Ethics rules sought for North Carolina health council

A group of doctors has sued the state of North Carolina in an effort to apply ethics rules on a council that recommends where and when hospitals, clinics, and others can expand. The lawsuit is the latest attack against the North Carolina Certificate of Need law. At issue is the oversight of a 27-member State Health Coordinating Council, which drafts an annual blueprint that determines when and where hospitals can add operating rooms, clinics can buy expensive new diagnostic tools, and doctors' offices can establish one-day surgery centers.