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Patient Compensation Idea Draws Fire

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

After the Florida Supreme Court threw out the state's medical malpractice law last week, saying its cap on "pain-and-suffering" damages violates the state Constitution, it would seem to be the ideal time for an alternative.

Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, had already filed a bill (HB 739) that offers such an alternative: a Patients' Compensation System, which would use medical review panels to determine whether and how patients were injured and provide compensation without having to go to court.

At a House Judiciary Committee workshop on Monday, Brodeur said his bill is just what a broken system needs. But as The Florida Current reports, the bill drew the same criticism from the same lobby groups as last year. 

(This Health News Florida article from last April describes how the system would work.)

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.