Monday, May 11, 2009

First DCA Grants Rehearing and Holds Section 456.057 Does Not Violate Constitutional Rights

On Rehearing in Dannemann v. Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics, Inc. (1D08-3923), the First DCA granted rehearing. "The order [under review] would allow the physician witnesses to discuss the decedent’s medical condition...Respondents raise the same constitutional issues that were raised in Hannon. Specifically, respondents contend that our application of section 456.057 in Hannon violates the physicians’ constitutional right to counsel protected by the free speech clause of the First Amendment and their rights under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment...In Hannon, the court granted relief based upon section 456.057(6), which it could not have done had it been persuaded the statute was constitutionally infirm...Further, we note that in Acosta the Supreme Court rejected the argument that the limitations on disclosure in section 455.241(2), Florida Statutes (1993), are "somehow violative of a defendant physician’s First Amendment rights to free speech." Acosta, 671 So. 2d at 156. The petition for writ of certiorari is GRANTED and the trial court’s order is QUASHED."

0 comments:

Post a Comment