Bartlett v. Danti
| Citation | 503 A.2d 515 |
| Decision Date | 14 January 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-453-A,83-453-A |
| Parties | Gladys BARTLETT et al. v. William J. DANTI. ppeal. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
J. Olenn, Olenn & Penza, Providence, for plaintiff.
Mark C. Hadden, Paul V. Curcio, Hinckley & Allen, Providence, for defendant.
The Superior Court has certified to this court seven questions concerning the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Confidentiality of Health Care Information Act, G.L. 1956 (1976 Reenactment) chapter 37.3 of title 5, as enacted by P.L. 1978, ch. 297, § 1. To place these questions in context, a precis of the facts is indicated.
At approximately 4:30 p.m. on October 13, 1972, plaintiff Robert Bartlett (Robert), while operating a motorcycle on a public highway, collided with an automobile operated by defendant William Danti. The plaintiff Gladys Bartlett was the registered owner of the motorcycle. At the time of impact, Robert was steering to the right or passenger side of the Danti vehicle. By complaint filed in the Superior Court on June 26, 1975, plaintiffs instituted the instant negligence action.
In response to interrogatories served on him by Robert, defendant stated that in January 1971 he was involved in an industrial accident in which he sustained head injuries, as a result of which he was disabled and collecting workers' compensation benefits.
Pursuant to orders entered by the Superior Court, medical reports of defendant's condition subsequent to his January 1971 accident were received by plaintiffs. The reports indicated that at or about the time of the collision with Robert, defendant suffered from diminished vision in his right eye and a loss of foot function. The reports further indicated that defendant suffered and continues to suffer from a mental condition involving loss of memory.
Subsequent to plaintiffs' receipt of the above medical information, the Confidentiality of Health Care Information Act was enacted.
At a pretrial conference conducted on March 28, 1980, defendant, seeking to suppress the above medical information, filed a motion in limine. In addition to alleging that the information was irrelevant, defendant claimed the privilege against disclosure of confidential health-care information set forth in § 5-37.3-6. The plaintiffs objected and made an offer of proof in which they contended that defendant's physical and mental infirmities limited his ability to operate his motor vehicle at the time of the collision and affected his ability to remember and testify during trial. The plaintiffs further argued that the Confidentiality of Health Care Information Act was unconstitutional. The trial justice certified the following questions to this court.
1. Does the Confidentiality of Health Care Information Act, § 5-37.3-6, violate article 3 of the Rhode Island Constitution as an unconstitutional intrusion by the Legislature upon the function of the judiciary?
2. Does the Confidentiality of Health Care Information Act, § 5-37.3-4(b)(11), violate article 3 of the Rhode Island Constitution as an unconstitutional intrusion by the Legislature upon the function of the judiciary?
3. Does the Confidentiality of Health Care Information Act, § 5-37.3-6, violate article 1, section 5, of the Rhode Island Constitution by denying to a litigant the right to justice?
4. Does the Confidentiality of Health Care Information Act, § 5-37.3-6, violate article 1, section 15, of the Rhode Island Constitution by denying to a litigant the right to trial by jury?
5. Does the Confidentiality of Health Care Information Act, § 5-37.3-8, violate article 1, section 5, of the Rhode Island Constitution as civil and criminal penalties may be imposed upon a litigant and his attorney for dealing with material and relevant health-care information as it pertains to the physical or mental condition of another person which may be relevant and material to the prosecution of an action? 1
6. Does the Confidentiality of Health Care Information Act, § 5-37.3-4(c), violate article 10 of the Rhode Island Constitution and serve as an unconstitutional intrusion by the Legislature upon the function of the judiciary in determining the governing of the practice of law?
7. Does § 5-37.3-6 violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in that no state may deprive a person of property without due process of law?
Since question numbers 1 and 3 are interrelated, we consolidate them for purposes of our discussion.
Article 3 of the Rhode Island Constitution provides, "The powers of the government shall be distributed into three departments: the legislative, executive and judicial." It is well settled that the separation of powers mandated by article 3 prohibits legislative subversion or exercise of judicial power. Lemoine v. Martineau, 115 R.I. 233, 238, 342 A.2d 616, 620 (1975); Taylor v. Place, 4 R.I. 324 (1856). See also State v. Byrnes, --- R.I. ---, ---, 456 A.2d 742, 744 (1983). The exercise of judicial power has been defined as "the control of a decision in a case or the interference with its progress, or the alteration of the decision once made." Id. (quoting Lemoine, 115 R.I. at 238, 342 A.2d at 620).
Section 5-37.3-4(a) provides that subject to certain exceptions enumerated in § 5-37.3-4(b), a patient's confidential health-care information shall not be released without the patient's written consent. Further, § 5-37.3-6(a)(1) sets forth the general rule that confidential health-care information is not subject to compulsory legal process in any type of proceeding, including, but not limited to, any civil or criminal case, or in any pretrial or other preliminary proceedings. 2
We find § 5-37.3-6 to be violative of the separation of powers mandated by article 3 of the Rhode Island Constitution. Section 5-37.3-6, in addition to interfering with the subpoena power of the judiciary, removes from the court's discretion the determination of admissibility of otherwise relevant evidence. Read in conjunction with § 5-37.3-4(a), the statute vests the power to make such determinations in the hands of individual patients who can decide with impunity whether to permit access to such information.
The situation presented here is not unlike that which was before us in Lemoine, supra. There, we declared blatantly unconstitutional a statute which provided that...
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