Medical malpractice caps.

• Author: Goodlette, J. Dudley
• Position: Letters - Letter to the Editor

This responds to the article, "Medical Malpractice Caps Move from the Legislature to the Courts: Will They Survive" (May 2004). Although the feature article did a good job in summarizing the leading cases regarding the constitutional right of "access to the courts," the discourse contained therein failed to adequately discern the significance, and discuss the relevance, of the most salient decision regarding limitations on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice actions, University of Miami v. Echarte, 618 So. 2d 189 (Fla. 1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 915 (1993). Indeed, while correctly explicating the court's finding that an overwhelming public necessity existed and that the caps enacted by the 1988 Legislature were reasonable, the article gave short shrift to the basis for the legislative findings and the court's review of such. Even more troubling is the article's lack of comparative analysis between the record established by the legislature in 1988 which served as the foundation of that year's constitutional caps on damages, and the nature of the record which served as the predicate for legislative action in 2003.

In contrast, the 2003 Legislature was ever cognizant of the precedential value of the Echarte decision and sought to emulate the thoughtful review undertaken, and the careful findings enacted, by the 1988 Legislature. For instance, in addition to relying upon the extensive record developed by the Governor's Task Force on Healthcare Professional Liability, the House of Representatives'...