When it comes to personal injury
cases, medical malpractice is one of the most sensitive subjects. It’s easy to
understand why – hospitals and medical practices, in general, want to protect
their practitioners against lawsuits from patients or patients’ families that
are seeking damages because an operation wasn’t successful or a patient was
lost. In many such cases, the practitioner did everything they could by the book,
and such lawsuits can damage their reputations and ability to work effectively
even though they did nothing wrong.
On the other hand, patients are
putting their full trust in their doctors, often putting their lives in their
hands. Because of this vulnerability, negligence and medical malpractice should
not only be punished but also deterred. While it’s easy to agree with both
sides concerning these views, the U.S. Supreme Court recently made a decision
that was a major victory for all patients, both those who suffered malpractice
and future patients.
The Disclosure of
Records in Medical Malpractice Cases
Over ten years ago, the residents of
Florida voted to pass a Florida Constitutional Amendment that required medical
providers to be transparent in their records about any adverse medical
incidents that occurred in their hospitals or medical practices. Basically, if
they lost or settled a medical malpractice lawsuit against them, the practice
would have to make those records available to the general public.
The purpose of the amendment was to
give patients the chance to research different medical practices and hospitals
so that they could determine how often and how many medical mistakes were made
that lead to injuries or deaths. This, in turn, would allow patients to choose
a practice that they deemed to be the safest.
As you can imagine, most medical
practices were not happy with this amendment. By hiding malpractice records
from the public, they can protect the reputation of their practitioners and of their
practice. Being forced to be transparent about any incidents of malpractice
would not only damage their reputations but could lose them countless patients.
As such, they’ve spent millions of dollars in litigation over the past decade
in an attempt to have the amendment repealed.
U.S. Supreme
Court Ruling
The Southern Baptist Hospital of
Florida, which is based in Jacksonville, took their case to the U.S. Supreme
Court after the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the disputed records (those of
malpractice incidents) must be disclosed. The U.S. Supreme Court declined
to take up the appeal.
The Southern Baptist Hospital of
Florida made the appeal as a result of a lawsuit filed by the family of one of
their patients, Marie Charles. The lawsuit alleged that medical negligence led
to a severe neurological injury.
The ruling made by the Florida Supreme
Court in the case was that the hospital had to turn over their records in
accordance with the state amendment in 2004 requiring access to their adverse
medical incident reports. The hospital system argued against having to turn
over such records since they were abiding by the federal 2005 Patient Safety
Act, which makes the disclosure of such documents voluntary as to protect the
rights to confidentiality of their patients.
Although the U.S. Supreme Court did
not provide reasoning behind their refusal to take up the appeal (which is
normal), their action is a huge victory for patients. It means that medical
care professionals can no longer hide behind the federal 2005 Patient Safety
Act in an attempt to preserve their reputation and must release their adverse
medical incident reports so that patients have the chance to better compare and
choose where to be treated.
if you have been harmed by a medical mistake or neglect and need a medical malpractice lawyer call The Law Office of Gloria Law for a free consultation. You pay no fees unless there is a recovery.
