Summer 2013 COM Outlook | NSU College of Osteopathic Medicine

9 COM Outlook . Summer 2013 HEALTH CARE LEGAL EAGLE Governor Rick Scott Signs Tort Reform Law that Favors Physicians By Fred Segal, Esq. If a physician has to defend a malpractice claim, there are certain legal statutes and rules that both the plaintiff and the physician will have to follow. Many believe these rules make it easier for plaintiffs to bring cases and obtain damages. As a result, lobbyists and private citizens have been fighting for years to tighten rules to make it harder for patients to bring lawsuits against physicians and decrease damages physicians can suffer if they are held liable for malpractice. The practice of loosening rules in this manner is considered a part of something universally re- ferred to as tort reform . Lobbying for tort reform has worked sometimes in Florida. Ten years ago, Florida passed a law, which provided that, in most circumstances, the maximum amount of damages a physician can be liable for in a mal- practice case is $500,000. On June 5, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed another tort reform bill into law, which contains three provisions that favor physicians in defend- ing malpractice cases. They are as follows: � Any physician who testifies as an expert against a defendant physician must be the same or similar specialty than the defendant physician. Prior to this rule, a physician who never practiced In a previous issue of COM Outlook, I wrote about the importance of malpractice insur- ance and certain issues a young physi- cian may encounter regarding insurance coverage from em- ployers. Unfortunately, there are certain instances where a malpractice claim is unavoidable. A patient may blame an injury on physician incompe- tence, or sometimes a physician actually makes a mistake. Fred Segal is an attorney in the Miami office of the statewide law firm Broad and Cassel, where he is a member of the Health Law Practice Group. After earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, he earned his Juris Doctorate from NSU’s Shepard Broad Law Center and then completed a Master of Law degree in Health Law at Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware, in 2008. the same specialty as the physician defendant could still testify against him or her in a trial. � A non-defendant physician can consult with an attorney for legal services if the physician reasonably expects to be deposed, to be called as a witness, or to receive discovery requests in a medical malpractice action. Because of the disclosure of confidential patient information, physicians often questioned whether or not they needed an attorney to represent them if they were serving as a witness in a malpractice case. This bill confirms that the physician can consult an attorney if asked to serve as a wit- ness in another physician’s malpractice case. � In a malpractice case, a defendant physi- cian can now speak with the physicians who are treating or treated the plaintiff without the plaintiff’s permission. This is in response to a Florida law that prohibited a physician, who is treating a plaintiff patient in a malpractice case, from disclosing the patient’s medical history without the patient’s consent. Tort reform laws are significant to all physicians practicing medicine. To ensure you are fol- lowing the latest rules, please visit the Florida Legislature Web site at http://www.leg.state . fl.us/Welcome/index.cfm?CFID=252496325&CF TOKEN=79582904 .