Source: http://www.atra.org/state/florida/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 00:25:27+00:00

Document:
Provides that a stay of judgment is executed during interlocutory appeal.
Prohibits out-of-state residents from filing lawsuits in Florida courts unless the claim occurred or emanated from the state. Requires claimants to prove actual damages in order to maintain certain types of class actions. Would not preclude the Attorney General from bringing a class action to cover statutory penalties.
Joint and Several Liability Reform: H.B. 145 (2006); Fla. Stat. § 768.36, Fla. Stat. § 768.098; Amending Fla. Stat. § 768.81.
Bars application of joint and several liability in the recovery of all damages.
Joint and Several Liability Reform: HB 775 (1999); Fla. Stat. Ann. § 768.81.
Bars application of the rule of joint and several liability, where the plaintiff is at fault, and where the defendant is 10% or less at fault. Limits joint liability to $200,000, where the plaintiff is at fault, and where the defendant is more than 10% but less than 25% at fault. Limits joint liability to $500,000, where the plaintiff is at fault, and where the defendant is at least 25% but not more than 50% at fault. Limits joint liability to $1 million, where the plaintiff is at fault, and where the defendant is more than 50% at fault. Bars application of the rule of joint and several liability, where the plaintiff is not at fault, and where the defendant is less than 10% at fault. Limits joint liability to $500,000, where the plaintiff is not at fault, and where the defendant is at least 10% but less than 25% at fault. Limits joint liability to $1 million, where the plaintiff is not at fault, and where the defendant is at least 25% but not more than 50% at fault. Limits joint liability to $2 million, where the plaintiff is not at fault, and where the defendant is more than 50% at fault.
Provides that the judgment interest rate will be set in accordance with the interest rate as set by the Chief Financial Officer based on the discount rate of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the preceding 12 months plus 400 basis points (4 percent). The interest rate on the judgment is to be adjusted annually on January 1 of each year.
Requires an M.D., D.O., or D.D.S. licensed in another state to obtain an expert witness certificate before being able to provide expert testimony in Florida.
Gives the Boards of Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, and Dentistry the specific authority to discipline any expert witness, both those licensed in state and those with an expert witness certificate, who provide deceptive or fraudulent expert witness testimony.
Requires the Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine to create a standard informed consent form that sets forth the recognized risks related to cataract surgery. Provides that an incident resulting from a recognized specific risk is not considered an adverse incident.
Deletes the provision in current law that prohibits an insurance company from selling a malpractice insurance policy to a physician that gives the physician the authority to control settlement decisions.
Excludes from evidence in any medical negligence action any information regarding an insurer’s reimbursement policies or reimbursement determinations.
Provides that the breach of, or failure to comply with, any federal requirement is not admissible as evidence in a medical negligence case.
Provides that the expert witness who submits the pre-suit verified expert medical opinion is no longer immune from discipline.
Creates a new pre-suit form, the “authorization for release of protected health information.” This will make it easier for a physician to obtain the patient’s health care information in a malpractice suit.
Provides that volunteer team physicians are immune from suit when gratuitously rendering care at a school athletic event.
Provides that a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion as to the facts at issue in a case under certain circumstances. It requires the state to interpret and apply the principles of expert testimony in conformity with the United States Supreme Court’s decision in the Daubert case.
Medical Liability Reform: Noneconomic Damages Reform: CS SB 2-D (special session 2003).
Provides for emergency room practitioner limits on noneconomic damages of $150,000 per claimant, with an aggregate of $300,000. Provides for emergency room facility limits on noneconomic damages of $750,000 per claimant, with an aggregate of $1.5 million and full setoffs for practitioner payments. Provides for non-practitioner limits on noneconomic damages of $750,000 per claimant, with an aggregate for all claimants. Provides for practitioner limits on noneconomic damages of $500,000 per claimant, with an aggregate limit for all claimants of $1 million, but no single practitioner shall be liable for more than $500,000 regardless of the number of claimants.
The Florida Supreme Court held the limit on noneconomic damages unconstitutional in Estate of McCall v. United States, 134 So. 3d 894 (Fla. 2014).
Automobile Liability Reform: HB 775 (1999).
Limits the liability of an owner or lessor of an automobile to $100,000 per person or $300,000 per incident for bodily injury, and $50,000 for property damage. Limits the liability of an uninsured or under-insured person to $500,000 for economic damages only. The reform does not apply in cases involving commercial vehicles used in the ordinary course of business and the transportation of hazardous materials.
Provides for awards to be offset with broad exclusions. The collateral source rule reform is unconstitutional. Smith v. Department of Insurance, 507 So.2d 1080 (Fla. 1987).
Provides a rebuttable presumption of liability if the product violated any such standards. Provides a rebuttable presumption that a product is not defective if the product met federal or state standards.
Requires a jury to consider the state of the art of scientific and technical knowledge that existed at the time when the product was manufactured.
Medical Liability Reform: Nursing Homes: Punitive Damages: SB 1202 (2001).
Requires a plaintiff to prove punitive damages by clear and convincing evidence in cases against nursing home facilities. Limits punitive damages against nursing home facilities to the greater of three times the award of compensatory damages or $1 million. Limits punitive damages against nursing home facilities to the greater of $4 million or four times the award of compensatory damages, where conduct is proven to be motivated by financial gain. Sets no limit on the award of punitive damages against nursing home facilities, where intentional harm is proven.
Limits punitive damages to the greater of three times the award of compensatory damages or $500,000. Limits punitive damages to he greater of four times compensatory damages or $2,000,000, where the defendant’s wrongful conduct was motivated by an unreasonable financial gain or the likelihood of injury was known. Prohibits the award of multiple punitive damages awards based on the same act or course of conduct unless the court makes a specific finding that earlier punitive damages awards were insufficient. Requires a plaintiff to prove by clear and convincing evidence that a defendant acted with intentional misconduct or gross negligence for the award of punitive damages. Outlines circumstances when an employer is liable for punitive damages arising from an employee’s conduct. The reform does not apply to cases involving abuses to the elderly or children, or cases where the defendant is intoxicated.
Provides immunity for businesses and government agencies who follow specified procedures; provides exclusive remedy in contract, if no written contract: limits recovery to direct economic damages; bars recovery for damages which plaintiff could have avoided or mitigated; requires mediation; prohibits class actions against government agencies; requires each class member has a loss of $50,000 to bring a class action; provides liability protection for directors and officers; and requires filing of suit by March 1, 2002.
Limits landowner’s liability to injured trespassers.

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