Hinchman v. Gillette

In this proceeding, the circuit court dismissed a complaint on the ground that the plaintiffs failed to fully comply with the medical malpractice certificate of merit requirement, as provided in W. Va.Code § 55-7B-6(b) (2003) (Supp.2004). The majority opinion has reversed the dismissal based on the finding that the defendants’ objection to the certificate of merit was untimely. In rendering this decision, the majority opinion declined to address the constitutionality of the certificate of merit requirement. I concur in the result reached in this case. However, as I will demonstrate below, the…