The North Carolina Healthcare Association and four other industry groups have filed a friend-of-the-court brief at the North Carolina Court of Appeals, The Carolina Journal reported Oct. 23.
The brief defends the state’s certificate-of-need law against a constitutional challenge from New Bern ophthalmologist Jay Singleton, MD.
The association filed the brief this week with Bio-Medical Applications of North Carolina, the North Carolina Healthcare Facilities Association, the North Carolina Senior Living Association and the Association for Home and Hospice Care of North Carolina, according to the report. The groups argue that longstanding constitutional principles defeat the plaintiff’s claims. They also say repealing CON would reduce access to care and that courts are poorly suited to set economic policy.
Dr. Singleton, owner of Singleton Vision Center, has challenged the law since 2020 with backing from the Institute for Justice. He says CarolinaEast holds a monopoly on the region’s operating room CON, which bars him from performing most eye surgeries at his own facility and drives up patient costs.
A three-judge Superior Court panel dismissed his claims Dec. 12, 2025, and ruled the law facially constitutional. That ruling came after the North Carolina Supreme Court unanimously revived the case in October 2024. Dr. Singleton is now asking the appeals court to reverse the dismissal.
The state filed its own brief Oct. 12, 2026. It noted that lawmakers have narrowed CON several times, including in 2023 and summer 2026, and that full repeal has been introduced eight times in a decade without passing. State Treasurer Brad Briner and the State Employees Association of North Carolina filed a brief supporting Dr. Singleton.
North Carolina has required CON approval for new facilities, beds and major equipment since 1978.
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