Opinion ID: 1703227
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the nica plan

Text: As noted by the district court, the legislature enacted the NICA plan to stabilize a perceived medical malpractice insurance crisis affecting obstetricians and to ensure the continued availability in Florida of essential obstetrical services. § 766.301(1), Fla.Stat. (1993). The plan establishes a no-fault administrative system that provides compensation for an infant who suffers a narrowly defined birth-related neurological injury. Id. § 766.301(2). Under the NICA plan, a birth-related neurological injury is defined as: [I]njury to the brain or spinal cord of a live infant weighing at least 2,500 grams at birth 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). Claims filed under the NICA plan are heard by an administrative hearing officer, id. § 766.304, who must determine whether the injury claimed is a birth-related neurological injury. Id. § 766.309(1)(a). If the hearing officer finds that the statutory criteria are satisfied, then the infant, as well as the infant's parents or legal guardians, are entitled to the award of specifically defined, but limited, financial benefits without regard to fault. Id. § 766.31.