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Armand v. State Department of Health and Human Resources6/21/2002
by the Supreme Court, which held that Charity Hospital employees were "persons" covered under the MLSSA and that Charity's liability was vicarious, entitling it to the statutory cap on damages provided by Revised Statute 40:1299.39. The predicate for the holding, of course, was the implicit recognition that the cap was constitutional.
The Supreme Court also noted that the lower court pretermitted the issue of constitutionality, finding the cap to be inapplicable. The Supreme Court stated: " e find otherwise."
Then, on remand, the Fourth Circuit ruled on motion for summary judgment that the cap was constitutional, noting:
This issue of the constitutionality of $500,000 statutory caps on medical malpractice judgments against both private and public health care providers has been resolved previously. The resolution of that issue is that those caps are constitutional.
In 1993 the Supreme Court in Chamberlain v. State decided that Revised Statute 13:5106(B)(1), which limits recovery in suits against the state, was unconstitutional. Subsequently, the voters of Louisiana in 1995 amended the constitution for the purpose of partially limiting the waiver of sovereign immunity by authorizing the legislature to set recovery limits.
Furthermore, nothing presently exists in our law that permits a court to depart from traditional notions of constitutional law to conclude that Revised Statute 40:1299.39 violates our constitution. Our research indicates no Louisiana appellate court since Chamberlain in 1993 has so held after analyzing due process, adequate remedy, original jurisdiction, sovereign immunity, and separation of powers issues presented in similar cases involving claims against both private and public health-care providers.
The remainder of this suit, limited to the constitutional issue, addresses itself to the legislature rather than the judicial process. As aforesaid, our constitution provides for the remedy. If the cap is to be changed, it must be by the power of the legislature. The decision of the district court is affirmed, and all costs are taxed to plaintiffs.
AFFIRMED.
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