Fischer

Health Care Availability Act—Statutory Construction—Alternative Dispute Resolution. CRS § 13-64-403 of the Health Care Availability Act governs arbitration agreements between patients and healthcare providers. Under CRS § 13-64-403(4), such agreements must contain a certain notice to patients to help ensure that they enter the agreements voluntarily, and the notice must be emphasized by at least 10-point font and bold-faced type. The agreement here contained the notice in 12-point font, but it was not bold-faced. The Court of Appeals determined the statute requires strict compliance and that the agreement therefore failed for lack of bold-faced type. The Supreme Court held that CRS § 13-64-403 requires only substantial compliance. The Court further concluded the agreement here substantially complied with the formatting requirements of CRS § 13-64-403, notwithstanding its lack of bold-faced type. Accordingly, the Court reversed the Court of Appeals' judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with the opinion.

The lower court, in an R.C. 119.12 administrative appeal, affirmed a county sheriff's denial of Plaintiff-appellant's application for a concealed handgun license under R.C. 2923.125. The sheriff's decision was based upon Plaintiff-appellant's Georgia misdemeanor conviction for possession of marijuana. The lower court, based upon R.C. 2923.125(D)(1)(e), concluded that the Georgia conviction disqualified Plaintiff-appellant from obtaining a concealed handgun license. In Ohio, Plaintiff-appellant's offense, given the amount of marijuana involved, would have been a minor misdemeanor. We conclude, since, under R.C. 2923.125(D)(5), a minor misdemeanor conviction cannot be considered when making a concealed handgun licensure determination, that the lower court erred in concluding that Plaintiff-appellant's Georgia conviction acted to disqualify him from obtaining a concealed handgun license. Judgment reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.