Case Name: SHANDS TEACHING HOSPITAL AND CLINICS, INC., Appellant, v. Rebecca SMITH, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1985-12-30
Citations: 480 So. 2d 1366
Docket Number: No. BC-307
Parties: SHANDS TEACHING HOSPITAL AND CLINICS, INC., Appellant, v. Rebecca SMITH, Appellee.
Judges: ERVIN and WENTWORTH, JJ„ concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 480
Pages: 1366–1382

Head Matter:
SHANDS TEACHING HOSPITAL AND CLINICS, INC., Appellant, v. Rebecca SMITH, Appellee.
No. BC-307.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
Dec. 30, 1985.
David A. Roberts, III, Gainesville, for appellant.
Hal Castillo, of Lewis, Paul, Isaac & Castillo, Jacksonville, for appellee.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Shands Teaching Hospital appeals the trial court's dismissal of its complaint against Rebecca Smith for payment of medical bills incurred by her husband, now deceased. Although appellee's husband entered into an agreement with the hospital which bound him as guarantor for all charges which were not paid by his insurance company, appellee never agreed in writing to pay for the services provided to her husband. In its order, the trial court conceded that Manatee Convalescent Center, Inc. v. McDonald, 392 So.2d 1356 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980) and Parkway General Hospital, Inc. v. Stern, 400 So.2d 166 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981), both hold that a wife is responsible for her husband's medical bills, even in the absence of a written contract, but declined to follow that authority because it found that the common law imposes no liability on a wife for the necessaries of her husband; therefore the only way that a wife can be held responsible for the medical bills of her husband is by contract.
The common law doctrine of necessaries, judicially countenanced in this state by our Supreme Court, Phillips v. Sanchez, 35 Fla. 187, 17 So. 363 (1895), has never been explicitly altered by constitution, Court or statutes, to require a wife to be subject to an action by a facility which has provided medical services to her husband without her contractual assumption; see specifically Article I, Section 2, and Article X, Section 5, Chapters 61 and 708 of the Florida Statutes, and Gates v. Foley, 247 So.2d 40 (Fla.1971) (despite the reliance on such authorities by the courts in Manatee Convalescent Center and Parkway General Hospital). The lesson to be learned from Hoffman v. Jones, 280 So.2d 431, 434 (Fla.1973), is that in the absence of constitutional or statutory authority reflecting a change in established law, the district courts of appeal do not enjoy the prerogative of overruling controlling precedent of the Florida Supreme Court. We also view the issue here as one which is most appropriate for legislative concern.
We therefore affirm the trial court's order, certifying conflict with Manatee Convalescent Center and Parkway General Hospital.
ERVIN and WENTWORTH, JJ" concur.
BARFIELD, J., concurs with opinion.