(1) "Claimant" means any person who has a cause
of action for damages based on personal injury or wrongful death arising
from medical negligence.
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(2) "Collateral
sources" means any payments made to the claimant,
or made on his or her behalf, by or pursuant to:
(a) The United States Social Security Act; any federal, state, or local
income disability act; or any other public programs providing medical
expenses, disability payments, or other similar benefits, except as prohibited
by federal law.
(b) Any health, sickness, or income disability insurance; automobile
accident insurance that provides health benefits or income disability
coverage; and any other similar insurance benefits, except life insurance
benefits available to the claimant, whether purchased by him or her or
provided by others.
(c) Any contract or agreement of any group, organization, partnership,
or corporation to provide, pay for, or reimburse the costs of hospital,
medical, dental, or other health care services.
(d) Any contractual or voluntary wage continuation plan provided by
employers or by any other system intended to provide wages during a period
of disability.
(3) "Economic damages" means financial losses that would not
have occurred but for the injury giving rise to the cause of action,
including, but not limited to, past and future medical expenses and 80
percent of wage loss and loss of earning capacity to the extent the claimant
is entitled to recover such damages under general law, including the
Wrongful Death Act.
(4) "Health care provider" means any hospital, ambulatory
surgical center, or mobile surgical facility as defined and licensed
under chapter 395; a birth center licensed under chapter 383; any person
licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, chapter 461, chapter
462, chapter 463, part I of chapter 464, chapter 466, chapter 467, or
chapter 486; a clinical lab licensed under chapter 483; a health maintenance
organization certificated under part I of chapter 641; a blood bank;
a plasma center; an industrial clinic; a renal dialysis facility; or
a professional association partnership, corporation, joint venture, or
other association for professional activity by health care providers.
(5) "Investigation" means that an attorney has reviewed the
case against each and every potential defendant and has consulted with
a medical expert and has obtained a written opinion from said expert.
(6) "Medical expert" means a person duly and regularly engaged
in the practice of his or her profession who holds a health care professional
degree from a university or college and who meets the requirements of
an expert witness as set forth in s. 766.102.
(7) "Medical negligence" means medical malpractice, whether
grounded in tort or in contract.
(8) "Noneconomic damages" means nonfinancial losses that would
not have occurred but for the injury giving rise to the cause of action,
including pain and suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, mental
anguish, disfigurement, loss of capacity for enjoyment of life, and other
nonfinancial losses to the extent the claimant is entitled to recover
such damages under general law, including the Wrongful Death Act.
(9) "Periodic payment" means provision for the structuring
of future economic damages payments, in whole or in part, over a period
of time, as follows:
(a) A specific finding of the dollar amount of periodic payments which
will compensate for these future damages after offset for collateral
sources shall be made. The total dollar amount of the periodic payments
shall equal the dollar amount of all such future damages before any reduction
to present value.
(b) The defendant shall be required to post a bond or security or otherwise
to assure full payment of these damages awarded. A bond is not adequate
unless it is written by a company authorized to do business in this state
and is rated A+ by Best's. If the defendant is unable to adequately assure
full payment of the damages, all damages, reduced to present value, shall
be paid to the claimant in a lump sum. No bond may be canceled or be
subject to cancellation unless at least 60 days' advance written notice
is filed with the court and the claimant. Upon termination of periodic
payments, the security, or so much as remains, shall be returned to the
defendant.
(c) The provision for payment of future damages by periodic payments
shall specify the recipient or recipients of the payments, the dollar
amounts of the payments, the interval between payments, and the number
of payments or the period of time over which payments shall be made.
History: s. 49, ch. 88-1; s. 1153, ch. 97-102; s. 58, ch. 2003-416.
Note: Section 86, ch. 2003-416, provides that "[i]t
is the intent of the Legislature to apply the provisions of this act
to prior medical incidents, to the extent such application is not prohibited
by the State Constitution or Federal Constitution, except that the changes
to chapter 766, Florida Statutes, shall apply only to any medical incident
for which a notice of intent to initiate litigation is mailed on or after
the effective date of this act."
Have you been injured by a doctor or hospital? Contact
our Medical
Malpractice Attorneys Miami at The Law Firm of
Glinn & Somera
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