Founding Partner Attorney Stuart Ratzan was recently interviewed and quoted in an article focused on a Florida bill that would extend COVID-19 legal protections for health care providers and how South Florida industry leaders feel about the potential extension.
The article, published in the Daily Business Review, states: "The Florida House has voted to extend legal protections for medical providers against coronavirus-related legal claims until June 1, 2023. But some attorneys believe this is too long, and the protections too broad. The current liability protections expire March 29 [2022] so the new measure would extend protection well over a year. The Senate has approved the legislation, so now it is up to the governor to decide."
Stuart Ratzan, who was quoted in the piece, points instead to a need for more accountability:
“Removing the law’s protections for Floridians made little sense. In the absence of this immunity statute, the laws relating to medical negligence are not an onerous set of trap doors lurking in dark corners ready to surprise and trap unwitting doctors and hospitals. The law simply requires that people, including health care providers, act with reasonable care toward others. Now that we know how to treat and prevent COVID-19, there is no reason to immunize anyone with respect to claims arising from COVID-19 death and illness."
"When an injured party brings a case for medical negligence, they are seeking to enforce the patient safety rules that protect everyone from harm and death. Accountability creates a strong incentive for quality care. Giving health care providers a pass, on the other hand, rewards careless conduct. And conduct rewarded is conduct repeated,” Ratzan said.
“I think it is high time that our politicians remember who voted them into office, and that they allow the law to perform its deterrent function, create accountability for those who would neglect our health and safety, and make hospitals and doctors’ offices safer for everyone".
Read the full DBR article here.