The Readers’ Forum section, The Miami Herald published a letter from a South Florida doctor containing various assertions about medical malpractice litigation. The letter angered my wife, who decided that a response was necessary. Here it is: Dr. Jerome Reich’s statement that “about 25-30 percent of the cost of our…
Through years of misrepresentations, the insurance and medical industries have convinced the general public that every medical malpractice jury verdict favors the patient regardless of the merits of any particular case. Like a non-stop chant – think Florida State University football games – they scream of a crisis involving frivilous…
Annually, well more than one million Americans have refractive surgery to correct their vision. Refractive surgery is any type of surgery that alters the refractive power of the eye. Lasik is the most well known of the procedures, but others are available, including Lasek, PRK, and Epi-Lasik. Most of the…
In its infinite wisdom (sarcasm intended), the Florida Legislature, in 2003, placed arbitrary caps on the amount of money persons harmed by medical negligence may recover for noneconomic damages. (Noneconomic damages are defined in Florida Statute 766.202(8) as follows: “Noneconomic damages” means nonfinancial losses that would not have occurred but…
Florida Statute Section 768.21 outlines who is eligible for benefits under Florida’s Wrongful Death Act. (See this blog for an easy-to-understand breakdown.) With one exception, the statute – although debatable as to its fairness – treats all victims alike. The exception? The survivors of those who have died from medical…
To the surprise of many, most of the doctors who work in Florida’s hospital emergency rooms are not hospital employees. Instead, they are independent contractors. (It is quite rare for Florida hospitals to employ their ER physicians.) Equally surprising is that Florida law does not hold a hospital liable for…
Our law firm was recently hired by a military veteran who claims to have been infected with the liver disease Hepatitis C by equipment used to perform colonoscopies at the Veterans Administration (VA) hospital in Miami, Florida. Last year the VA acknowledged contamination issues with endoscopic equipment used to perform…
A 71 year old Florida man and his wife of nearly 50 years were recently awarded a total of 11.8 million dollars in a unanimous ruling by a three-person arbitration panel in a civil case involving allegations of medical malpractice against Dr. Alfred O. Bonati and his Gulf Coast Orthopedic…