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Drysdale v. South County Hospital Health Care System1/5/2005
distinctions is peculiarly a legislative task and an unavoidable one. Perfection in making the necessary classifications is neither possible nor necessary." Power v. City of Providence, 582 A.2d 895, 904 (R.I. 1990), quoting Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia, 427 U.S. 307, 314, 96 S.Ct. 2562, 2567, 49 L.Ed.2d. 520, 525 (1976).
The Court is mindful that another justice of this Court has taken a different view of the collateral source legislation and its constitutionality under a "rational basis" analysis. See Reilly v. Kerzer, 2000 WL 1273998 (R.I. Super. 2000); Maguire v. Licht, 2001 WL 1006060 (R.I. Super. 2001). With due respect to my colleague, this Court believes that judicial restraint is necessary when the legislative branch has attempted to address a matter of public policy in the arena of economic and social reform. See FCC v. Beach Communications, 508 U.S. 307, 315, 113 S.Ct. at 2101 (". . . judicial intervention is generally unwarranted no matter how unwisely [a court] may think a political branch acted." (quoting Vance v. Bradley, 440 U.S. 93, 97, 99 S.Ct. 939, 942-43, 59 L.Ed.2d 171 (1979)).
The Court in Reilly and Maguire limited its review to an analysis of whether the stated legislative purpose of promoting the stability of the Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriting Association was achieved by the collateral source statute. This Court believes that the rational basis inquiry is broader, and includes whether or not the statute in question might conceivably contribute to mitigating the financial burden of medical malpractice claims on physicians in Rhode Island, and the insurers who underwrite such risks. Having answered that question in the affirmative, the Court finds that the statute in question, § 9-19-34.1, is not violative of state or federal equal protection guaranties.
In Boucher v. Sayeed, 459 A.2d 87 (R.I. 1983), the Supreme Court found unconstitutional the provision of the Medical Malpractice Reform Act of 1976 dealing with required preliminary hearings before non-judicial panels to determine the sufficiency of evidence in claims of medical malpractice. The Court took judicial notice of the status of the alleged "malpractice crisis" in 1981 and concluded that a rational basis for the legislative classifications was non-existent. The Court in Boucher declined to speculate about "unexpressed or unobvious" permissible state interests.
More recently, in Flanagan v. Wesselhoeft, 765 A.2d 1203 (2001), the Court upheld as constitutionally acceptable a legislative distinction between the computation of prejudgment interest in medical malpractice actions as compared to other tort claims. The Court therein noted the same 1986 legislative findings which form the basis of the current dispute, and opined that the statute "rationally furthers a purpose as required by Boucher." Id. At 1211. The Court further noted "the findings of the General Assembly relating to the stability of the Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriting Association of Rhode Island are entitled to deference from this Court." Id.
It appears to this Court that the challenge herein is controlled by the Flanagan decision, rather than the Boucher decision. For the reasons stated herein, the Plaintiffs' motion to strike is denied, and the Court determines in limine that the Defendants may at trial introduce evidence of payments received by the Plaintiff which are defined as collateral sources in accordance with § 9-19-34.1.
The parties shall present an appropriate order consistent with this decision.
Page 1 2 3 4 Rhode Island Personal Injury Attorneys
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