Opinion ID: 2629666
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Provision Granting Partial Tort Immunity to Hospitals, AS 09.65.096, Is Facially Constitutional.

Text: Alaska Statute 09.65.096 grants partial immunity to hospitals for actions taken by emergency room physicians who are not employees but are rather independent contractors. [116] Under AS 09.65.096, hospitals are responsible only for exercising reasonable care in granting and reviewing privileges to practice in the hospital. Hospitals are not otherwise responsible for actions taken by emergency room physicians who are independent contractors, as long as the hospital provides notice, [117] and the physicians have prescribed levels of malpractice insurance. [118] Alaska Statute 09.65.096 was created in response to our decision in Jackson v. Power, in which we held that hospitals have a non-delegable duty to provide non-negligent care in their emergency rooms, and that hospitals cannot avoid respondeat superior liability by making their emergency room doctors independent contractors. [119] The plaintiffs challenge AS 09.65.096 on one basisthey claim that the statute is a violation of substantive due process. The plaintiffs claim that the legislature's modification of the common law, as it was interpreted in Jackson, is a violation of substantive due process because the legislature's action is in violation of sound public policy. Specifically, the statute is allegedly against public policy because it is a legislatively imposed exculpatory clause inserted in an adhesion contractthe contract formed when a patient is forced to go to an emergency room. However, the plaintiffs' argument fails because the legislature was free to override our decision in Jackson v. Power. Our decision in Jackson was based on our interpretation of the common law. [120] As we have stated previously, the legislature has the power to modify the common law. [121] Indeed, this principle is itself enshrined in AS 01.10.010, which states that the law to be applied by courts is the common law not inconsistent with the Constitution of the State of Alaska or the Constitution of the United States or with any law passed by the legislature of the State of Alaska. (Emphasis added.) Therefore, the legislature was well within its rights to enact AS 09.65.096.