Rick Scott to Sign Bill Limiting Experts in Medical Malpractice Cases

Florida Governor Rick Scott has until June 12 to sign a number of bills presented to him by the legislature, including SB 1792, which diminishes significantly the number of available expert witnesses who may testify in medical malpractice lawsuits. The most notable change this bill makes to Section 766.102, Florida Statutes, which sets the standards for qualifying medical experts, is to the requirement that a medical expert witness must be in the “same or similar” specialty as the defendant doctor in the medical malpractice suit. The new bill seeks to revise that section by eliminating the term “similar,” thereby limiting the number of medical experts who may testify against the defendant health care provider to those who are in the same specialty.

While the change may not seem all that significant at first glance, the statute in its current form already places strict requirements on potential experts.  More important, this is is yet another attempt the Florida legislature or Governor Scott to diminish the rights of victims of medical malpractice and other forms of negligence.  In recent years, Florida lawmakers have tightened restrictions on medical expert witnesses by requiring out of state experts to become certified through the State of Florida in order to testify.  There are also limits on the amount of damages plaintiffs may recover in medical malpractice lawsuits, which are currently under review by the Florida Supreme Court to determine whether such caps are constitutional.