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The breadth of the liability protections and whether all long-term care facilities should be shielded are among the issues that will considered during the annual legislative session that begins Tuesday.
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While the House has not posted details about which bills it will consider during the first week, Speaker Chris Sprowls told reporters he wants to move quickly on the proposal.
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A decision by House Judiciary Chairman Daniel Perez to shelve without discussion five amendments proposed by Democrats caused many leaning toward supporting the bill to back away.
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The bipartisan committee vote was a first step in delivering on the Republican-led Legislature’s priority of shielding nursing homes, hospitals and physicians from COVID-19 lawsuits.
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By the committee agreeing to adopt three amendments proposed by Rep. Lawrence McClure of Dover, the House version is no longer is identical to its Senate counterpart.
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Senate and House leaders have fast-tracked identical bills. The Senate version, however, was held up Monday when Senate Judiciary Chair Jeff Brandes was delayed in another meeting.
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The measure passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee would give hospitals, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, doctors and other providers protections from COVID-related liability claims.
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Chief among the differences are how long legal protections should be in effect, types of COVID-related lawsuits that would be limited and whether to require physician affidavits when lawsuits are filed.
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The lawsuit contends that a Miami Beach deli worker was infected in late March by another employee who came to work with COVID-19.
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The measure, which has broad support from business organizations, would make it harder to file coronavirus-related lawsuits against businesses and to win such lawsuits.