Case Name: Kayla BRADFORD, a minor, by and through her parent and natural guardian, Nicole BRADFORD, and Nicole Bradford, individually, Appellants, v. FLORIDA BIRTH-RELATED NEUROLOGICAL INJURY COMPENSATION ASSOCIATION, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1995-12-27
Citations: 667 So. 2d 401
Docket Number: No. 94-0374
Parties: Kayla BRADFORD, a minor, by and through her parent and natural guardian, Nicole BRADFORD, and Nicole Bradford, individually, Appellants, v. FLORIDA BIRTH-RELATED NEUROLOGICAL INJURY COMPENSATION ASSOCIATION, Appellee.
Judges: GUNTHER, C.J., and DELL, J., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 667
Pages: 401–404

Head Matter:
Kayla BRADFORD, a minor, by and through her parent and natural guardian, Nicole BRADFORD, and Nicole Bradford, individually, Appellants, v. FLORIDA BIRTH-RELATED NEUROLOGICAL INJURY COMPENSATION ASSOCIATION, Appellee.
No. 94-0374.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.
Dec. 27, 1995.
Joel S. Perwin of Podhurst, Orseck, Josefs-berg, Eaton, Meadow, Olin & Perwin, P.A., Miami, for appellants.
David W. Black of Atkinson, Diner, Stone, Black & Mankuta, P.A., Hollywood, for ap-pellee.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Plaintiffs, who are the appellants, filed an administrative claim pursuant to Florida's Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act (NICA), but contended in the administrative proceeding that they were not given notice as required by section 766.316, Florida Statutes (1993), and that NICA was, therefore, inapplicable. The hearing officer concluded that notice was not a condition precedent to the application of NICA. He also found as a matter of fact that the injury to plaintiffs' child did not occur during birth, but rather several hours after birth, and did not therefore occur "in the course of labor, delivery, or resuscitation in the immediate postdelivery," as required by section 766.302(2). He thus denied recovery under NICA.
Plaintiffs seek direct review of that order pursuant to section 766.311(1), raising only the issue of whether the notice requirement is a condition precedent to the applicability of NICA. In Mills v. North Broward Hospital, 664 So.2d 65 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995), we concluded that the notice required by section 766.316 is a condition precedent. Accordingly, we reverse, and as we did in Mills, certify the following question as one of great public importance:
DOES SECTION 766.316, FLORIDA STATUTES (1993), REQUIRE THAT HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS GIVE PRE-DELIVERY NOTICE TO THEIR OBSTETRICAL PATIENTS OF THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE FLORIDA BIRTH-RELATED NEUROLOGICAL INJURY COMPENSATION PLAN AS A CONDITION PRECEDENT TO THE PROVIDERS INVOKING NICA AS THE PATIENT'S EXCLUSIVE REMEDY?
Reversed.
GUNTHER, C.J., and DELL, J., concur.
KLEIN, J., dissents with opinion.