Florida Med Mal Tort Reform
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 held to the same standards as Florida physicians. See the original bill or the article below for further details.
Florida med mal tort reform of this kind will go far to help accomplish a lot of positive things for Florida physicians. Specifically, we here at MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com feel that it will help to lower Florida med mal insurance rates, it will help to attract and retain Florida physicians, and it will help to eliminate frivolous lawsuits. Currently, some counties in Florida face some of the highest med mal insurance rates in the country. If you would like to view a history of Florida med mal rates from the last 10 years and/or compare them to other states’ med mal rates, you may look them up on our website. Also, retaining physicians in Florida is not only good for Florida patients, it is also good for the Florida economy. The article states that Florida physician private practices support more than 486,700 jobs statewide and that each private practice employees an average of 19 or more employees.
Good work, Florida. We look forward to seeing the impact of this new bill.
If you would like to see if we can lower your Florida med mal rates, contact us today by completing our no-cost, no-obligation quote request form.
Bill aims to make Florida a friendlier place to practice medicine
By Dr. Madelyn E. Butler, special to the Times
In Print: Thursday, May 19, 2011
As a practicing OB-GYN in Tampa and Florida Medical Association president, I was dismayed to read the recent St. Petersburg Times editorial, “Devaluing the lives of poor, elderly.” The FMA finds the editorial’s references to medical liability reform passed during the 2011 legislative session to be misleading.
The FMA, which represents more 20,000 physicians, across the state, worked hard this session to pass medical liability reform, including a provision addressing expert witness testimony — a measure we’ve been working to pass for over a decade. We’ve prioritized the passage of these reforms to increase access to care for all patients and ensure that there are enough physicians to treat them.
