Tenet Hospitals Ltd. v. Rivera ex rel. M.R.

Chief Justice HECHT, Justice GREEN, Justice JOHNSON, Justice WILLETT, Justice BOYD, Justice DEVINE, and Justice BROWN joined.

Our Constitution must strike a delicate balance between the pre-existing rights of individuals and the state’s need to abridge those rights to achieve important public policy objectives. This appeal raises such questions of balance through a challenge to the statute of repose in the Medical Liability Act. In 2003, the Legislature enacted the Medical Liability Act to lower the escalating cost of medical malpractice insurance premiums and increase access to health care.…