Recent Florida News
MPL Severity on the Rise: A Gathering Storm
Although the number of medical professional liability (MPL) lawsuits, known as claim frequency, has decreased during the past decade, the average amount spent overall on claims, known as severity, continues to increase. Frequency did not spike even after the COVID-19...
October 2024 Newsletter
Reform would bring sunnier liability climate to Florida Past efforts to put reasonable limits on non-economic damages in medical liability cases have been a difficult sell to the Florida legislature - but many believe it's time to try again. Regina Brown, a retired...
It’s Time to Cap Medical Malpractice Damages and Protect Florida’s Healthcare Future
In the past legislative session, a bill was filed to cap medical malpractice damages, specifically those damages that were related to pain and suffering. Unfortunately, that legislation failed, but in my opinion, it is time for someone to file that legislation...
Current Medical Liability Laws
| Damage Caps | For physicians $500,000 cap on non-economic damages per claimant with any one physician not responsible for more than $500,000. For nonpractitioners, $750,000 cap on non-economic damages. The cap increases to $1 million in non-economic damages for physicians if the negligence resulted in death or a permanent vegetative state or if the court finds that a manifest injustice would occur unless the non-economic damages cap was increased because the non-economic harm sustained by the patient was particularly severe and the defendant’s negligence caused a catastrophic injury to the patient. (2003) |
| Joint Liability Reform | Yes. Defendants are responsible only for their proportionate share of negligence. |
| Collateral Source Reform | Yes, and the court must reduce damages by the amounts paid to the claimant from collateral sources. If a right of subrogation exists, there is no reduction in damages. Benefits received by the government sources are not considered collateral benefits. |
| Attorney Fees Limited | Patients receive 70% of the first $250,000 awarded and 90% of the remainder of the award. Attorneys will still get payment for court and witness expenses. (2004) Patients may waive contingency fee limits. |
| Periodic Payments Permitted | Yes, for future economic awards exceeding $250,000, the court must order periodic payments at the request of any party unless the court determines that manifest injustice would result to any party. |