Med Mal News

Florida's legislature passed a bill in May giving University of Miami doctors who practice at nonprofit teaching hospitals the same sovereign immunity protection that the hospitals receive. That means that patients injured by these doctors at such facilities will be limited to awards of $200,000. The bill, CS/SB 1676, was passed unanimously in the State Senate, and by a vote of 109-8 in the House. William Donelan, vice president for medical administration at the University of Miami, said the school pushed for the change because, as state-run hospitals already had this type of immunity, patients injured there were choosing instead to go for the university's deeper pockets when seeking compensation for medical injuries. “This doesn't reduce a victim's right to make a claim or file a lawsuit,” Donelan said. “They still would have that available to them, and they would be able to file a claims bill in the Legislature for damages that go over the cap.” Plaintiff attorneys are less sure, including attorney Stephen Cain of Stewart Tilghman Fox & Bianchi in Miami, who says the bill will prevent injured patients from seeking the compensation they are entitled to. “The reality is prosecuting these cases oftentimes requires attorneys to spend $150,000 to more than $200,000,” said Cain, who in addition to representing plaintiffs is a member of the Florida Justice Association. “The Legislature has now made these cases financially unviable to prosecute.”