gen. re Patients’ Right to Know About
Adverse Med. Incidents, 880 So. 2d 617, 619 (Fla. 2004) (“Patients’ Right to
Know”). 2 The ballot title for the proposed amendment was “Patients’ Right to
Know About Adverse Medical Incidents,” and the ballot summary accompanying
the proposed amendment read as follows:
Current Florida law restricts information available to patients related
to investigations of adverse medical incidents, such as medical
malpractice. This amendment would give patients the right to review,
upon request, records of health care facilities’ or providers’ adverse
medical incidents, including those which could cause injury or death.
Provides that patients’ identitie [sic] should not be disclosed.
Id.
2. Amendment 7, as proposed to the Secretary of State and to this Court,
included an “Effective Date and Severability” section. That section was not
officially added to the Florida Constitution. See art. X, § 25, Fla. Const.; Patients’
Right to Know, 880 So. 2d at 619.
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After the passage of the amendment, the Legislature enacted chapter 2005-
265, Laws of Florida, effective June 20, 2005, dealing with the same subject as
amendment 7.3 This is now codified at section 381.028 in the Florida Statutes.
3. This stated purpose of this statute is to implement amendment 7. The
statute provides:
381.028. Adverse medical incidents.–
(1) SHORT TITLE.––This section may be cited as the
“Patients’ Right-to-Know About Adverse Medical Incidents Act.”
(2) PURPOSE.––It is the purpose of this act to implement s.
25, Art. X of the State Constitution. The Legislature finds that this
section of the State Constitution is intended to grant patient access to
records of adverse medical incidents, which records were made or
received in the course of business by a health care facility or provider,
and not to repeal or otherwise modify existing laws governing the use
of these records and the information contained therein. The
Legislature further finds that all existing laws extending criminal and
civil immunity to persons providing information to quality-of-care
committees or organizations and all existing laws concerning the
discoverability or admissibility into evidence of records of an adverse
medical incident in any judicial or administrative proceeding remain
in full force and effect.
(3) DEFINITIONS.––As used in s. 25, Art. X of the State
Constitution, and this act, the term:
(a) “Agency” means the Agency for Health Care
Administration.
(b) “Adverse medical incident” means medical negligence,
intentional misconduct, and any other act, neglect, or default of a
health care facility or health care provider which caused or could have
caused injury to or the death of a patient, including, but not limited to,
those incidents that are required by state or federal law to be reported
to any governmental agency or body, incidents that are reported to any
governmental agency or body, and incidents that are reported to or
reviewed by any health care facility peer review, risk management,
quality assurance, credentials, or similar committee or any
representative of any such committee.
(c) “Department” means the Department of Health.
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(d) “Have access to any records” means, in addition to any
other procedure for producing the records provided by general law,
making the records available for inspection and copying upon formal
or informal request by the patient or a representative of the patient,
provided that current records that have been made publicly available
by publication or on the Internet may be provided by reference to the
location at which the records are publicly available.
(e) “Health care provider” means a physician licensed under
chapter 458, chapter 459, or chapter 461.
(f) “Health care facility” means a facility licensed under
chapter 395.
(g) “Identity” means any “individually identifiable health
information” as defined by the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 or its implementing regulations.
(h) “Patient” means an individual who has sought, is seeking,
is undergoing, or has undergone care or treatment in a health care
facility or by a health care provider.
(i) “Privacy restrictions imposed by federal law” means the
provisions relating to the disclosure of patient privacy information
under federal law, including, but not limited to, the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Pub. L. No.
104-91, and its implementing regulations, the Federal Privacy Act, 5
U.S.C. s. 552(a), and its implementing regulations, and any other
federal law, including, but not limited to, federal common law and
decisional law, that would prohibit the disclosure of patient privacy
information.
(j) “Records” means the final report of any adverse medical
incident. Medical records that are not the final report of any adverse
medical incident, including drafts or other nonfinal versions; notes;
and any documents or portions thereof which constitute, contain, or
reflect any attorney-client communications or any attorney-client
work product may not be considered “records” for purposes of s. 25,
Art. X of the State Constitution and this act.
(k) “Representative of the patient” means a parent of a minor
patient, a court-appointed guardian for the patient, a health care
surrogate, or a person holding a power of attorney or notarized
consent appropriately executed by the patient granting permission to a
health care facility or health care provider to disclose the patient’s
health care information to that person. In the case of a deceased
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patient, the term also means the personal representative of the estate
of the deceased patient; the deceased patient’s surviving spouse,
surviving parent, or surviving adult child; the parent or guardian of a
surviving minor child of the deceased patient; or the attorney for any
such person.
(4) PATIENTS’ RIGHT OF ACCESS.––Patients have a right
to have access to any records made or received in the course of
business by a health care facility or health care provider relating to
any adverse medical incident. In providing access to these records,
the health care facility or health care provider may not disclose the
identity of patients involved in the incidents and shall maintain any
privacy restrictions imposed by federal law.
(5) APPLICABILITY.––Section 25, Art. X of the State
Constitution applies to records created, incidents occurring, and
actions pending on or after November 2, 2004. Section 25, Art. X of
the State Constitution does not apply to records created, incidents
occurring, or actions pending before November 2, 2004. A patient
requesting records on or after November 2, 2008, shall be eligible to
receive records created within 4 years before the date of the request.
(6) USE OF RECORDS.––
(a) This section does not repeal or otherwise alter any existing
restrictions on the discoverability or admissibility of records relating
to adverse medical incidents otherwise provided by law, including,
but not limited to, those contained in ss. 395.0191, 395.0193,
395.0197, 766.101, and 766.1016, or repeal or otherwise alter any
immunity provided to, or prohibition against compelling testimony by,
persons providing information or participating in any peer review
panel, medical review committee, hospital committee, or other
hospital board otherwise provided by law, including, but not limited
to, ss. 395.0191, 395.0193, 766.101, and 766.1016.
(b) Except as otherwise provided by act of the Legislature,
records of adverse medical incidents, including any information
contained therein, obtained under s. 25, Art. X of the State
Constitution, are not discoverable or admissible into evidence and
may not be used for any purpose, including impeachment, in any civil
or administrative action against a health care facility or health care
provider. This includes information relating to performance or quality
improvement initiatives and information relating to the identity of
reviewers, complainants, or any person providing information
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contained in or used in, or any person participating in the creation of
the records of adverse medical incidents.
(7) PRODUCTION OF RECORDS.––
(a) Pursuant to s. 25, Art. X of the State Constitution, the
adverse medical incident records to which a patient is granted access
are those of the facility or provider of which he or she is a patient and
which pertain to any adverse medical incident affecting the patient or
any other patient which involves the same or substantially similar
condition, treatment, or diagnosis as that of the patient requesting
access.
(b)1. Using the process provided in s. 395.0197, the health care
facility shall be responsible for identifying records as records of an
adverse medical incident, as defined in s. 25, Art. X of the State
Constitution.
2. Using the process provided in s. 458.351, the health care
provider shall be responsible for identifying records as records of an
adverse medical incident, as defined in s. 25, Art. X of the State
Constitution, occurring in an office setting.
(c)1. Fees charged by a health care facility for copies of
records requested by a patient under s. 25, Art. X of the State
Constitution may not exceed the reasonable and actual cost of
complying with the request, including a reasonable charge for the staff
time necessary to search for records and prevent the disclosure of the
identity of any patient involved in the adverse medical incident
through redaction or other means as required by the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or its implementing
regulations. The health care facility may require payment, in full or in
part, before acting on the records request.
2. Fees charged by a health care provider for copies of records
requested by a patient under s. 25, Art. X of the State Constitution
may not exceed the amount established under s. 456.057(16), which
may include a reasonable charge for the staff time necessary to
prevent the disclosure of the identity of any patient involved in the
adverse medical incident through redaction or other means as required
by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or
its implementing regulations. The health care provider may require
payment, in full or in part, before acting on the records request.
(d)1. Requests for production of adverse medical incident
records shall be processed by the health care facility or health care
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Buster and Notami Hospital
In each of the cases before us, medical malpractice actions were instituted
against the defendant hospitals. During discovery, the plaintiffs sought production
of documents in Buster relating to the investigation of the adverse medical incident
at issue, and in Notami Hospital, relating to the selection, retention, or termination
of Dr. Robert Pendrak, M.D. Each hospital objected, claiming the information
sought was confidential pursuant to various statutory privileges existing prior to
the passage of amendment 7. In both cases, the trial court rejected these objections
and held that amendment 7 was self-executing and applied to existing documents
and that any conflicting legislation was subordinate to the constitutional
amendment.
The hospitals each sought review by certiorari in the district court, arguing
that the trial court’s rulings departed from the essential requirements of law. In
provider in a timely manner, after having a reasonable opportunity to
determine whether or not the requested record is a record subject to
disclosure and to prevent the disclosure of the identity of any patient
involved in the adverse medical incident through redaction or other
means.
2. A request for production of records must be submitted in
writing and must identify the patient requesting access to the records
by name, address, and the last four digits of the patient’s social
security number; describe the patient’s condition, treatment, or
diagnosis; and provide the name of the health care providers whose
records are being sought.
§ 381.028, Fla. Stat. (2005).
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Buster, the Fifth District agreed with the trial court that amendment 7 was self-
executing and allowed for discovery, but disagreed that it could be applied to
existing records. 932 So. 2d at 356. The First District held in Notami Hospital that
amendment 7 was self-executing, that it could be retroactively applied to existing
records, and that section 381.028 was unconstitutional. 927 So. 2d at 145. The
court certified conflict with Buster on the question of retroactivity. Id. The Fourth
District subsequently cited and adopted the reasoning of Notami Hospital in North
Broward Hospital District v. Kroll, 940 So. 2d 1281 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006), finding
amendment 7 to be self-executing and retroactive as well as finding section
381.028 to be unconstitutional. Id. at 1282-83. The Kroll court likewise certified
conflict with Buster. Id. at 1283.
II. THIS APPEAL
The primary areas of overlap between the two decisions on review involve
whether amendment 7 is self-executing and whether it can be applied retroactively,
and whether the provisions of section 381.028, Florida Statutes (2005), are
constitutional. Accordingly, we address only those issues.
III. GOVERNING LAW and ANALYSIS
Since all of the issues we consider are ones of constitutional or statutory
interpretation, this Court’s review is de novo. See Zingale v. Powell, 885 So. 2d
277, 280 (Fla. 2004) (“Although we take into consideration the district court’s
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analysis on the issue, constitutional interpretation, like statutory interpretation, is
performed de novo.”). In Zingale, while recognizing the fundamental nature of a
constitutional edict, we emphasized that the principles governing constitutional
interpretation largely parallel those of statutory interpretation. Id. at 282 (citing
Coastal Fla. Police Benev. Ass’n v. Williams, 838 So. 2d 543, 548 (Fla. 2003)).
A. Self-Execution
Both the First and the Fifth Districts below agreed that amendment 7 is self-
executing. The Fifth District in Buster cited the definitions provided in the
amendment, its relatively narrow purpose to override existing statutory law, and an
expressed intent gleaned from its provisions that “existing law was sufficient to
implement the provisions of the amendment and that no further legislation was
necessary.” 932 So. 2d at 355. The court also concluded that a contrary decision,
finding that the amendment was not self-executing, would frustrate the will of the
people, especially since the amendment states it was to be effective upon passage,
leaving no time for the enactment of implementing legislation. Id. The First
District’s reasoning in Notami Hospital largely mirrors that of the Fifth District.
The First District cited a presumption that constitutional provisions are self-
executing and noted that the amendment “defines, in detail, what records are
discoverable, who is entitled to discovery, and states it is effective on the date it is
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approved by the voters.” Notami Hosp., 927 So. 2d at 144. We agree with both
district courts that amendment 7 is self-executing.
This Court explained the appropriate standard for determining whether
constitutional provisions are self-executing in Gray v. Bryant, 125 So. 2d 846 (Fla.
1960):
The basic guide, or test, in determining whether a constitutional
provision should be construed to be self-executing, or not self-
executing, is whether or not the provision lays down a sufficient rule
by means of which the right or purpose which it gives or is intended to
accomplish may be determined, enjoyed, or protected without the aid
of legislative enactment. State ex rel. City of Fulton v. Smith, 1946,
355 Mo. 27, 194 S.W.2d 302. If the provision lays down a sufficient
rule, it speaks for the entire people and is self-executing. City of
Shawnee v. Williamson, Okl. 1959, 338 P.2d 355. The fact that the
right granted by the provision may be supplemented by legislation,
further protecting the right or making it available, does not of itself
prevent the provision from being self-executing. People v. Carroll,
1958, 3 N.Y.2d 686, 171 N.Y.S.2d 812, 148 N.E.2d 875.
Id. at 851. In Gray, the Court found self-executing a constitutional provision
providing a formula to determine the number of judges in the judicial circuits,
noting the provision laid down “a sufficient rule by which the number of circuit
judges which the people have dictated shall be furnished to them may be readily
determined without enabling action of the legislature.” Id. In reaching this
conclusion, we emphasized:
The will of the people is paramount in determining whether a
constitutional provision is self-executing and the modern doctrine
favors the presumption that constitutional provisions are intended to
be self-operating. This is so because in the absence of such
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presumption the legislature would have the power to nullify the will
of the people expressed in their constitution, the most sacrosanct of all
expressions of the people.
Id. The importance of ascertaining and abiding by the intent of the framers was
emphasized, so that “a provision must never be construed in such manner as to
make it possible for the will of the people to be frustrated or denied.” Id. at 852.
Consistent with our precedent in Gray, we hold that amendment 7 is self-executing
and its terms enforceable as of the date of its passage.
We agree with the district courts that the amendment provides a “sufficient
rule” by which patients can gain access to records of a health care provider’s
adverse medical incidents. For example, all key terms are defined within the
amendment, including “health care facility,” “health care provider,” “patient,”
“adverse medical incident,” and “have access to any records.” See art. X, § 25,
Fla. Const. In addition, the definition provided for the term “have access to any
records” indicates that it is to encompass current document production procedures
as provided “by general law.” Id. Further, as noted above and as emphasized by
both district courts, the amendment expressly declares that it is to be effective on
passage, indicating that its effectiveness in overriding prior statutory law was not
to be dependent upon the enactment of implementing legislation.
The amendment’s language makes evident that it was intended to effect an
immediate change in the law governing access to medical records without the need
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for legislative action. While the hospitals contend that a number of relevant and
unanswered questions remain regarding the reach of the amendment, we
emphasized in Gray that simply because the right conferred by the amendment
could be supplemented by legislation does not prevent the provision from being
self-executing. 125 So. 2d at 851.
B. Application to Existing Records
The question presented here is whether the amendment mandates access to
medical records that were in existence at the time the amendment became effective
but were previously inaccessible due to restrictive legislative provisions, or
whether the prior legislative restrictions continue to bar access to records created
prior to the passage of the amendment. Although we will analyze this issue within
a retroactivity framework, the use of the word “retroactive” may be somewhat
confusing in the context herein since a patient who may have benefited from the
right of access now granted obviously cannot go back in time and inform a past
decision made about medical care then contemplated. 4 The issue now is whether
4. In State ex rel. Beacon Journal Publishing Co. v. University of Akron,
415 N.E.2d 310 (Ohio 1980), the Ohio Supreme Court rejected a contention similar
to that now advanced by the hospitals that records generated prior to the effective
date of an amendment to the public records disclosure statute were immune from
disclosure:
[W]e initially note that [the statute] speaks in terms of “all public
records” and makes no distinction for those records compiled prior to
its effective date. More importantly [sic], however, is the simple fact
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the amendment permits disclosure of existing records and, if so, whether there is
any superseding legal barrier to that disclosure.
In considering this issue, both the First and Fifth Districts cited to Campus
Communications, Inc. v. Earnhardt, 821 So. 2d 388, 395 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002),
which in turn relied on Metropolitan Dade County v. Chase Federal Housing
Corp., 737 So. 2d 494 (Fla. 1999). In Chase Federal, this Court explained:
Two interrelated inquiries arise when determining whether
statutes should be retroactively applied. The first inquiry is one of
statutory construction: whether there is clear evidence of legislative
intent to apply the statute retrospectively. See Landgraf v. USI Film
Prods., 511 U.S. 244, 280, 114 S. Ct. 1483, 128 L.E.2d 229 (1994);
Hassen v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins., 674 So. 2d 106, 108 (Fla.
1996). If the legislation clearly expresses an intent that it apply
retroactively, then the second inquiry is whether retroactive
application is constitutionally permissible. See State Farm Mut. Auto.
Ins. v. Laforet, 658 So. 2d 55, 61 (Fla. 1995); State Dep’t of Transp.
that Beacon Journal is not seeking to apply the statute in a
retrospective manner, but is instead seeking present access to the
records. Concededly, the creation of the records took place prior to
the legislative amendment at issue, but this is not the conduct
regulated by the statute. [The statute] deals with the availability of
public records, not with the recordation function of governmental
units. The date the records were made is not relevant under the
statute. Since the statute merely deals with record disclosure, not
record keeping, only a prospective duty is imposed upon those
maintaining public records.
Id. at 313 (emphasis supplied); see also State of Haw. Org. of Police Officers v.
Soc’y of Prof’l Journalists, 927 P.2d 386, 397 (Haw. 1996) (rejecting a
municipality’s argument that application of a disclosure statute enacted in 1993 to
records generated in 1988 constituted an improper retroactive application).
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v. Knowles, 402 So. 2d 1155, 1158 (Fla. 1981); see also Arrow Air,
Inc. v. Walsh, 645 So. 2d 422, 425 n.8 (Fla. 1994).
Chase Federal, 737 So. 2d at 499. Accordingly, a retroactivity analysis is two-
pronged, asking first if the relevant provision provides for retroactive application,
and second if such application is constitutionally permissible.
The First District concluded that the text of the amendment, as well as its
accompanying ballot summary and the overall purpose behind the amendment,
support the notion that the amendment was intended to provide immediate access
to existing records:
Here, the plain language of the amendment permits patients to
access any record relating to any adverse medical incident, and
defines “patient” to include individuals who had previously undergone
treatment. The use of the word “any” to define the scope of
discoverable records relating to adverse medical incidents, and the
broad definition of “patient” to include those who “previously”
received treatment expresses a clear intent that the records subject to
disclosure include those created prior to the effective date of the
amendment. The effective date merely sets forth the date patients
obtained the right to receive the records requested. Because the plain
language of the amendment expresses a clear intent that it be applied
to include records created prior to its effective date, doing so is not an
unconstitutional retroactive application.
Notami Hosp., 927 So. 2d at 145. We agree with the district court’s succinct
analysis of the terms of the amendment as well as its conclusion that the use of
these terms indicates the amendment was intended to apply to existing records.
Further, based on a plain reading of the ballot summary and the text of the
amendment, we agree with the First District that the Florida electorate would have
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logically assumed this amendment would give patients an immediate right of
access to existing medical records.
In Chase Federal, this Court emphasized, “In order to determine legislative
intent as to retroactivity, both the terms of the statute and the purpose of the
enactment must be considered.” 737 So. 2d at 500 (emphasis added) (citing State
ex rel. Hill v. Cone, 191 So. 50, 57 (Fla. 1939)). In that case, this Court looked to
the purpose of the Dry Cleaning Contamination Cleanup Act, in addition to the
Act’s language, to conclude that immunity provisions could be applied
retroactively. Id. at 501-02.
Likewise, in the instant case, the purpose of amendment 7 plainly
contemplates that its application would provide access to existing records by
overriding and supplanting existing statutory provisions that limited access. This
Court quoted the amendment’s statement and purpose in our opinion approving
amendment 7 for the ballot: 5
5. Amendment 7, as proposed to the Secretary of State and to this Court,
included a “Statement and Purpose” section. Section 1 of the proposed amendment
was entitled “Statement and Purpose” and contained a paragraph explaining the
purpose of the amendment. Section 2 was then entitled “Amendment to the
Florida Constitution,” and read: “Art. X, Fla. Const., is amended by inserting the
following new section at the end thereof, to read: Section 22. Patients’ Right to
Know About Adverse Medical Incidents.” Accordingly, only section 2 was
actually added to Florida’s Constitution; the language included in the proposed
amendment’s “Statement and Purpose” section was not added. See art. X, § 25,
Fla. Const.; Patients’ Right to Know, 880 So. 2d at 618.
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1) Statement and Purpose:
The Legislature has enacted provisions relating to a patients’
bill of rights and responsibilities, including provisions relating to
information about practitioners’ qualifications, treatment and financial
aspects of patient care. The Legislature has, however, restricted
public access to information concerning a particular health care
provider’s or facility’s investigations, incidents or history of acts,
neglects, or defaults that have injured patients or had the potential to
injure patients. This information may be important to a patient. The
purpose of this amendment is to create a constitutional right for a
patient or potential patient to know and have access to records of a
health care facility’s or provider’s adverse medical incidents,
including medical malpractice and other acts which have caused or
have the potential to cause injury or death. This right to know is to be
balanced against an individual patient’s rights to privacy and dignity,
so that the information available relates to the practitioner or facility
as opposed to individuals who may have been or are patients.
Patients’ Right to Know, 880 So. 2d at 618. This language and parallel language
in other parts of the amendment and ballot summary make it abundantly clear that
the chief purpose of amendment 7 was to do away with the legislative restrictions
on a Florida patient’s access to a medical provider’s “history of acts, neglects, or
defaults” because such history “may be important to a patient.” Id. In other
words, while this history was not previously accessible, it became accessible when
the electorate approved a constitutional override of the prior statutory restrictions.
The central focus of the amendment was to provide access to records that existed
but were not accessible due to statutory restrictions. The language of the
amendment could hardly have been more specific or articulate in expressing the
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intent that what was not accessible before would be accessible with the passage of
the amendment.
Similarly, the ballot summary for the amendment reflects that the
amendment’s clear purpose was to do away with existing restrictions on a patient’s
right to access a medical provider’s history of adverse medical incidents and to
provide a clear path to access those records. As noted above, the ballot summary
for amendment 7 provided:
Current Florida law restricts information available to patients related
to investigations of adverse medical incidents, such as medical
malpractice. This amendment would give patients the right to review,
upon request, records of health care facilities’ or providers’ adverse
medical incidents, including those which could cause injury or death.
Provides that patients’ identitie [sic] should not be disclosed.
Id. at 619. The ballot summary, like the text of the amendment itself, clearly
expressed an intent to do away with then current Florida law restricting access to
this information and would lead voters to the conclusion that all records, including
existing records, would henceforth be subject to patient review. The summary
indicates that, with the passage of the amendment, there would no longer be any
legal barrier to obtaining this information and that a patient, the day after this
amendment passed, would have access to this important information of a
provider’s past record. Because the statutory restrictions constituted the only
barrier to production of this information, doing away with the restrictions by
constitutional amendment effectively removed the lone obstacle to access. Indeed,
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in our opinion approving placement of the amendment of the ballot we concluded
that it “creates a broader right to know about adverse medical incidents than
currently exists.” Id. at 623. Accordingly, based on the express language of the
ballot summary and the amendment, we find that the plain language of amendment
7 provides for its application to existing records.
We also conclude that the hospitals’ interpretation of the language and
purpose of the amendment would require a strained, if not conflicting, reading of
the amendment’s language and purpose. The suggestion that a patient seeking
information about a medical provider’s past record of adverse medical incidents
would be limited only to those records made after passage of amendment 7 directly
conflicts with the amendment’s stated purpose of providing immediate access to
such information. 6 Such an interpretation would also effectively leave in force
legislative restrictions on access many years after such restrictions were eliminated
by the amendment. In effect, this strained reading would postpone any benefits
provided by the amendment to a time in the distant future and would leave a
permanent gap in the disclosure granted, consisting of the medical provider’s
6. Clearly, one of the primary purposes of the amendment is to provide a
patient contemplating treatment by a medical provider access to that provider’s
past history of adverse medical incidents. The hospitals’ strained reading of the
amendment would deny the patient access to this information, hence defeating a
major purpose of the amendment. In fact, under this interpretation a patient would
never gain access to the medical provider’s actual “history of acts, neglects or
defaults” since any such history that took place prior to the passage of the
amendment would remain immune from disclosure.
– 20 –
history prior to the amendment’s passage. Hence, a patient would never actually
gain the access plainly promised by the amendment. We reject this strained
reading.
The second prong of the retroactivity analysis requires us to examine
whether the application of amendment 7 to existing records impacts a substantive,
vested right and therefore violates the due process rights of medical providers
whose conduct may have been the focus of many of the records to which the
Legislature provided only restricted access. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v.
Laforet, 658 So. 2d 55, 61 (Fla. 1995).
In City of Sanford v. McClelland, 163 So. 513 (Fla. 1935), this Court
articulated the nature of a vested, substantive right. In explaining that the U.S. and
Florida Constitutions protect against the impairment of such vested rights, the
Court stated, “A vested right has been defined as ‘an immediate, fixed right of
present or future enjoyment’ and also as ‘an immediate right of present enjoyment,
or a present, fixed right of future enjoyment.’ ” Id. at 514-15 (quoting Pearsall v.
Great Northern Ry. Co., 161 U.S. 646, 673 (1896)).
We conclude that such a vested right was not created by the scope of the
statutory guarantee of confidentiality previously afforded the reports of adverse
medical incidents created by and for peer review committees at issue here. Instead,
we agree with the First District that the principles set out in Clausell v. Hobart
– 21 –
Corp., 515 So. 2d 1275 (Fla. 1987), provide the appropriate analysis. In Clausell,
this Court concluded that a plaintiff did not have a vested right in his ability to
bring a cause of action for products liability. Id. at 1276. In so holding, we relied
upon Lamb v. Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft, 631 F. Supp. 1144 (S.D. Fla.
1986), which in turn quoted the First District’s decision in Division of Workers’
Compensation v. Brevda, 420 So. 2d 887 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982): “[T]o be vested, a
right must be more than a mere expectation based on an anticipation of the
continuance of an existing law; it must have become a title, legal or equitable, to
the present or future enforcement of a demand. . . .” Brevda, 420 So. 2d at 891
(quoting Aetna Ins. Co. v. Richardelle, 528 S.W.2d 280, 284 (Tex. Civ. App.
1975)). We agree with the First District that the hospitals’ claim rests on a mere
expectation of the continuance of the legislative policy of limited access to the
proceedings of peer review committees.
Importantly, the statutes in question do not actually create a statutory
privilege. The statutes do not deem relevant materials to be either confidential or
privileged. Rather, they provide that the investigations, proceedings, and records
of the respective medical committees or organizations are not subject to discovery
or introduction into evidence in any action against a health care provider arising
out of the matters which are the subject of the committee or organization’s inquiry.
See §§ 395.0191(8), 395.0193(8), 766.101(5), Fla. Stat. (2005); cf. § 766.1016(2),
– 22 –
Fla. Stat. (2005) (“Patient safety data shall not be subject to discovery or
introduction into evidence in any civil or administrative action.”). These statutes
also provide that if information, documents, or records are otherwise available
from the original sources, they are not shielded from discovery or use in any such
civil or administrative action; and a witness who testifies before such committee or
organization may not be prevented from testifying as to matters within his or her
knowledge about the medical incident in question. See §§ 395.0191(8),
395.0193(8), 766.101(5), 766.1016(2), Fla. Stat. (2005). In reality, the restrictions
are limited to the discovery or introduction of the proceedings into evidence in
some but not all judicial or administrative actions. They have no application to
dissemination or use of the information within the medical institution involved or
within the wider medical community.
Hence, medical providers have never been granted a substantive vested right
in the secrecy of the information contained in the limited medical records in
question. Rather, at most, medical providers received an expectancy that
legislative policy favored only limited access and use of the records of certain
investigations into reported instances of questionable medical conduct by peer
review bodies. Indeed, the actual information regarding the adverse medical
incident itself has never been cloaked in confidentiality; rather, it is the particular
form in which the information was contained, such as a peer review report, that
– 23 –
was given limited protection. However, the participants in a peer review
proceeding have always been on notice that the information they possessed, as
witnesses to an adverse medical incident for example, was never considered
confidential and continued to be subject to disclosure, even in judicial and
administrative proceedings. The nature of the expectancy of the continuation of
this restrictive legislative policy, therefore, has never risen to the level of a settled,
vested substantive right.
It is also a fact of legislative policy-making that the legislative scheme
restricting access or use of these adverse incident records has remained fluid and
subject to the discretion of the Legislature, which at any time could modify or
repeal the governing statutes on access. Further, there have always been
exceptions to the rule. For example, as we recently noted in Brandon Regional
Hospital v. Murray, 957 So. 2d 590 (Fla. 2007), the state administrative agency
charged with regulating health care in Florida has always had access to this
information, meaning, of course, that it has never been wholly confidential. See id.
at 594 (“Unlike the parties seeking access to documents submitted to, reviewed by,
or created by the peer review committees in the other cases discussed, AHCA has
been granted explicit statutory authority to inspect most records at licensed
healthcare facilities.”). In addition, any disciplinary action against a medical
provider by a hospital must be reported to the State, and notice of any such action
– 24 –
serious enough to constitute grounds for expulsion must be sent to every hospital
and health maintenance organization in the state. § 458.337(1)(a)-(b), Fla. Stat.
(2005). The medical provider, of course, cannot prevent that broad disclosure
within the medical community. In addition, the federal courts have repeatedly held
that even the limited statutory exemptions at issue may not be invoked to prevent
disclosure or admission of the proceedings in federal cases. See Feminist
Women’s Health Ctr., Inc. v. Mohammad, 586 F.2d 530, 545 n.9 (5th Cir. 1978)
(noting that the peer review privilege will not bar evidence in federal cause of
action); see also Adkins v. Christie, 488 F.3d 1324, 1330 (11th Cir. 2007) (same),
cert. denied, 76 U.S.L.W. 3347 (U.S. Jan. 7, 2008). Hence, any expectations of
continued limited access or use have been neither settled nor vested, but rest more
upon “an anticipation of the continuance of an existing law” as explained in
Brevda.
Where “rights” have been subject to modification or elimination at any time
by the Legislature, courts have found them to be neither fixed nor vested. For
example, in Earnhardt, the court upheld the retroactive application of a recently
passed exemption to the Public Records Act. 821 So. 2d at 396. Earnhardt held
that the prior right to inspect autopsy photographs was not vested or fixed because
it was “a right subject to divestment by enactment of statutory exemptions by the
Legislature.” Id. at 398. Other Florida courts have reached the same conclusion
– 25 –
regarding statutory exemptions to the Public Records Act. See Baker County
Press, Inc. v. Baker County Med. Servs., Inc., 870 So. 2d 189, 193 (Fla. 1st DCA
2004); News-Press Publ’g Co. v. Kaune, 511 So. 2d 1023, 1026 (Fla. 2d DCA
1987). Other jurisdictions have reached similar conclusions. See, e.g., Evans v.
Belth, 388 S.E.2d 914, 916 (Ga. Ct. App. 1989) (explaining that there is no vested
right in a statutory privilege that may be taken away by legislative amendment);
Stott v. Stott Realty Co., 284 N.W. 635, 639 (Mich. 1939) (“It is a general rule of
constitutional law that a citizen has no vested right in statutory privileges and
exemptions . . . .”); Doe v. Sundquist, 2 S.W.3d 919, 921 (Tenn. 1999) (holding
that natural parents have no vested right in statutory privilege barring disclosure of
their identities). Applying this principle, it is clear that the rights claimed here are
also neither fixed nor vested because they were also subject to modification or
elimination at any time by the Legislature. In fact, the patient parties point out that
the statutes at issue have been subject to numerous legislative modifications
through the years.
For all these reasons, we conclude these statutes do not create a vested right
as contemplated by our case law and we concur with the First District in its
conclusion that “the Hospital does not have a vested right in maintaining the
confidentiality of adverse medical incidents. The Hospital’s ‘right’ is no more than
– 26 –
an expectation that previously existing statutory law would not change.” Notami
Hosp., 927 So. 2d at 143-44.
Because we find that the text of the amendment and the accompanying ballot
summary clearly encompass access to existing adverse medical incident records,
and furthermore that the medical providers’ interest in the continuing
confidentiality of these materials does not constitute a substantive right, we hold
that amendment 7 provides access to existing histories of adverse medical
incidents.
C. Section 381.028, Florida Statutes (2005)
Even though amendment 7 is self-executing and does not require legislative
enactment, the Legislature is still free to give force and effect to its provisions so
long as it does not run afoul of the rights granted in the constitution. See Gray, 125
So. 2d at 851 (noting that rights granted by constitutional provisions may be
“supplemented by legislation, further protecting the right or making it available”).
However, as noted by the First District below, in its efforts to implement
amendment 7, it appears the Legislature has substantially limited the right of
access granted pursuant to the amendment.
The First District detailed four conflicts between amendment 7 and section
381.028, finding that the statute “drastically limits or eliminates discovery of
records the amendment expressly states are discoverable, and limits the ‘patients’
– 27 –
qualified to access those records.” Notami Hosp., 927 So. 2d at 143. Specifically,
the court noted: (1) the statute only allows for final reports to be discoverable,
while the amendment provides that “any records” relating to adverse medical
incidents are subject to the amendment; (2) the statute only provides for disclosure
of final reports relating to the same or a substantially similar condition, treatment,
or diagnosis with that of the patient requesting access; (3) the statute limits
production to only those records generated after November 2, 2004; and (4) the
statute states that it will have no effect on existing privilege statutes. Id.; see also
§§ 381.028 (3)(j), (5)-(7)(a), Fla. Stat. (2005). Accordingly, the First District
concluded that in these respects, “the statute impermissibly restricts rights
expressly granted under the Constitution.” Notami Hosp., 927 So. 2d at 143.
We agree that the four provisions cited by the Notami Hospital court
contravene the broad rights of access to adverse medical incident records granted
by amendment 7. In addition to those limitations noted by the First District, we
also note that the statute provides that patients can only access the records of the
facility or provider of which they themselves are a patient, a restriction not
contained within the amendment. § 381.028(7)(a), Fla. Stat. (2005) (“[T]he
adverse medical incident records to which a patient is granted access are those of
the facility or provider of which he or she is a patient . . . .”). Furthermore, we
observe that in addition to the limitation contained in subsection (6), the statute
– 28 –
also provides that “all existing laws concerning the discoverability or admissibility
into evidence of records of an adverse medical incident in any judicial or
administrative proceeding remain in full force and effect.” § 381.028(2), Fla. Stat.
(2005). Because these restrictions and those identified by the district court conflict
with the provisions of amendment 7, these statutory restrictions cannot stand.
However, while we concur with the First District in finding that section
381.028 contains provisions that curtail rights granted by amendment 7, we do not
agree that this requires the invalidation of the entire statute. Although section
381.028 does not contain a severability clause, this does not affect our ability to
sever the unconstitutional portions of the statute. See Ray v. Mortham, 742 So. 2d
1276, 1280 (Fla. 1999) (“Severability is a judicial doctrine recognizing the
obligation of the judiciary to uphold the constitutionality of legislative enactments
where it is possible to strike only the unconstitutional portions.” (citing State v.
Calhoun County, 170 So. 883, 886 (Fla. 1936))).
The following questions guide this Court’s severability analysis: (1) whether
the legislative purpose expressed in the valid provisions can be accomplished
independently of those which are void; (2) if the good and bad features are not
inseparable and if the Legislature would have passed one without the other; and (3)
whether an act complete in itself remains after the invalid provisions are stricken.
See Moreau v. Lewis, 648 So. 2d 124, 128 (Fla. 1995) (quoting Presbyterian
– 29 –
Homes v. Wood, 297 So. 2d 556, 559 (Fla. 1974)). We conclude that section
381.028 easily satisfies this analysis.
According to its “Purpose” section, the purpose of section 381.028 is “to
implement s. 25, Art. X of the State Constitution.” See § 381.028(2), Fla. Stat.
(2005). We find that, minus any offending or conflicting provisions such as those
outlined above, the statute appears to fulfill the purpose of implementing
amendment 7. For example, the statute provides definitions of important terms,
dictates that patient privacy restrictions be upheld, and identifies pursuant to other
statutes the party responsible for identifying records of adverse medical incidents.
§ 381.028(3)-(4), 7(b), Fla. Stat. (2005). Section 381.028 also provides that fees
for the production of records cannot exceed the reasonable cost of complying with
the request and that requests for production must be processed in a timely manner.
§ 381.028(7)(c), Fla. Stat. (2005). Clearly the unconstitutional provisions are
separable from the remainder of the statute and it remains complete in itself
without the unconstitutional sections. We conclude that these unconstitutional
subsections may be eliminated without the need to strike down section 381.028,
Florida Statutes (2005), in its entirety. The offending subsections can be separated
without any adverse effect on its remaining portions, leaving intact a workable and
helpful statute. Accordingly, we find that the legislative purpose of section
– 30 –
381.028 can be accomplished if the unconstitutional sections discussed above are
severed.
IV. CONCLUSION
Based upon the circumstances presented by the two decisions below
regarding the scope of amendment 7, we find that the amendment is self-executing.
We also hold that the right of access granted pursuant to the amendment is
retroactive and therefore applies to adverse medical incident records existing prior
to its effective date of November 2, 2004. Finally, although we find several
subsections of 381.028 to unconstitutionally impinge upon the rights granted
pursuant to amendment 7, we sever those unconstitutional sections from the statute
and allow the remainder to stand.
While we have differed in some respects with the opinion of the Fifth
District in Buster, we cannot improve upon Judge Sawaya’s concluding comments:
We believe that Amendment 7 heralds a change in the public
policy of this state to lift the shroud of privilege and confidentiality in
order to foster disclosure of information that will allow patients to
better determine from whom they should seek health care, evaluate
the quality and fitness of health care providers currently rendering
service to them, and allow them access to information gathered
through the self-policing processes during the discovery period of
litigation filed by injured patients or the estates of deceased patients
against their health care providers. We have come to this conclusion
because we are obliged to interpret and apply Amendment 7 in accord
with the intention of the people of this state who enacted it, and we
have done so. It is not for us to judge the wisdom of the constitutional
amendments enacted or the change in public policy pronounced
through those amendments, even in instances where the change
– 31 –
involves abrogation of long-standing legislation that establishes and
promotes an equally or arguably more compelling public policy. See
Sebring Airport Auth. v. McIntyre, 783 So. 2d 238, 244 (Fla. 2001).
Hence, what the Legislature has given through its enactments
and the courts have enforced through their decisions, the people can
take away through the amendment process to our state constitution.
Moreover, what the people provide in their constitution, the
Legislature and the courts may not take away through subsequent
legislation or decision.
Buster, 932 So. 2d at 355-56. We affirm the First District’s decision in Notami
Hospital; we approve in part and quash in part the decision of the Fifth District in
Buster and remand for further proceedings in accord herewith.
It is so ordered.
LEWIS, C.J., and ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, and QUINCE, JJ., concur.
WELLS, J., concurs in part and dissents in part with an opinion, in which
CANTERO and BELL, JJ., concur.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION, AND
IF FILED, DETERMINED.
WELLS, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur that the amendment is self-executing. I dissent from the majority’s
decision that the amendment is to be applied retroactively. I join Judge Ervin’s
dissent in the First District Court of Appeal’s case of Notami Hospital of Florida,
Inc. v. Bowen, 927 So. 2d 139 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006), and in the unanimous opinion
of the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Florida Hospital Waterman, Inc. v. Buster,
932 So. 2d 344 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006). I conclude that the majority’s decision is
contrary to the law and fundamental fairness. I specifically reject the majority’s
– 32 –
and the First District’s conclusion that the statute, which for over twenty years has
protected hospitals’ statutorily mandated peer review as part of medical quality
assurance, did not establish vested rights that the investigations, proceedings, and
records of peer review panels were “not subject to discovery” and could not be
introduced into evidence in civil actions. § 395.0193(8), Fla. Stat. (2002). 7
7. In order to fully appreciate the effect of this decision as to retroactivity, it
is important to first review the law which made these records confidential until the
constitutional revision. Prior to Amendment 7, in order to secure quality medical
services to the public, the Florida Legislature enacted an in-depth system with a
state-mandated peer review process. In 1973, the Legislature first created the peer
review evidentiary privilege in an effort to encourage hospitals to use and
promulgate programs establishing committees for the purpose of reviewing
standards of care, utilization, and expense in the rendering of health services in an
effort to deter the rising costs of health care. See ch. 73-50, § 1, Laws of Fla. In
1982, the Legislature passed a comprehensive act regulating the licensure of
hospitals with a state-mandated peer review process in order to improve medical
care for the public by fostering and enhancing peer review. The act, which among
numerous other provisions, provided that the proceedings and records of
committees and governing bodies of any licensed facility relating to disciplinary
actions against persons with staff privileges were not subject to inspection under
chapter 119, and any meetings were not required to be open to the public. See ch.
82-182, § 26, at 655, Laws of Fla. These provisions were amended over the years
and included an explicit requirement for licensed facilities to provide for peer
review of the physicians who deliver health care services at the facility and
guaranteeing that the proceedings or records of such proceedings would not be
subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any civil or administrative
action against a provider of professional health care services arising out of matters
which were the subject of evaluation and review. The fundamental premise of the
act was the peer review process would be enhanced if health care providers knew
that the records of the review would not be used against them in medical
malpractice or libel civil actions. Holly v. Auld, 450 So. 2d 217 (Fla. 1984). The
sections protecting records and statements in peer review are sections 395.0191(8),
395.0193(8), 766.101(5), 766.1016(2), and 395.0197(6)(c), (7), (8), (13) of the
Florida Statutes (2002).
– 33 –
Furthermore, to allow discovery of peer review records containing statements by
those who had a right to rely upon the statute’s promise that the records would not
be discovered or introduced in a civil action is not only legally unsupportable but is
fundamentally unfair and puts into jeopardy all statements made based upon the
promise of any statutory privilege.
A. Rule of Law in Determining Retroactivity
The majority states that the use of the word “‘retroactive’ may be somewhat
confusing in the context herein.” Majority op. at 14. I do not agree. The taking
away of a right to not have information and records which were developed when a
statute guaranteed that the information and records could not be discovered or
introduced in a civil action by eliminating the guarantee after the information and
records have been developed is quintessential retroactivity. As set out in footnote
7, the history of the statutory right was that it was a substantive part of the
legislative scheme to reform health care. In Cruger v. Love, 599 So. 2d 111, 113
(Fla. 1992), this Court made clear that the guarantee of confidentiality of peer
review was an integral part of the Legislature’s plan to control the escalating cost
of health care:
The Florida Legislature enacted these peer review statutes in an
effort to control the escalating cost of health care by encouraging self-
regulation by the medical profession through peer review and
evaluation. Holly v. Auld, 450 So. 2d 217, 219-20 (Fla. 1984)
(interpreting former section 768.40(4), Florida Statutes, the
predecessor to section 766.101). In order to make meaningful peer
– 34 –
review possible, the legislature provided a guarantee of confidentiality
for the peer review process. Holly, 450 So.2d at 220.
In fact, this Court plainly stated that the right to keep the statements and
information confidential was a substantive part of the legislative mandate:
The privilege afforded to peer review committees is intended to
prohibit the chilling effect of the potential public disclosure of
statements made to or information prepared for and used by the
committee in carrying out its peer review function.
Id. at 114-15. We expressly acknowledged the precedent of Cruger on this issue as
recently as May 2007 in Brandon Regional Hospital v. Murray, 957 So. 2d 590
(Fla. 2007). Thus, there can actually be no serious question that the rules of
retroactivity apply.
In Smiley v. State, 966 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 2007), this Court recently set forth
the appropriate analysis to undertake when determining the retroactive application
of a change in law. One of the first “key considerations” is to determine whether
the change constitutes a procedural/remedial change or is a substantive change in
the law. Smiley, 966 So. 2d at 334. Generally, courts retroactively apply only
remedial statutes, which do not create new rights or take away vested rights but
operate only in furtherance of the remedy already existing. See id. If the law
constitutes a substantive change, either by creating new rights or taking away
vested rights, there is a presumption against the retroactive application of the
change in law unless the Legislature has expressly stated to the contrary. Id.; see
– 35 –
also Arrow Air, Inc., v. Walsh, 645 So. 2d 422, 424 (Fla. 1994). Even if there is a
clear legislative intent for retroactive application, however, courts must determine
whether this is constitutionally permissible. Although this case involves a change
which was adopted by constitutional amendment, as opposed to a statutory
amendment, the principles governing a change in statutory law apply equally to the
current scenario. See State v. Lavazzoli, 434 So. 2d 321, 323 (Fla. 1983) (applying
the same test to determine whether a constitutional amendment can be applied
retroactively).
As addressed above, the first consideration is to determine whether the
provision is remedial or substantive. Despite the recent holding in Smiley, the
majority fails to discuss the remedial/substantive distinction and the prior case law
which recognizes this as a key consideration. A review of prior cases explains the
underlying purpose as to why “[t]he presumption against retroactive application of
a law that affects substantive rights, liabilities, or duties is a well established rule
of statutory construction.” Arrow Air, 645 So. 2d at 425. As this Court has
explained:
Because it accords with widely held intuitions about how statutes
ordinarily operate, a presumption against retroactivity will generally
coincide with legislative and public expectations. Requiring clear
intent assures that [the legislature] itself has affirmatively considered
the potential unfairness of retroactive application and determined that
it is an acceptable price to pay for the countervailing benefits. Such a
requirement allocates to [the legislature] responsibility for
fundamental policy judgments concerning the proper temporal reach
– 36 –
of statutes, and has the additional virtue of giving legislators a
predictable background rule against which to legislate.
Id. (quoting Landgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U.S. 244, 272-73 (1994)). In
Bates v. State, 750 So. 2d 6, 10 (Fla. 1999), this Court noted that one of the reasons
retroactive application of laws is disfavored is because it is “contrary to the general
principle that legislation by which the conduct of mankind is to be regulated ought
to deal with future acts, and ought not to change the character of past transactions
carried on upon the faith of the then existing law.” Id. (quoting Herbert Broom,
Legal Maxims 24 (8th ed. 1911)). This Court reaffirmed these principles in In re
Advisory Opinion to the Governor––Terms of County Court Judges, 750 So. 2d
610 (Fla. 1999):
Unless specifically stated in the text or in the statement placed on the
ballot, constitutional amendments are generally given prospective
effect only. See State v. Lavazzoli, 434 So.2d 321, 323 (Fla.1983)
(“Nowhere in either article I, section 12 as amended or in the
statement placed on the November ballot is there manifested any
intent that the amendment be applied retroactively. Therefore, the
amendment must be given prospective effect only.”). We find no
reason to deviate from this general rule in the present case. In fact,
while the voters were put on notice of the possibility that Amendment
7 might apply to judges appearing on the November 1998 ballot, there
was no indication that Amendment 7 would apply to judges already in
office. Applying Amendment 7 to those judges who began their terms
on January 7, 1997, would undermine the settled expectations of both
the officeholders and the people of this State, who believed that the
term of office was four years. Therefore, because Amendment 7
should not be applied retroactively, the answer to your second
question is that those county court judges whose terms began on
January 7, 1997, should not be recommissioned for terms of office to
expire on January 6, 2003.
– 37 –
Id. at 614-15. Accordingly, if a constitutional amendment does not clearly express
an intent for retroactive application, this Court has “repeatedly refused to construe
the amendment to affect detrimentally the substantive rights of persons arising
under the prior law.” Lavazzoli, 434 So. 2d at 324 (relying upon its decisions in
Myers v. Hawkins, 362 So. 2d 926 (Fla. 1978); State ex rel. Judicial Qualifications
Comm’n v. Rose, 286 So. 2d 562 (Fla. 1973); and State ex rel. Reynolds v. Roan,
213 So. 2d 425 (Fla. 1968)). This Court emphasized that this well-established rule
of construction “applies with particular force to those instances where retrospective
operation of the law would impair or destroy existing rights.” Lavazzoli, 434 So.
2d at 323 (emphasis added); see also Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc. v. Mancusi, 632 So.
2d 1352, 1358 (Fla. 1994) (“A substantive statute is presumed to operate
prospectively rather than retrospectively unless the Legislature clearly expresses its
intent that the statute is to operate retrospectively. This is especially true when
retrospective operation of a law would impair or destroy existing rights.” (citations
omitted)).
This Court will generally not “apply a statute retroactively if the statute
impairs vested rights, creates new obligations, or imposes new penalties.” State
Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Laforet, 658 So. 2d 55, 61 (Fla. 1995) (finding that
even though the Legislature expressly stated that section 627.727(10), Fla. Stat.,
was remedial and was to be applied retroactively, it was substantive and could not
– 38 –
be applied retroactively because it significantly altered the language used to
determine fines imposed on a violator); see also McCord v. Smith, 43 So. 2d 704,
708-09 (Fla. 1949) (holding that a retrospective provision of a legislative act is
invalid “only in those cases wherein vested rights are adversely affected or
destroyed or when a new obligation or duty is created or imposed, or an additional
disability is established, on connection with transactions or considerations
previously had or expiated”); DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Hurst, 949 So. 2d 279, 285
(Fla. 3d DCA 2007) (“Generally, due process considerations prevent the State from
retroactively abolishing vested rights. Thus, retroactive abolition of substantive
vested rights is prohibited by constitutional due process considerations.”), review
denied, 962 So. 2d 337 (Fla. 2007); Basel v. McFarland & Sons, Inc., 815 So. 2d
687, 692 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002) (“Even when the legislature expressly states that a
statute is to have retroactive application, courts will refuse to apply the statute
retroactively if the statute impairs vested rights, creates new obligations, or
imposes new penalties.”). The majority simply casts aside all of this precedent to
reach its result.
B. Whether There is Clear Intent for Retroactive Application
In respect to Amendment 7, while the statements of purpose and the
amendment stated that, if enacted, it would change the current law that protected
these statements and reports, neither the amendment, its declared purpose, nor the
– 39 –
summary explicitly addressed retroactivity. The Legislature reviewed the
constitutional provision, including the lack of any specific provisions or words
addressing retroactivity, and determined that the revision was not retroactive. See
§ 381.028(2), Fla. Stat. (2005). Since there is no contrary intent set forth in the
amendment, in accord with abundant precedent, this Court should presume that the
Legislature acted constitutionally in adopting this statute. See, e.g., State v.
Giorgetti, 868 So. 2d 512, 518 (Fla. 2004) (quoting this Court’s prior case of Gray
v. Central Fla. Lumber Co., 140 So. 320, 323 (Fla. 1932), for its holding that “[o]n
its face every act of the Legislature is presumed to be constitutional [and] every
doubt as to its constitutionality must be resolved in its favor”); N. Fla. Women’s
Health & Counseling Servs., Inc. v. State, 866 So. 2d 612, 625-26 (Fla. 2003)
(“[I]n the absence of an impingement upon constitutional rights . . . an act of the
legislature is presumed to be constitutional.”) (quoting State v. Bussey, 463 So. 2d
1141, 1144 (Fla. 1985)); Bunnell v. State, 453 So. 2d 808, 809 (Fla. 1984) (stating
in review of single subject challenge that “legislative acts are presumed to be
constitutional and that courts should resolve every reasonable doubt in favor of
constitutionality”). This presumption affords proper deference to the legislative
branch of our government.
As the Fifth District points out, the amendment stated that it was to become
effective on the date it was approved, which clearly states a present effectiveness,
– 40 –
not a retroactive effectiveness. See Fla. Hosp. Waterman, 932 So. 2d at 354. The
majority reaches the contrary conclusion that the constitutional amendment was
intended to apply retroactively, asserting that “the purpose of amendment 7 plainly
contemplates that its application would provide access to existing records by
overriding and supplanting existing statutory provisions.” However, this Court has
explicitly rejected the theory that simply because applying a statute retroactively
would vindicate its purpose more fully is a sufficient reason to rebut the
presumption against retroactivity. See Arrow Air, 645 So. 2d at 425; Metropolitan
Dade County v. Chase Fed. Housing Corp., 737 So. 2d 494 (Fla. 1999); see also
Landgraf, 511 U.S. at 285-86 (holding that the rationale that “retroactive
application of a new statute would vindicate its purpose more fully . . . is not [a]
sufficient [justification] to rebut the presumption against retroactivity”).
The First District and the majority define the word “patient” as one who
“had previously undergone treatment” and then treat this phrase as an expression
of a “clear intent that the records subject to disclosure include those created prior
to the effective date of the amendment.” Notami Hospital, 927 So. 2d at 145;
majority op. at 16. I do not agree. It is important to point out that the word
“previously” is not found anywhere in the text of the amendment or the ballot
summary. This language comes from the First District’s opinion in Notami, which
the majority then adopted. Likewise, the majority relies on the term “any,” but this
– 41 –
term is also not in the ballot summary that was before the voters. The ballot
summary and ballot title use only the present tense or future tense in describing the
impact of the initiative. 8
Because this constitutional amendment was passed by initiative, in
determining the intent behind the constitutional amendment, this Court must look
to the information before the voters and whether the voters of the constitutional
amendment meant for this amendment to apply retroactively. However, the only
information immediately available to the voters when casting their ballots is the
ballot title or summary. Cf. Advisory Op. to the Att’y Gen. re Additional
Homestead Tax Exemption, 880 So. 2d 646, 653-54 (Fla. 2004) (“Voters deciding
whether to approve a proposed amendment to our constitution never see the actual
text of the proposed amendment. They vote based only on the ballot title and the
summary.”). This becomes very important when viewed in light of this Court’s
precedent, which emphasizes that whether a drafter intended a certain effect does
not matter nearly as much as the probable intent of the voters as evidenced by the
materials they had available. See Myers v. Hawkins, 362 So. 2d 926, 930 (Fla.
1978) (“We have already held that the intent of the framer of a constitutional
provision adopted by initiative petition will be given less weight in discerning the
8. For example, the ballot summary includes the phrase “could cause”
instead of “caused or could have caused” used in the text of the amendment—
another signal that the voters considered this amendment as applying only
prospectively, not retroactively.
– 42 –
meaning of an ambiguous constitutional term that [sic] the probable intent of the
people who reviewed the literature and the proposal submitted for their
consideration.”); Williams v. Smith, 360 So. 2d 417, 420 n.5 (Fla. 1978) (“In
analyzing a constitutional amendment adopted by initiative rather than by
legislative or constitution revision commission vote, the intent of the framers
should be accorded less significance than the intent of the voters as evidenced by
materials they had available as predicate for their collective decision.”). In
applying those principles to this case, this Court must recognize that the ballot
summary and ballot title have none of the ambiguous terms which allegedly show
an intent for retroactive application—instead, these materials show a clear intent
that the constitutional provision will only apply prospectively.
In looking to the amendment itself, the amendment provides that a patient is
an individual who, in the present or in the past, has sought or undergone treatment
and by this amendment the patient is provided a right to records made by a health
care facility or provider relating to any adverse medical incident. As this Court
held in Advisory Opinion to Attorney General re Patients’ Right to Know, 880 So.
2d 617, 618 (Fla. 2004), and as set forth in the majority opinion at page 18, the
purpose of the amendment was “to create a constitutional right” to access the
records. It logically follows that the past treatment to which the amendment
– 43 –
extends is to the date of the creation of the right, which is the effective date of the
amendment.
The majority in its footnote 4 cites to State ex rel. Beacon Journal Publishing
Co. v. University of Akron, 415 N.E.2d 310 (Ohio 1980). The majority, however,
omits the part of the Ohio decision that is essential in analyzing the question of
retroactivity here. That part states:
Any interests in confidentiality that may have been affected by
reliance upon prior law in compiling these reports by the university
are adequately safeguarded by R.C. 149.43 itself. These interests are
dealt with extensively in R.C. 149.43(A)(2) and (4) which define
“confidential law enforcement investigatory records” and “trial
preparation records” which are exempted from public availability.
Id. at 314 (emphasis added). This part of the decision from the Ohio Supreme
Court demonstrates another reason why the present amendment cannot be properly
applied retroactively because the amendment, unlike the Ohio provision, does not
have a provision that the records made upon the reliance of the existing statutory
privilege are safeguarded so that the State’s promise of nonavailability is kept.
Similarly, State of Hawai’i Organization of Police Officers v. Society of
Professional Journalists, 927 P.2d 386, 397 (Haw. 1996), affects only an agency’s
prospective duty of disclosure and impairs no existing rights.
C. Vested Substantive Right
The majority states at page 22: “Importantly, the statutes in question do not
actually create a statutory privilege. The statutes do not deem relevant materials
– 44 –
confidential or privileged.” This statement is in direct conflict with what this
Court held in Cruger in dealing with these precise statutory sections where the
Court said:
We have previously held that “[t]he discovery privilege . . . was
clearly designed to provide that degree of confidentiality necessary for
the full, frank medical peer evaluation which the legislature sought to
encourage.” Holly v. Auld, 450 So. 2d at 220. Without the privilege,
information necessary to the peer review process could not be
obtained. Feldman v. Glucroft, 522 So. 2d 798, 801 (Fla. 1988).
While we recognized in Holly that the discovery privilege would
impinge upon the rights of litigants to obtain information helpful or
even essential to their cases, we assumed that the legislature balanced
that against the benefits offered by effective self-policing by the
medical community. Holly, 450 So. 2d at 220.
We hold that the privilege provided by sections 766.101(5) and
395.011(9), Florida Statutes, protects any document considered by the
committee or board as part of its decision-making process. The policy
of encouraging full candor in peer review proceedings is advanced
only if all documents considered by the committee or board during the
peer review or credentialing process are protected. Committee
members and those providing information to the committee must be
able to operate without fear of reprisal. Similarly, it is essential that
doctors seeking hospital privileges disclose all pertinent information
to the committee. Physicians who fear that information provided in an
application might someday be used against them by a third party will
be reluctant to fully detail matters that the committee should consider.
Accordingly, we find that a physician’s application for staff privileges
is a record of the committee or board for purposes of the statutory
privilege.
. . . .
The policy behind the confidentiality privilege mandates this
interpretation. See Byrd v. Richardson-Greenshields Sec., Inc., 552
So. 2d 1099, 1102 (Fla. 1989) (a court’s obligation is to honor the
obvious legislative intent and policy behind an enactment, even where
that intent requires an interpretation that exceeds the literal language
of the statute). The privilege afforded to peer review committees is
intended to prohibit the chilling effect of the potential public
– 45 –
disclosure of statements made to or information prepared for and used
by the committee in carrying out its peer review function. See
Dworkin v. St. Francis Hosp., Inc., 517 A.2d 302, 307 (Del. Super. Ct.
1986). This chilling effect is attributable to several factors. As one
commentator has noted:
[D]octors seem to be reluctant to engage in strict peer
review due to a number of apprehensions: loss of
referrals, respect, and friends, possible retaliations,
vulnerability to torts, and fear of malpractice actions in
which the records of the peer review proceedings might
be used. It is this ambivalence that lawmakers seek to
avert and eliminate by shielding peer review
deliberations from legal attacks.
Gregory G. Gosfield, Medical Peer Review Protection in the Health
Care Industry, 52 Temp. L. Q. 552, 558 (1979) (footnote omitted).
These fears are alleviated only by interpreting the statute as we do
today.
A different interpretation of this provision would completely
eviscerate the protection the legislature sought to provide. Ultimately,
all peer review committee records would be discoverable. What
would not be discoverable in one action because of the nature of the
lawsuit would be discoverable in another action. The confidential
nature of the peer review proceedings would be obliterated. See
Sanderson v. Frank S. Bryan, M.D., Ltd., 361 Pa. Super. 491, 522
A.2d 1138, 1141 (1987) (interpreting the confidentiality provision of
Pennsylvania’s Peer Review Protection Act), appeal denied, 517 Pa.
624, 538 A.2d 877 (1988).
Cruger, 599 So. 2d 113-15. Thus, pursuant to this Court’s express opinion in
Cruger and as acknowledged in Brandon Regional Hospital, 957 So. 2d at 594, the
– 46 –
statutes in question do actually create a statutory privilege. 9 The majority here is
plainly in error.
Furthermore, it is not germane to what this Court held was the intent of this
privilege that these statutes do not protect the information in federal court cases
involving the application of federal causes of actions as in Feminist Women’s
Health Center, Inc. v. Mohammad, 586 F.2d 530, 545 n.9 (5th Cir. 1978), or
Adkins v. Christie, 488 F.3d 1324, 1330 (11th Cir. 2007), or in disciplinary actions
pursuant to section 458.337(1)(a)-(b), Florida Statutes. 10 Again, in Cruger, this
Court specifically recognized that the purpose of the privilege was to protect
against vulnerability to tort claims and fear of malpractice actions, which are civil
actions expressly referred to in the statutes. We reiterated and enforced this
holding in Brandon Regional Hospital, 957 So. 2d at 594.
As noted earlier, the majority and the First District concluded the hospitals
had no vested right in the statutory privilege upon which they relied and that in
order to be vested, “a right must be more than a mere expectation based on an
anticipation of the continuance of an existing law.” Majority op. at 22 (quoting
Div. of Workers’ Comp. v. Brevda, 420 So. 2d 887, 891 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)).
9. In fact, the majority in Cruger was joined by all members of the Court in
agreeing that these provisions do create a statutory discovery privilege, with
Justices Kogan and Shaw concurring specially.
10. States have never had the power to dictate what evidentiary privileges
federal courts should recognize when applying a federal cause of action.
– 47 –
According to the majority, when a statutory privilege is repealed, then all
communication made during the period when the privilege did exist are unclothed
of their privilege. However, the majority provides no authority from Florida courts
for this extraordinary and troubling holding. The cases to which the majority cites,
Campus Communications, Inc. v. Earnhardt, 821 So. 2d 388, 395 (Fla. 5th DCA
2002); Baker County Press, Inc. v. Baker County Medical Services, Inc., 870 So.
2d 189, 193 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004); News-Press Publishing Co. v. Kaune, 511 So. 2d
1023, 1026 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), are inapposite. These cases involve situations in
which the exemption from disclosure of records was enacted after the creation of
the record. The records were not required to be disclosed. The legislative
enactments were expressly remedial. There was no reliance upon the record not
being disclosed as there is when records are created and information conveyed in
reliance upon a privilege against their use. See, e.g., Salt Lake Child & Family
Therapy Clinic, Inc. v. Frederick, 890 P.2d 1017 (Utah 1995) (holding that a new
statute which modified a mental health therapist privilege could not be applied
retroactively and that the relevant time period was when the privileged
communications took place, not the time period when the interested person is
seeking to gain access to the privileged information). 11 It is particularly troubling
11. The cases from other jurisdictions cited by the majority do not support
the majority’s argument. The majority relies on Evans v. Belth, 388 S.E.2d 914,
916 (Ga. Ct. App. 1989). In that case, the appellee sought access to information in
– 48 –
because the majority’s decision in respect to this statutory privilege puts all
communications made in reliance upon other privileges at risk, 12 making the
privilege guarding the conversations contingent upon the continuing existence of
the statutory privilege. Numerous privileges are creatures of statute. 13 These
the Insurance Regulatory Information System. Subsequently, while the case was
on appeal, the Georgia Legislature amended the law to exempt these records from
the open records act. The court addressed the question in the opposite fashion, i.e.,
whether a law granting public access to records was a grant of a statutory privilege
to the public. While the court used the term “privilege,” the court was addressing
the first definition of privilege which broadly applies to all rights, exemptions, and
immunities; it did not involve the same type of privilege which is at issue here: an
evidentiary privilege. The other cases relied upon by the majority also all involve
the broader term of privilege. See, e.g., Stott v. Stott Realty Co., 284 N.W. 635
(Mich. 1939) (addressing a case where a corporation failed to pay its “privilege
fees” for two consecutive years which, by statute, rendered its charter void); Doe v.
Sundquist, 2 S.W.3d 919, 924 (Tenn. 1999) (addressing an amendment to adoption
laws which never provided “even a reasonable expectation by the birth parent or
any other party that adoption records were permanently sealed”; the court held that
procedural changes to the law permitting adoption records to be disclosed to the
adopted person over age twenty-one would be applied retroactively).
12. In fact, when the Florida Legislature first created the Florida Evidence
Code, which statutorily recognized numerous privileges, the Legislature carefully
provided that “Nothing in this act shall abrogate a privilege for any communication
which was made prior to the effective date of this act, if such communication was
privileged at the time it was made.” See ch. 76-237, § 1, at 566, Laws of Fla.
(creating section 90.509).
13. See, e.g., § 44.405, Fla. Stat. (2006) (providing a privilege for all
mediation parties regarding mediation communication); § 90.5015, Fla. Stat.
(2006) (providing for journalist’s privilege); § 90.502, Fla. Stat. (2006) (providing
for lawyer-client privilege); § 90.503, Fla. Stat. (2006) (providing for
psychotherapist-patient privilege); § 90.5035, Fla. Stat. (2006) (providing for
sexual assault counselor-victim privilege); § 90.5036, Fla. Stat. (2006) (providing
for domestic violence advocate-victim privilege); § 90.504, Fla. Stat. (2006)
– 49 –
privileges have historically been honored because the privileges promote candor
necessary and beneficial to the relationships which gave rise to the communication.
Privileged communications will have a whole new character now that the
communications are exposed to future disclosure.
The straightforward fact is that the State made a promise by statute that if
health care providers were open and frank about problems in care and treatment,
their openness and frankness would be protected from disclosure. Clearly, since
this was a statutory right to confidentiality, it was subject to being changed
prospectively. But those who complied with this statutory right clearly had an
equal right to rely on the State’s promise that records made while the
confidentiality applied would remain confidential. Now, by this decision, the
(providing for husband-wife privilege); § 90.505, Fla. Stat. (2006) (providing for
privilege with respect to communications to clergy); § 90.5055, Fla. Stat. (2006)
(providing for accountant-client privilege); § 90.506, Fla. Stat. (2006) (privilege
with respect to trade secrets); § 90.6063(7), Fla. Stat. (2006) (providing that where
a deaf person communicates through an interpreter in circumstances where the
communication would be privileged, the privilege applies to the interpreter as
well); § 456.059, Fla. Stat. (2006) (providing the communications between a
psychiatrist and patient are privileged); § 473.316, Fla. Stat. (2006) (providing that
communications between an accountant and client are privileged); § 490.0147, Fla.
Stat. (2006) (providing that communications between a licensed psychologist and
client are privileged); § 491.0147, Fla. Stat. (2006) (providing that
communications between persons licensed under chapter 491 and clients are
privileged); § 766.1016, Fla. Stat. (2004) (providing for a “patient safety data
privilege”); § 766.101, Fla. Stat. (2004) (providing immunity and a privilege from
discovery for medical review committees). While some of the privileges here were
first recognized by common law, such as the attorney-client privilege, these
privileges have since been explicitly adopted by statute, and statutes can abrogate
common law.
– 50 –
State’s promise is broken. For the above reasons, I dissent from the majority’s
holding that the law should be applied retroactively.
(Lake County)
Fifth District – Case No. 5D05-2195
CANTERO and BELL, JJ., concur.
Two Cases:
Application for Review of the Decision of the District Court of Appeal – Certified
Great Public Importance
Arthur J. England, Jr. and Daniel M. Samson of Greenberg Traurig, P.A., Miami,
Florida; and Mason H. Grower, III and Jack E. Holt, III of Grower, Ketcham,
Rutherford, Bronson, Eide and Telan, P.A., Orlando, Florida,
Christopher V. Carlyle, Shannon McLin Carlyle, and Gilbert S. Goshorn, Jr. of
The Carlyle Appellate Law Firm, The Villages, Florida,
Gail Leverett Parenti of Parenti and Parenti, P.A., Miami, Florida, and Andres
Steven Bolin of Macfarlane, Ferguson, and McMullen, Tampa, Florida, on behalf
of The Florida Defense Lawyers Association; Stephen H. Grimes and Jerome W.
Hoffman of Holland and Knight, LLP, Tallahassee, Florida, on behalf of Florida
Hospital Association, Inc.; James M. Barclay of Ruden, McClosky, Smith,
Schuster, and Russell, P.A., Tallahassee, Florida, on behalf of Florida Patient
Safety Corporation, Inc.; Paul D. Jess, General Counsel of Academy of Florida
Trial Lawyers, Inc., Tallahassee, Florida, on behalf of The Academy of Florida
Trial Lawyers; and Philip M. Burlington of Burlington and Rockenbach, P.A.,
West Palm Beach, Florida, and Lincoln J. Connolly of Rossman, Baumberger,
Reboso, and Spier, P.A., Miami, Florida, on behalf of Floridians for Patient
Protection, Inc.,
for Petitioner/Cross-Respondent
for Respondents/Cross-Petitioners
– 51 –
for Amici Curiae
First District – Case No. 1D05-4149
And an Appeal from the District Court of Appeal – Statutory or Constitutional
Invalidity
Steven Wisotsky and Stephen J. Bronis pf Zuckerman Spaeder, LLP, Miami,
Florida, and Charles T. Shad of Saalfield, Shad, Jay, Lucas, and Stokes, P.A.,
Jacksonville, Florida,
Thomas K. Equels, J. Stanley Chapman, and Judson H. Orrick of Holtzman
Equels, Tallahassee, Florida,
Stephen H. Grimes and Jerome W. Hoffman of Holland and Knight, LLP,
Tallahassee, Florida, on behalf of Florida Hospital Association, Inc.; Paul D. Jess,
General Counsel of Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, Inc., Tallahassee,
Florida, on behalf of The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers; and Philip M. Burlington
of Burlington and Rockenbach, P.A., West Palm Beach, Florida, and Lincoln J.
Connolly of Rossman, Baumberger, Reboso, and Spier, P.A., Miami, Florida, on
behalf of Floridians for Patient Protection, Inc.,
for Appellant/Petitioner
for Appellees/Respondents
for Amici Curiae
– 52 –