Posts tagged "Florida"

A bill that would end a Florida law denying recoverable damages for certain wrongful death medical liability claims and impose noneconomic damage caps on medical malpractice awards cleared a key hurdle last month when it was approved by the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee. Florida Statute §768.21(8) currently restricts the recovery of damages in wrongful death […]

A growing number of state medical boards have been pushing back against the minority of healthcare professionals spreading dangerous COVID-19 disinformation and prescribing unproven coronavirus treatments. They are increasingly meeting resistance from conservative lawmakers. “Physicians who generate and spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation are risking disciplinary action by state medical boards, including the suspension […]

If you speak with any physician that has practiced in Florida for more than 10 years, you are sure to get at least one or two horror stories about fly-by-night Florida liability insurance companies that came into the state, enticed doctors with low rates, and then disappeared as quickly as they arrived. Up until about […]

A couple of weeks ago an interesting piece of legislation (SB 1506) was put forth in the Florida state senate. Sen. John Thrasher (R-St. Augustine) filed the measure to protect physicians by sovereign immunity from large Florida physician malpractice judgements. It notes the unique feature of emergency room physicians: they are required by law to […]

The medical liability climate in Florida is a mess. Medical malpractice insurance in Miami’s Dade County is more expensive than any other in the nation, and the high cost of medical malpractice premiums influence too many doctors in the Sunshine State to choose to practice bare, without any liability insurance coverage at all. Add the […]

The James Madison Institute just released an interesting study entitled, Alternative Solutions to Florida’s Medical Malpractice System. The report begins by outlining nothing new: a flawed Florida tort system, physician liability insurance cases that take years to resolve, and awards that are dramatically inconsistent. It describes a system that discourages the reporting of errors and, […]

side note: The report discussed in this article was published by the James Madison Institute (JMI), a Florida-based think tank dedicated to dedicated to advancing the ideas of limited government, economic freedom, federalism and individual liberty coupled with individual responsibility. The JMI report argues that the current medical liability tort system is ineffective, costly and […]

Side Note: There is some good news for physicians in Florida regarding Florida med mal tort reform. A new bill, HB 479, specifically addresses new, more stringent requirements for expert medical malpractice witnesses who appear in Florida courts. Under the law, out-of-state licensed expert witnesses must obtain certification. In essence, expert witnesses are now being […]

Side note: Prosecuting a “Pill Mill”, individuals who seek out multiple prescriptions of commonly abused prescription drugs for the sole purpose of illegal resale, often requires the same expense and level of expert testimony as a medical malpractice lawsuit. Since prescription drugs are legal the possession of the drugs is not a crime. Criminal intent […]