Opinion ID: 799446
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Heading: The Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act

Text: The Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act established the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Plan, which is a system to provid[e] compensation, irrespective of fault, for birth-related neurological injury claims. Fla. Stat. § 766.303(1). This no-fault compensation plan provides the exclusive remedy for injuries that are compensable under the plan, except where there is clear and convincing evidence of bad faith or malicious purpose or willful and wanton disregard of human rights, safety, or property, and suit is filed prior to and in lieu of payment of an award under the plan. Id. § 766.303(2). To recover under the no-fault plan, the representatives of an injured infant must file a claim with the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association, which administers the plan. Id. §§ 766.303, 766.305, 766.315. An administrative law judge has the exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether a claim is compensable under the plan. Id. § 766.304. A claim is compensable under the plan only if the administrative law judge determines that the infant's injury is a birth-related neurological injury sustained during obstetric treatment by a participating physician or a certified nurse midwife under the supervision of a participating physician. Id. § 766.309, 766.31. The Compensation Act defines both the covered injuries and the professionals. A birth-related neurological injury is an injury to the brain or spinal cord of a live infant ... caused by oxygen deprivation or mechanical injury occurring in the course of labor, delivery, or resuscitation in the immediate postdelivery period in a hospital, which renders the infant permanently and substantially mentally and physically impaired. Id. § 766.302(2). A participating physician is a physician licensed in Florida to practice medicine who practices obstetrics or performs obstetrical services... who had paid or was exempted from payment at the time of the injury the assessment required for participation in the [no-fault plan] for the year in which the injury occurred. Id. § 766.302(7). The Compensation Act provides that the term participating physician does not apply to any physician who practices medicine as an officer, employee, or agent of the Federal Government. Id. If the administrative law judge determines that a claim is compensable under the no-fault plan, then no civil action for the covered injury may be brought or continued in violation of the exclusiveness of remedy provisions in the Compensation Act. Id. § 766.304. For a compensable claim, the injured infant's representatives are entitled to recover only actual medical expenses, an award of up to $100,000 to the infant's parents or legal guardians, a $10,000 death benefit if the infant passed away, and reasonable attorney's fees and related expenses. Id. § 766.31. If the administrative law judge determines that a claim is not compensable under the no-fault plan, then representatives of the injured infant may pursu[e] any and all civil remedies available under common law and statutory law. Id. § 766.304. Awards paid through the no-fault compensation plan are funded by assessments on physicians and hospitals that provide obstetric services. Id. § 766.314(1), (4). All hospitals licensed in Florida are required to pay assessments based on the number of infants delivered in the hospital. Id. § 766.314(4)(a). Physicians who elect to participate in the plan must pay an assessment of $5,000 annually. Id. § 766.314(4)(c), (5)(a). Certified nurse midwives who work with participating physicians and elect to participate in the plan must pay an assessment of $2,500 annually. Id. Subject to some exceptions, physicians who do not participate in the plan, either because they do not perform obstetric services or because they elect not to participate, must pay an assessment of $250 annually. Id. The Compensation Act also requires [e]ach hospital with a participating physician on its staff and each participating physician, subject to some exceptions, to provide obstetrical patients with notice of the no-fault compensation plan that shall include a clear and concise explanation of a patient's rights and limitations under the plan. Id. § 766.716. The Act provides that [t]he hospital or the participating physician may elect to have the patient sign a form acknowledging receipt of the notice form, in which case the [s]ignature of the patient acknowledging receipt of the notice form raises a rebuttable presumption that the notice requirements of [the Act] have been met. Id. The notice requirements need not be satisfied when the patient has an emergency medical condition... or when notice is not practicable. Id. The administrative law judge assigned to review a claim under the no-fault plan has exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether the notice requirements were satisfied with respect to that claim. Id. § 766.309(1)(d). The Supreme Court of Florida has held that where the notice requirements are not satisfied, a claimant can either (1) accept [plan] remedies and forgo any civil suit against any other person or entity involved in the labor or delivery, or (2) pursue a civil suit only against the person or entity who failed to give notice and forgo any remedies under [the plan]. Fla. Birth-Related Neurological Injury Comp. Ass'n v. Dep't of Admin. Hearings, 29 So.3d 992, 999 (Fla.2010).