medical malpractice | The Health Law Firm Blog

New System for Patients to Report Medical Mistakes in the Works

By Danielle M. Murray, J.D.

According to the New York Times, the government wants to implement a new system that would allow patients to report medical mistakes and unsafe practices by health care providers to a central reporting organization. This includes doctors, hospitals, pharmacists, and all other professionals or entities that provide medical treatment. While it is only an idea at this point, the government envisions patients reporting problems through a website or a phone number by answering a short questionnaire.

Federal officials believe that medical mistakes frequently go unreported and patients could have useful information that could be used to identify health care providers and facilities where […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:37-04:00June 1, 2018|Department of Health, Health Care Industry, In the Know, In the News, Licensing issues, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Florida Supreme Court Overturns Medical Malpractice Caps

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Florida’s Supreme Court ruled 5-to-2 in favor of invalidating medical malpractice caps on non-economic damages. The initial legislation was put into place in 2003 by the Florida Legislature due to an alleged medical malpractice crisis. The caps limited payments to patients for non-economic damages at $500,000 in most malpractice cases and $1 million in cases involving deaths. However, on March 13, 2014, the Supreme Court concluded that the cap on wrongful death non-economic damages violates the state Constitution’s equal protection clause.

This decision by Florida’s highest court makes Florida the seventh state to make such […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:55-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, In the Know, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Appeals Court Upholds Medical Malpractice Law Changes

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On July 21, a state appeals court in Tallahassee upheld the constitutionality of a controversial change in Florida’s medical malpractice law. It ruled that some privacy rights are waived when patients pursue medical malpractice lawsuits. A federal appeals court last year also upheld the change in Florida’s law.

The decision by a three-judge panel of the First District Court of Appeal resulted from a 2013 change in the medical malpractice law. The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature passed the amendments to the laws after a lobbying dispute between groups like doctors and plaintiffs’ attorneys.

Ex Parte Communications […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:01-04:00June 1, 2018|In the News, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Florida Psychiatrist Fined $5,000 By Board of Medicine After Jail Inmate’s Suicide

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law
An psychiatrist in Ocala, Florida was fined $5,000 by the Florida Board of Medicine after a patient brought in for evaluation in 2012, later committed suicide in jail. The psychiatrist, Marc Weinbaum (M.D.), is being disciplined by the Florida Board of Medicine for allegedly failing to evaluate and assess the patient as a suicide risk.
The inmate was originally arrested and brought to The Vines in Ocala under Florida’s Baker Act, a law that authorizes involuntary mental health evaluation and treatment for up to 72 hours if there is a credible suicide […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:51-04:00May 15, 2018|Mental Health Law Blog|