Wednesday, June 18, 2003
SPECIAL NOTE: Read How Caps on Non-economic Medical Malpractice Damage Awards Pander to the Insurance Industry at the Expense of the Patient and the Ordinary Florida Citizen ... with important new statistic showing how the Insurance Industry is solely responsible for the outrageous malpractice premium hikes doctors are complaining about:http://www.geocities.com/governmentwatch2002/leg_ltr2.html
URGENT: "No Caps on Medical Malpractice Non-economic Damage Awards: A "Government Watch 2002" Response To Pandering Johnnie Byrd Excuses For Sleeping With the Insurance Industry at the Expense of Patients and the Ordinary Florida Citizens."
Below is a very important, vital illustration of what the AMA and especially the Insurance Industry are up to with this 'concocted' ruse "Caps" issue their lobbyists are blasting the public with. This illustration cites the Ford Pinto Cases and it is most vital for the ordinary citizen, the media and the legislature to fully grasp the import of this crucial example and illustration of WHY Caps are NOT in the public's Best Interests and it Explains WHY the AMA and especially the Insurance Industry are so desperately trying to sandbag the public and the Florida legislature on the "Caps" issue.
RE: PUTTING CAPS ON NON-ECONOMIC MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
AWARDS
We are all here to discuss this issue because we all agree on one thing, namely, the cost of health care is spiraling out of control. We all agree on that much. The question is, "Who is responsible for this never-ending spiral?"
It is imperative that we correctly diagnose the "root cause" of the problem, before we start executing the so-called 'guilty culprits' because if we execute the wrong party, we damage a perfectly health 'organ' so to speak, while we continue to be plagued with the original problem we had to begin with. We need to correctly identify the 'root cause' of the problem complained of.
The 'problem complained of' by healthcare providers is the spiraling, excessively high Medical Malpractice Premiums they must pay to insurance companies. The 'problem complained of' by Florida Citizens and patients is the exorbitantly high cost of Medical Care they must pay to the healthcare providers. These complaints trace back to the Insurance Industry which is charging the excessive premiums which cause the cost of medical care to spiral upwards. The Insurance Industry blames its exorbitant premiums on the high costs of paying out large Medical Malpractice Non-economic Damage Awards for the irresponsible, incompetent, negligent conduct of some healthcare providers. From this body of complaints, We need to correctly identify the 'root cause' of the problem complained of, if we are to effectively correct the problem.
We have all been victimized, at one time or another, by the incompetent auto mechanic whom I describe as being plagued with the "By Gosh, By Guess And By-Golly" brand of diagnostic aptitude. You bring your car to him and you say, "The car is not running right, it keeps stalling out, is hard to start and sometimes it won't start at all. Please fix it." The "By Gosh And By-Golly" mechanic tells you the problem could be this, or it could be that or it could be one of several other problems. Of course, you already knew most of that. You brought the car to the mechanic because you needed a "definitive diagnosis" of the problem.
So the mechanic narrows the scope of plausible causes to about 5 equally possible, but uncertain causes and starts replacing each item under the hood, in sequence, until the problem goes away. This is NOT competent auto mechanics. It's clear evidence of an unskilled, incompetent mechanic. The competent mechanic understands that, FIRST, you positively identify the cause of the problem through diligent diagnostic testing. THEN you repair or replace the defective, malfunctioning part[s]. Of course, the incompetent mechanic makes much, much more money doing it his way.
We all agree that the cost of health care is spiraling out of control. NOW we need to positively identify the 'root cause' of that problem so we can eliminate or lessen the problem. And when we objectively embark on the discipline of competent diagnostic examination, we discover that non-economic damage awards are
NOT the 'root cause' or even a significant cause of the problem complained about. This can be definitively established using the Insurance and Health Care Industries' own data. When we attempt to accurately diagnose the '
root cause' of the problem we discover that the Insurance Industry cannot justifify its exobitant premiums increases. We discover that, unlike the public sector, the
Insurance Industry in the Medical sector
IS NOT REGULATED at all. We discover that the extreme plight of citizens, patients and healthcare providers is caused by exorbitant, unjustifiable extortion premium rates instituted by an ungoverned Insurance Industry that desperately needs to be firmly regulated by the State of Florida. This can be definitively established using the Insurance and Health Care Industries' own data.
Read More: "Insurance Companies and Their Lobbyists Admit It: Caps on Damages Won't Lower Insurance Premiums."
Here is the non-economic damage awards data which the Insurance and Health Care Industry cite as reliable, authoritative stats on non-economic damage awards in Florida over the past 11 years. The stats they cite claim that "[t]otal non-economic damage awards in Florida have increased 153 percent in just 11 years." (United Business Media, PRNewswire Deerfield Beach, Fla., May. 23, 2003). This is the cold, hard data which the Insurance and Health Care Industry and their staunch supporters cite over and over again to show that non-economic damage awards are to blame as the root cause of spiraling healthcare costs in Florida.
Using the Insurance and Health Care Industry's own data, which they have certified as accurate and reliable, we can definitely prove that non-economic damage awards are NOT the root cause of spiraling healthcare costs in Florida.
In a July 2002 study done by a staunch pro-insurance industy company, "More than 800 physicians responded to [a] survey, reporting average annual premium increases of 78 percent" ("Business First," American City Business Journals, Inc., February 3, 2003). "Emergency-room physicians reported an average increase of 204 percent." "[G]eneral surgeons reported an average 87 percent increase." "[O]bstetric/gynecology practices were hit with average increases of 64 percent." ("Business First," American City Business Journals, Inc., February 3, 2003). Once again, this is the cold, hard data which the Insurance and Health Care Industry and their staunch supporters cite over and over again to show that non-economic damage awards are to blame as the root cause of spiraling healthcare costs in Florida.
From this Insurance and Health Care Industry data we can now conclusively establish that non-economic damage awards are NOT the root cause of spiraling healthcare costs in Florida.
The Insurance and Health Care Industry data shows that "[t]otal non-economic damage awards in Florida have increased 153 percent in just 11 years." That is a 13.9 % increase per year. The Insurance and Health Care Industry data also shows that physicians reported annual premium increases of 78 percent. Since non-economic damage awards only increased 13.9 % per year, That means that 82% of the insurance premium increase is NOT related to non-economic damage awards.
The Insurance and Health Care Industry data shows that Emergency-room physicians reported annual premium increases of 204 percent. Since non-economic damage awards in Florida have only increased 13.9 % per year, That means that 93% of that insurance premium increase is NOT related to non-economic damage awards at all. The Insurance and Health Care Industry data shows that Orthopedic physicians reported annual premium increases of 122 percent. Since non-economic damage awards in Florida have only increased 13.9 % per year, That means that 88.5% of that insurance premium increase has absolutely nothing, whatsoever, to do with non-economic damage awards. This comes directly from the Insurance and Health Care Industry's own data, which they have certified as accurate and reliable.
An increase in non-economic damage awards of 13.9 % per year is in the vicinity of the annual cost of living increases we are seeing, in the wake of oil industry and pharmaceutical industry price gouging practices in recent years. The Insurance and Health Care Industry always make sure they conceal the known fact that the number of non-economic damage awards
has actually gone down for each of the past ten years, except for two years where it stayed about the same. It is only the cumulative dollar amount of the awards that has increased 13.9 % per year, on average. And 13.9 % simply is not an outrageous number.
The yearly increases of 204% and 122% in ANNUAL malpractice premium rate IS OUTRAGEOUS. And 85-95% of those ill-gotten gains went straight into the fat pockets of a greedy, unregulated Insurance Industry. In other words, 85-95% of the insurance premium increases cannot be justified by the Insurance Industry. Speculation has it that the Insurance Industry lost its shirt in the stockmarket and now it is gouging (extorting) healthcare providers with outrageous premium increases to offset its stockmarket losses.
Read More: "Insurance Companies and Their Lobbyists Admit It: Caps on Damages Won't Lower Insurance Premiums."
The Insurance Industry and Healthcare Industry are engaged in a flim-flam 'smoke & mirrors' propaganda campaign designed to dupe and confuse the public by selectively citing statistics. If the Public is vigilant, it can easily identify the fallacies behind these bogus industry claims, as we have disclosed above. It's like the four bank robbers who agree to share the loot from a heist. Three of them get the bright idea that if they only have to split-up the loot three ways instead of four, those three will each get more money. Attorneys make a good target for the Scapegoating scheme because they happen to have a bad image at the moment. From the Insurance Industry viewpoint, it's an ideal environment for a Scapegoating scam.
THEIR PROFITS have increased 80-90% PER YEAR . . . I Repeat ... PER YEAR (according to their own data), but they blame 'non-economic damage awards' as the culprit in an effort to get caps put on their risks so they can make even more money, while sending the wrong 'party' to the gallows with their Scapegoating ruse.
Read More: "Insurance Companies and Their Lobbyists Admit It: Caps on Damages Won't Lower Insurance Premiums."
These are the key factors which are causing the cost of health care to spiral out of control.
Neither the Healthcare profession nor the Insurance Industry is diligently weeding-out inept, incompetent, habitually negligent healthcare providers from their midsts. The Healthcare Profession zealously protects them and deliberately conceals information about them from the public.
Read More: "Stopping Repeat Offenders: The Key to Cutting Medical Malpractice Costs." It is ultimately The Healthcare Profession that decides which healthcare providers are going to have a license to practice medicine.
Read More: "Healthcare Industry Withholding Malpractice Info From Patients" (June 20, 2003). The Insurance Industry refuses to deny inept, incompetent, habitually negligent healthcare providers insurance coverage, primarily because it can get double or triple the premium rate for these incompetent providers. So the Insurance Industry is pocketing huge 'up-front' profits from these high-risk insureds, and then complaining to the Florida Legislature about the need for caps, when these known-high-risk insureds end up engaging in the highly predicable Malpractice conduct which is causing Non-economic Damage Awards to increase.
Read More: "Questionable Doctors Listing."
There is a very simple graphic analogy which makes this point clear. In Florida we have speed limits on our interstate highways. A driver who is caught speeding 10 miles over the speed limit is subjected to specified stiff fine. If they are caught speeding 20 miles over the speed limit the specified fine increases significantly. A driver who is caught speeding in a construction zone is subjected to a doubling of all fines. It is clear from the tiered, escalating fining scheme that legislators believe the higher the fine ... the greater the deterrent.
In the above example, try to imagine a group of convicted speeders marching to the Florida Legislature and vociferously complaining that the fines are too high and so exorbitant that they cannot no longer afford to drive. These convicted speeders adamantly insist that the Florida Legislature must lower the fines. What the Florida Legislature SHOULD be telling these convicted speeders is: "If the cost of fines is hurting you financially, then STOP SPEEDING. The real, honest solution to the problem is to tell the speeders to STOP SPEEDING.
Now in the example above, imagine that the Florida Legislature does
NOT tell these convicted speeders to STOP SPEEDING because they are powerful political allies of government officials. Instead, the Florida Legislature capitulates to them, saying "You poor convicts, this is terrible. We'll have to lower the fines." It doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to figure out that the convicted speeders want the fines reduced so they can continue to speed and act unlawfully and irresponsibly
WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY THE FULL CONSEQUENCES for their irresponsible conduct. It doesn't take a Harvard Graduate to figure out that when the fines are reduced, the irresponsible, unlawful, negligent incidents of speeding will rise dramatically, because the deterrents have been removed.
Read More: "AMA Seeks to Remove Deterrents Against Medical Incompetence."
The above analogy perfectly describes the absurdity of this 'trumped up' controversy over the current rate of Medical Malpractice Non-economic Damage Awards. What the Florida Legislature
SHOULD be telling the Healthcare and Insurance Industries is: "If the cost of awards is hurting you financially, then
START WEEDING-OUT the inept, incompetent, negligent healthcare providers that you keep shielding, protecting and insuring. That would significantly resolve the problem complained of. That would accurately identify and address the 'root cause' of the problem complained of.
Read More: "Questionable Doctors Listing."
It doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to figure out that the Healthcare and Insurance Industries want the awards reduced so they can continue to act negligently, unlawfully and irresponsibly
WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY THE FULL CONSEQUENCES for their irresponsible conduct. If the Florida Legislature puts caps on Medical Malpractice Non-economic Damage Awards, It doesn't take a Harvard Graduate to figure out that when the awards are reduced, the irresponsible, unlawful, negligent incidents of malpractice will rise dramatically, because the deterrents have been removed. The plain, simple unvarnished Truth is that, as with the speeding analogy, the escalating
awards scheme was designed as a deterrent to irresponsible conduct, on the proven premise that the higher the award ... the greater the deterrent. As with the speeding analogy, these awards tend to be reasonably tiered, so that they tend to escalate as the level of incompetence and the level of injuries caused by that ineptitude become more severe (30 MPH over the speed limit results in higher fine than 10 MPH over the speed limit).
Read More: "AMA Seeks to Remove Deterrents Against Medical Incompetence."
For these reasons, it is
NOT in the publics' interest for the Florida Legislature to put caps on Medical Malpractice Non-economic Damage Awards. Doing so will fail to solve, or even address, the REAL problem. And it will result in an unacceptable lowering of the standard of healthcare in this state. Furthermore,
Caps will serve to 'legitimize' and 'profitize' negligent, inept, irresponsible, incompetent conduct in the Healthcare Industry. Patients and Florida Citizens will realize absolutely no benefit from such Caps. Only the Healthcare and Insurance Industries will profit handsomely from Caps. All others will be left with a substantially lower standard of healthcare than they had before.
Read More: "Questionable Doctors Listing."
In reality, the Insurance and Health Care Industry and supporting Florida legislators are trying to eviscerate and dismantle one of the three branches of our government ... the Judicial Branch. The damage awards in Florida over the past ten years were subjected to rigorous objective due process scrutiny. Trial judges scrutinized the procedures. Juries scrutinized the evidence. Appellate courts scrutinized the outcome. Insurance companies had the highest paid, most experienced attorneys in the country to represent them. But they lost those cases. The current caps movement is an attempt to molest, interfere with the due process of law and the judicial outcomes which the losing parties simply don't like. They lose in court so they run to the Florida legislature asking it to "stack the deck" in their favor because they know that the Florida legislature, with the likes of Johnnie Byrd, harbor great resentment of the Judicial Branch. Their retaliatory threats of retribution against the Judicial Branch after the 2000 Presidential election debacle are legendary.
Many Florida legislators are bent on castrating the Judicial Branch. It's an ages-old struggle for more power. It's like the three bank robbers who agree to share the loot from a heist. Two of them get the bright idea that if they only have to split-up the loot two ways instead of three, those two will each get more money. So they hatch a plan to try to cut the third party out of the picture. There's nothing new or particularly imaginative about the Florida legislature's 'bad faith' schemes to opportunistically seize more power in a scapegoating propaganda coup.
If the Florida legislature puts caps on these awards, in effect, it will be saying to Florida Public Citizen, YOU are "Blitherering Idiots" ... "moronic imbeciles" who are too stupid, too ignorant, too cerebrally stunted to know what you are doing, so we are going to take away YOUR power as jurors to make the decision and we the Florida legislators, are going to rob the plaintiffs of their legal right to have your input on the matter. Because in reality, YOU, the Florida Public Citizen out there, YOU ARE THE JURIES who confer these awards. And in truth, you the jury were in a far better position to make those decisions than any Florida legislator, who never once sat through any of these trials as YOU did.
If that's what the Florida legislators think of YOU as jurors, imagine what they think of you as VOTERS. One supposes these self-important Florida legislators will soon be scheming to take away YOUR Voting Rights on the grounds that YOU are "Blitherering Idiots" ... "moronic imbeciles" who are too stupid, too ignorant, too cerebrally stunted to know what you are doing. Actually Jeb Bush already tried to do exactly that. Immediately after the "School Class Size" Referendum was passed, Jeb insisted that a new referendum was needed on the grounds that YOU, the Voting Public, are "Blitherering Idiots" ... "moronic imbeciles" who are too stupid, too ignorant, too cerebrally stunted to know what you are doing.
Tell the Florida legislature, in terms certain, "NO" to caps on non-economic damage awards. "YES" to caps on healthcare incompetence. "YES" to caps on Insurance Industry greed. The Insurance Industry desperately needs a tight bit in its mouth with a firm hold on the bridle and reigns. This is proof positive that the Insurance Industry ABSOLUTELY MUST BE TIGHTLY REGULATED. The sooner the American people wake up to this inescapable fact, the sooner we will be able to solve these pressing problems which threaten us all.
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POTENT QUOTE: "Insurers never promised that tort reform would achieve specific savings." - American Insurance Association ("AIA Cites Fatal Flaws In Critic's Report On Tort Reform," American Insurance Association press release, March 13, 2002).
POTENT QUOTE: "We wouldn't tell you or anyone that the reason to pass tort reform would be to reduce insurance rates." - (Sherman Joyce, president of the American Tort Reform Association2
"Study Finds No Link Between Tort Reforms And Insurance Rates," Liability Week, July 19, 1999).
POTENT QUOTE: "Many tort reform advocates do not contend that restricting litigation will lower insurance rates, and I've never said that in 30 years." - Victor Schwartz, general counsel to the American Tort Reform Association (Michael Prince, "Tort Reforms Don't Cut Liability Rates, Study Says," Business Insurance, July 19, 1999).
POTENT QUOTE: "No responsible insurer can cut its rates after a bill (that caps damages at $250,000) passes." - Bob White, president of First Professionals Insurance Co. (formerly Florida Physicians Insurance Company, Inc). The company is the largest medical malpractice insurer in Florida and has close ties to the Florida Medical Association). (Phil Galewitz, "Underwriter Gives Doctors Dose of Reality," The Palm Beach Post, January 29, 2003 and Mike Salinero, "Insurers Tied To Florida Doctors," The Tampa Tribune, March 22, 2003).
FACT: The Insurance Industry has an entrenched practice of routinely refusing to pay many claims of the negligence victim, where the merits of the claims are unmistakable and indisputable. By frivolously forcing an enormous number of these cases to be litigated, The Insurance Industry has pointlessly escalated both the amount of the awards and the number of litigated cases TEN-FOLD.
EXAMPLE: Over the past 10 years there is a long string of medical malpractice cases which the insurance company insisted on litigating, even though the facts and evidence against them were enormous. In one case which received a great amount of press attention, the jury awarded the 'brain-dead' victim and her family $60 million. When the plaintiff's attorney was asked by the press if he felt at all guilty about the large size of the award he answered, "No! We pleaded with the insurance company to settle this case years ago for a tiny fraction of this amount and they impudently dismissed the offer." The plaintiff's earlier settlement offer was for $1.5 million for a case in which the insurance company had little chance of winning .... for injuries which completely and totally decimated the life of a young, intelligent woman and her family ... profound injuries inflicted by an outrageous, indefensible, inexcusable level of healthcare negligence.
FACT: The insurance industry is determined NOT to pay what it owes, whether it is by frivolously litigating indefensible cases, or whether it is by sandbagging the Florida Legislature with bogus complaints in an effort to have Caps put on these awards ... that is, an insurance industry effort to coax a gullible legislature into "stacking the deck" against plaintiffs who have cases with GREAT MERIT. Only the plaintiff cases with GREAT MERIT will be catastrophically wronged by these Caps. Caps only adversely effect the cases where the plaintiffs have won because their case had GREAT MERIT and their injuries were profound and the level of negligence was exceptionally egregious and inexcusable (the cases most deserving of a high award).
Read More: "AMA's Palmisano Earns 83 Times Per Day What He Wants Medical Malpractice Survivors to Be Compensated" (2/26/03).
Read More: "A Torrent of Florida Facts Regarding Medical Malpractice in Florida."
Read More: "Chronology of Ford/Firestone Knowledge of Tire Safety Defect" (November 25, 1988).
Read More: "Healthcare Industry Withholding Malpractice Info From Patients" (June 20, 2003).
Read More: "AMA Seeks to Remove Deterrents Against Medical Incompetence."
Read More: "Insurance Companies and Their Lobbyists Admit It: Caps on Damages Won't Lower Insurance Premiums."
Read More: "Case In Point - Backgrounder on the Ann Marie Chaffins Medical Malpractice Case."
Read More: "Stopping Repeat Offenders: The Key to Cutting Medical Malpractice Costs."
_____________________________________
This is an exceptionally important issue. It deserves to be competently addressed in other forums, before the Florida legislature descends upon a final decision. However, it is important for the public to hear a coherent, articulate explanation of the issues at stake here. Voters and citizens deserve that much. The article below competently lays bare the critical issues at stake in this long-running controversy.
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SAY NO TO CAPS ON NON-ECONOMIC MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
AWARDS
We could call this legal battlefield the "Bermuda Triangle", where the interests of physicians, lawyers and Insurance Companies converge and conflict with each other and presumedly conflict with the interests of the general public in securing health care at a reasonable, affordable cost. We could call this the "Bermuda Triangle" because en route to this battlefield engagement, the Truth of the matter keeps disappearing into oblivion, never to be seen again. Whereabouts unknown. Circumstances of disappearance unknown, uncertain.
To begin with, "Non-economic Damages" are the more intangible damages suffered by victims, such as pain, suffering, loss of companionship (consortium), etc., as distinguished from economic losses, such as loss of wages, medical bills, and damage to property. There is absolutely nothing frivolous, illegitimate or disingenuous about seeking "Non-economic Damage awards". They are damages, i.e., injuries ACTUALLY suffered by the victims. They simply represent those injuries actually suffered which are real and actual, but which are more difficult to value in 'dollars & cents' terms.
The Insurance Industry and Healthcare Industry relentlessly try to insinuate that "Non-economic Damage awards" are frivolous to begin with, and therefore, reducing them with Caps will not hurt anyone. In reality, just the opposite is True.
"Non-economic Damages" are the most serious, the most profound injuries suffered by a plaintiff-victim. If a victim loses wages, loses her home, loses her car, loses future income, loses all of her personal possessions, most of those items can be replaced. Those are called "economic damages" because invariably, it is typically easy to establish their dollar-value and it is feasible to replace those losses with the monetary compensation.
Read More: "AMA's Palmisano Earns 83 Times Per Day What He Wants Medical Malpractice Survivors to Be Compensated" (2/26/03).
On the other hand, "Non-economic Damages" (injuries - losses) virtually can never be rectified by monetary compensation. These are the most serious, most profound losses suffered by the victim-plaintiff, and that victim can virtually NEVER be "made whole" again after these injuries have been inflicted. A young, intelligent, attractive, successful accountant, professional, wife and mother of four is rendered brain-dead in what should have been a 'routine surgical procedure' if the doctor and hospital were not more concerned with increasing profits rather than protecting the health and lives of their patients. A couple that was married for 30 years ... they were 'soul mates' ... they were supposed to share the rest of their lives together ... they were supposed to share the best years of their lives together ... their retirement years ... after working their tails off their entire lives. All of that forever trashed, irreversibly decimated because of the inexcusable, unconscionable, indefensible, inexcusable cavalier negligence and indifference of a healthcare provider who was more obsessed about increasing profits than about protecting the Life, Health and Safety of their patients.
"Non-economic Damages" (injuries), given the magnitude of the irreversible harm involved, are entirely worthy of high damage award amounts.
Juries that award such damages are entirely justified in placing a high value on these losses. It is only these 'non-economic' losses that forever decimate the 'Quality of Life' for a victim. Unrelenting pain for the remainder of a person's life ... they cannot enjoy life ... they cannot go to the beach, go out to dinner, watch TV or a movie, concentrate, make love to their spouse, sleep or take a vacation because it is impossible for them to transcend the immensity of the relentless pain. When all semblance of 'Quality of Life' has been taken from a person, it is perfectly honest, reasonable and appropriate that our society, the jurors, should place a very high monetary figure on the value of that loss.
Far from being "Frivolous" ... "Non-economic Damages" (injuries) are the most important, the most devastating, the most legitimate of all injuries suffered by a negligence victim-plaintiff. Read More: "AMA's Palmisano Earns 83 Times Per Day What He Wants Medical Malpractice Survivors to Be Compensated" (2/26/03).
The legal precedents and the genesis of "Non-economic Damage" awards is unmistakably clear. They were designed to serve two equally important legal functions: 1) To compensate victims for all losses suffered; 2) To act as a general deterrent for others who might otherwise be tempted to believe they can act similarly, without any adverse consequences.
The deterrence factor is vitally important because it serves to carve out a category of conduct which society has long-since determined to be utterly unacceptable, insufferable, indefensible, reprehensible and unconscionable . . . but . . . which is deemed inappropriate for criminal sanctions and imprisonment. In other words, the unacceptable conduct is being proscribed, i.e., prohibited by law, because society deems it to be insufferable, indefensible, reprehensible and unconscionable. But it is being prohibited by "Civil Law" and "Civil Sanctions" rather than being prohibited by "Criminal Law" and "Criminal Sanctions." It represents the only deterrent there is for such antisocial conduct.
Read More: "AMA Seeks to Remove Deterrents Against Medical Incompetence."
For all of the alleged uncertainties about "Non-economic Damages," this much we do know: The objectives of advocates wanting to put caps on non-economic medical malpractice awards is to make damage awards predictable for insurance companies. The more predictability the insurance companies can attain in their craps-table 'assume the risks' entrepreneurial gambits, the more profits they can reap. The ultimate, ideal goal of insurance companies is to convert all risks assumed into complete, total certainties . . . . . thereby allowing for commensurate billing adjustments which would, in effect, remove the 'risk factor' entirely. Yet in reality insurance, by its very definition, conceptually engenders the element of 'risk' speculation and uncertainty in a World of inevitable uncertainties. This is, has been and always will be the inescapable nature and reality of the 'insurance' concept as it has been conceived. To eliminate "incertainties" from the insurance industry is to eliminate the concept of insurance entirely.
The cardinal rule is a simple and logical one. The cost of negligence and recklessness must always be much greater than the cost of acting conscionably, reasonably, competently and scrupulously. If this ratio is not maintained, we create lucrative incentives for the entrepreneurial mentality to act unconscionably, unscrupulously, negligently, and recklessly . . . while passing the exorbitant costs and the dire consequences onto their hapless victims.
A GOOD ANALOGY - A SIMPLE EXAMPLE" It costs one dollar ($1) an hour to park at a city parking meter. An honest motorist pays the $1 but accidently goes past the meter expiration. When the motorist reads the parking ticket placed on his windshield it reads: "PARKING VIOLATION. YOU MUST PAY TEN CENTS ($.10) to the Traffic Court Clerk's office within 30 days." So the 'once honest' motorist vows never to feed another parking meter again, since the cost of violating the law and being irresponsible is far less than the cost of being a good, honest, responsible, law-abiding citizen who feeds the parking meter. This is an example where the "fine" ... i.e., the "penalty" has no deterrent value. This has happened because, "The cost of unlawful irresponsible behavior is much less than the cost of acting conscionably and scrupulously. People gravitate to the "Best Buy."
The premier example for this axiom is the Ford Motor Company scandal regarding the Ford Pinto cases. Ford executives knew there were lethal defects in the Ford Pinto. Their own tests showed that an incredibly minor rear-end collision (a mere 4-6 MPH rear-end fender-bender) would be enough to push the fuel tank into the differential, where the seam of the tank would strike the differential bolt causing the tank to peal-back and rupture like a squashed grape, instantly filling the passenger compartment with gasoline and a ball of flames. The cost to repair this lethal defect was about $7.46 per vehicle.
At a cost of only $7.46 per vehicle, one would reasonably presume that Ford would simply repair the defects. But that's not what they did. Ford's own internal, in-house documents show that Ford executives asked cost and design engineers to do an analysis to determine whether it would be cheaper to re-design a dangerous vehicle to make it safe, at a cost of about $7.46 per car, or whether it would be cheaper to foist a dangerous vehicle on the public and take its chances with the resulting personal injury lawsuits which predictably would follow. The Ford engineers concluded it would be cheaper for Ford if it did NOT redesign the Pinto to make it safe, but instead took its chances with the resulting lawsuits. And that is exactly what Ford did.
As a result of this sociopathic Ford profiteering calculus, many, many people suffered unspeakable, horrible deaths and serious injuries in Pinto 'Balls of Fire' . . . deaths & injuries . . . WHICH WERE AVOIDABLE.
The lesson to learn from the malignant Ford Pinto episode should never, ever be forgotten, in the name of all those who suffered so immensely because of it. The lesson is this:
We must always make certain that the deterrents, i.e., the potential Damage Awards, are always -- at all times -- so potentially high, that a cost analysis like Ford's will never again conclude that it is cheaper to act irresponsibly, unlawfully and homicidally, in the name of greed & profits, than it is to act reasonably, lawfully and responsibly, in the name of public health and safety..
Read More: "AMA Seeks to Remove Deterrents Against Medical Incompetence."
This much we learned from the Ford Pinto scheme and many others like it: If you make the consequences of negligence or the consequences of recklessness, or the consequences of intentional, calculated disregard for safety . . . if you make these consequences "predictable" corporate-business entrepreneurs will build 'negligence' and 'recklessness' into the products and services they foist on the public, in the name of 'higher profits.' One can see how lawyers, doctors and insurance companies might all profit from this kind of malignant arrangement. But no one can see any way in which the general public benefits from it. And after all, lawyers, doctors and insurance company personnel are also members of "the general public."
In reality, the current Insurance Industry and Healthcare Industry Industry drive to put
Caps on non-economic damage awards is
a disguised effort to make negligent conduct less costly and more profitable than responsible lawful conduct, just like the Ford Pinto cases. In reality, the current Insurance Industry and Healthcare Industry drive to put
Caps on non-economic damage awards is a disguised effort to remove the deterrents now in place, which have successfully discouraged gross negligence, irresponsibility and incompetence in the healthcare industry.
The UNPREDICTABILITY (The Sky is the Limit) component is a crucial, indispensable aspect of the 'deterrence factor' because it robs greedy calculating 'bean counters' of the ability to predict that law suit damage awards for irresponsible conduct will likely be less costly than acting prudently and responsibly, as happened in the Pinto cases.
It deprives them of the effective use of the sociopathic cost analysis that Ford used. Read More: "AMA Seeks to Remove Deterrents Against Medical Incompetence."
The Ford Pinto cost-calculus example is
NOT an isolated case or an anomaly. The same calculus was used by Ford in the Ford Bronco cases in the early 80's, where Ford engineers urged that the Bronco be redesigned with a 2" wider wheel-base because of dangerous rollover problems at very low speeds but Ford executives refused to redesign it to make it safe because it would have extended the release date by 18 months. It reappeared again in the defective Ford-Firestone tire scandal, in which both Ford and Firestone ignored overwhelming, unequivocal evidence of widespread tire defects which they long-knew existed with the Explorer. For eight (8) years prior to the public scandal, Ford was silencing the facts about these defects and the resulting rollover likelihood, by quietly settling lawsuits out-of-court, with non-disclosure and fault denial stipulations attached as conditions to the settlements.
Read More: "Chronology of Ford/Firestone Knowledge of Tire Safety Defect" (November 25, 1988).
In the Medical Malpractice context it repeatedly raises its ugly head as
doctors and insurance companies seek to cut medical costs at the patients' expense (e.g.,
HMO's), putting patients at high, unnecessary risk without admitting to the patient the risk-shifting strategy being employed and without ever coherently informing the patient of the nature of the
heightened risk s\he is being unnecessarily exposed to, in an effort to increase insurance and physician profits. For all of the physician and insurance company whining about the squeeze on health care costs, impoverished physicians and insurance executives are hard to locate.
Read More: "AMA's Palmisano Earns 83 Times Per Day What He Wants Medical Malpractice Survivors to Be Compensated" (2/26/03).
The uncertainties of the current "no caps - no limits" punitive damage awards scenario serve a vital DETERENCE function. Juries don't arrive at damage awards unless there has been "negligence" or "recklessness" or unless the harm, injury, damage was intentionally inflicted. Society desperately needs to deter negligence and recklessness. When you make their economic consequences predictable, you actually make negligence and recklessness PROFITABLE. When you make the economic consequences of negligence and recklessness predictable, corporate-business entrepreneurs will, as they always have, seize the moment and take full advantage of such shelters and shields, just as the Ford Motor Company confidently believed it could safely 'take its chances with the resulting lawsuits' to a greater profitable advantage than if it made the Pinto automobile safer at a cost of $7.46 per car.
Put simply. at a minimum, the cost of negligence and recklessness must always be greater than the cost of acting conscionably and scrupulously. If this ratio is not maintained, we create lucrative incentives for the entrepreneurial mentality to act unconscionably, unscrupulously, negligently, and recklessly . . . while passing the exorbitant costs and the dire consequences onto their hapless victims.
Remember . . . we never get to the non-economic damage awards issue
unless negligence or recklessness has been firmly established. The question I have is, Why isn't there a display of public outrage at the level of negligence or recklessness in the medical profession?
We are not talking about simple, ordinary mistakes which any reasonable person or any reasonable doctor could have made.
We are talking about a level of conduct which is utterly irresponsible, unreasonable and indefensible. Why isn't the medical profession policing itself better and throwing such scoundrels out of the profession?
To the contrary, the medical profession does everything in its power to protect these practitioners and to conceal the irresponsible conduct of its members from the public. Read More: "Questionable Doctors Listing."
The only ones really being served by the "Caps On Non-Economic Medical Malpractice Awards" agenda are the insurance companies and the medical profession which has dedicated itself to shielding and concealing the irresponsible, negligent, incompetent and reckless members of its profession from public scrutiny and from the reasonable consequences which would ordinarily flow from derelict conduct by members of their profession.
Read More: "Healthcare Industry Withholding Malpractice Info From Patients" (June 20, 2003). If the Medical Profession insists on jumping in front of the bullet directed solely at the incompetent members of its clan, then why should legislators or the public commiserate with them in their plight?
The general public needs to understand that "negligence" in the legal context is NOT merely a simple mistake which any reasonable person or physician could have made. Negligence in the legal context specifically refers to an inexcusable, indefensible, intolerable, potentially lethal, unreasonable level of incompetence WHICH NO REASONABLE PERSON OR PHYSICIAN, acting responsibly, would have committed. Once this is thoroughly understood, it becomes apparent that efforts to "Put Caps On Non-Economic Medical Malpractice Awards" in reality represent efforts to legalize, legitimize and profitize a level of incompetence which virtually no reasonable physician or patient would ever deem acceptable, tolerable or reasonable.
The public needs to grasp the plain Truth embedded in this skirmish, which Truth always seems to mysteriously vanish in the "Bermuda Triangle" without a trace. If the politicians succeed in their 'caps - award limits' efforts, they do so at their own peril and at the peril of the ordinary citizens in this country who have, over many years, consistently, stalwartly declared such irresponsible conduct in the medical profession to be UTTERLY UNACCEPTABLE.
Informed citizens urge the folks in the media to provide their viewers and readers with an accurate, more balanced picture of the real consequences at stake in this skirmish, before they act against their own interests based upon erroneous propaganda propounded by the very powerful insurance company and physician lobbying cartels.
_______________
JUST SAY NO TO CAPS ON MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
NON-ECONOMIC DAMAGE AWARDS
FACT: Florida Medical Malpractice Non-Economic Damage Awards have NOT gone UP they have gone DOWN over the past seven (7) years, in terms of the number of suits filed and in terms of the number of the awards granted by juries.
FACT: Nationally, Medical Malpractice Non-Economic Damage awards have NOT gone UP they have gone DOWN over the past seven (7) years, both in terms of the number of suits filed and in terms of the amount of the awards granted by juries.
FACT: The wisdom of juries in this state and country, who have diligently examined the facts and circumstances of these cases (first hand), should NOT be maligned and discarded and repudiated by the self-interested advocates in the Insurance Industry, who have a vested yet disingenuous interest in castigating the wisdom and integrity of jurors and their verdicts.
FACT: While Medical Malpractice Non-Economic Damage awards have gone down over the past seven (7) years in Florida and the U.S. ... insurance rates have gone UP outrageously and without justification during that time.
FACT: If Medical Malpractice Insurance Premiums are prohibitive, as so many have claimed, then the problem is with a far more powerful, a far wealthier institution than trial lawyers, namely, the Insurance Industry, which is taking advantage of a misinformation campaign by raising rates through the roof without justification.
FACT: The Insurance Industry's track record for such opportunistic carpetbagging practices is legendary and well-documented.
FACT: The Insurance Industry would demand exorbitant Medical Malpractice Insurance Premiums while paying out nothing whatsoever ... if it could coax a gullible public into approving such a legal structure.
FACT: The Insurance Industry has an entrenched practice of routinely refusing to pay many claims of the negligence victim, where the merits of the claims are unmistakable and indisputable. By frivolously forcing an enormous number of these cases to be litigated, The Insurance Industry has pointlessly escalated both the amount of the awards and the number of litigated cases TEN-FOLD.
EXAMPLE: A doctor's FAILURE to ascertain whether a young child patient's "blood type" matches the "blood type" of the organs she is about to receive in a transplant, constitutes a level of negligence and incompetence that is so outrageous, so far out of bounds, that the laws should NOT be changed so to reward such incompetence and negligence. Such conduct does NOT constitute a reasonable mistake or error which any reasonable person or doctor could have made.
Read More: "Case In Point - Backgrounder on the Ann Marie Chaffins Medical Malpractice Case." Rather, it represents negligent conduct which is so irresponsible, so incompetent and outrageous, that no coherent person or doctor would ever have made such a mistake. It constitutes negligent conduct which is so irresponsible, so incompetent and outrageous, that society has a legitimate and dire need to preserve very strong deterrents in order to eradicate such grotesque conduct from the profession and to inoculate the profession from being infected by such incompetence.
Read More: "AMA Seeks to Remove Deterrents Against Medical Incompetence."
FACT: There is an axiom: "No one is perfect." There is also a prudent, widely accepted co-existing Malpractice axiom: "For the medical profession, No one should be permitted to practice on others and to expose others to life-threatening risks ... when they are this stupid, incompetent or imprudent."
Read More: "Questionable Doctors Listing."
FACT: There is a level of incompetence which is so far out-of-bounds, so astonishingly outrageous and unreasonable, that the issue about 'no one being perfect' is rendered farcical and irrelevant. In our society, we have prudently outlawed only the outrageous, indefensible, inexcusable level of incompetence with deterrents which make it actionable.
Read More: "AMA Seeks to Remove Deterrents Against Medical Incompetence."
FACT: Medical Malpractice Non-Economic Damages are not frivolous, bogus, hair-splitting, opportunistic, illegitimate damage claims, as the Insurance Industry insinuates, ad nauseam. They simply represent real, actual damages suffered by the victim which, by nature, are difficult to put a value on. What value do we place on the needless loss of a mother, a wife, a child? What value do we place on the need for deterrents designed to prevent and strongly discourage such an outrageous level of incompetence? What value do we place on the consequences of irresponsible conduct which wipes out the quality of life with life-long excruciating pain, mental and\or physical incapacity? These claims are not frivolous merely because they do not convert readily into 'dollar and cents" values. They still represent actual losses suffered by the victim[s]. Negligent doctors should not get a 'free pass' as to these inflicted injuries and the losses suffered, simply because humanity honestly and humanely puts a high dollar value on such losses, given the diminished "Quality of Life" issues involved.
FACT: The fact that Medical Malpractice Non-Economic Damages are difficult to put a value on, in no way, renders them frivolous or bogus or opportunistic or illegitimate.
SAY "NO" TO CAPS ON Medical Malpractice Non-Economic Damage Awards.
SAY "YES" TO CAPS ON INSURANCE INDUSTRY GREED, EXTORTION AND CARPETBAGGING.
Sincerely,
G. Bruce Ketcham, Esq.
_________________________
If you have any further questions,
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FLORIDA SENATE & HOUSE MEMBER CONTACT
INFO
Senate President - James King
PH: 850-487-5229
Fax: (850) 487-5368
king.james.web@flsenate.gov
Capitol Office:
Suite 409
The Capitol
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL
32399-1100
PH: (850) 487-5030
SunCom: 277-5030
Fax: (850) 487-5368
Fax: SunCom 277-5368
District Office:
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9485 Regency Square Boulevard
Jacksonville, FL
32225-8145
(904) 727-3600
SunCom 841-3600
Fax: (904) 727-3603
Fax: SunCom 841-3603
Email: king.james.web@flsenate.gov
Legislative Assistants: Kay Rousseau, Rebecca Stagg and Kelly Williams
District-wide: 1-888-861-9761
House Speaker - Johnnie Byrd
PH: 850-488-0807
PH: 850-488-1450
PH: 813-752-5863
SunCom: 512-0915
Fax: 850-488-0807
Fax: 850-488-1450
Fax: 813-752-5863
speakerbyrd@myfloridahouse.com
121 North Collins St.
Plant City, FL 323564-9055
420 Capitol
402 Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Governor Bush
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Fax:
jeb.bush@myflorida.com
Last Name
District
County
Political Party
Left click on the Senators You Need
Info For (Phone #, Fax #, E-mail Addresses, Toll-Free Phone Numbers, District
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____________________________________
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
SENATORS 10 Lee, Tom
Republican
12 Crist, Victor D.
Republican
16 Sebesta, Jim Republican
18 Miller, Lesley "Les", Jr. Democrat
10
LEE, TOM Republican
Capitol Office:
Room 400
Senate Office
Building 404 South Monroe Street Tallahassee, FL
32399-1100
(850)
487-5072
SunCom 277-5072
District Office:
915 Oakfield Drive
Suite E
Brandon, FL 33511
P. O. Box 2743
Brandon, FL 33509
(813) 744-8683
SunCom 512-2599
FAX (813) 744-8556
FAX SunCom
512-2597
Email: lee.tom.web@flsenate.gov
Legislative Assistants:
Ronald Pierce, Becky Simmons and Dee Fletcher
12 CRIST,
VICTOR D. Republican
Capitol Office:
Room 208
Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL
32399-1100
(850) 487-5068
SunCom 277-5068
District
Office:
Suite B
11961 N. Florida Avenue
Tampa, FL 33612
(813) 975-6658
SunCom 512-8976
Email:
crist.victor.web@flsenate.gov
Legislative Assistants: Brandon
Wagner, Carol Antrim and Brett Cyphers
16 SEBESTA, JIM
Republican
Capitol Office:
Room 322
Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL
32399-1100
(850) 487-5075
SunCom 277-5075
Legislative
Assistant: David Winialski
District Office:
Gateway Corporate
Center
Suite 319
9887 4th Street North
St. Petersburg, FL 33702
(727) 563-0377 or
(727) 217-7088
SunCom 513-5352
FAX (727)
217-7090
FAX SunCom 513-5354
Email: sebesta.jim.web@flsenate.gov
Legislative Assistants:
Cheri Engala and
Sue Berfield
Hillsborough County: (813) 221-6044
18 MILLER, LESLEY
"LES", JR. Democrat
Capitol Office:
Room 222
Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL
32399-1100
(850) 487-5059
SunCom 277-5059
FAX (888) 263-7871
Statewide:
1-866-254-6892
District Office:
Suite 302
2109 Palm Ave.
Tampa FL 33605
P.O. Box 5993
Tampa, FL
33675-5993
(813) 272-2831
SunCom 512-3700
FAX (813) 272-2833
Email: miller.lesley.web@ flsenate.gov
Legislative Assistants:
Randolph Kinsey, Wanda Beckham and Michael
Kinsey
____________________________________
PINELLAS COUNTY SENATORS
11 Fasano,
Mike Republican
13 Jones, Dennis L., D.C. Republican
16 Sebesta, Jim
Republican
18 Miller, Lesley "Les", Jr. Democrat
11
FASANO, MIKE Republican
Capitol Office:
Room 310
Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL
32399-1100
(850) 487-5062
SunCom: 277-5062
District
Office:
8217 Massachusetts Ave.
New Port Richey, FL 34653-3111
(727) 848-5885
SunCom: 513-4451
FAX: (727) 841-4453
State-wide:
1-800-948-5885
Legislative Assistants:
Shawn
Foster, Gregory Giordano and Christine Hunter
Email: fasano.mike.web@
flsenate.gov
13 JONES, DENNIS
L., D.C. Republican
Capitol Office:
Room 330
Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL
32399-1100
(850) 487-5065
SunCom: 277-5065
District
Office:
8940 Seminole Blvd.
Seminole, FL 33772
(727) 549-6411
SunCom: 517-4531
FAX: (727) 549-6413
FAX SunCom: 517-4533
Legislative Assistants:
Betsy Collins, Charlie Anderson and
Doris Burns
Email:
jones.dennis.web@flsenate.gov
16 SEBESTA, JIM
Republican
Capitol Office:
Room 322
Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL
32399-1100
(850) 487-5075
SunCom 277-5075
Legislative
Assistant: David Winialski
16 SEBESTA, JIM
Republican
District Office:
Gateway Corporate Center
Suite 319
9887 4th Street North
St. Petersburg, FL 33702
(727) 563-0377 or
(727) 217-7088
SunCom 513-5352
FAX (727)
217-7090
FAX SunCom 513-5354
Legislative Assistants:
Cheri
Engala and
Sue Berfield
Hillsborough County: (813) 221-6044
Email:
sebesta.jim.web@flsenate.gov
18 MILLER, LESLEY
"LES", JR. Democrat
Capitol Office:
Room 222
Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL
32399-1100
(850) 487-5059
SunCom 277-5059
FAX (888) 263-7871
Statewide:
1-866-254-6892
District Office:
Suite 302
2109 Palm Ave.
Tampa FL 33605
P.O. Box 5993
Tampa, FL
33675-5993
(813) 272-2831
SunCom 512-3700
FAX (813) 272-2833
Legislative Assistants: Randolph Kinsey, Wanda Beckham and Michael
Kinsey
Email: miller.lesley.web@
flsenate.gov
____________________________________
POLK COUNTY
10
LEE, TOM Republican
15 DOCKERY, PAULA Republican
17
ALEXANDER, JD Republican
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"Alexander - JD"
, "Argenziano - Nancy" , "Aronberg - Dave" , "Atwater - Jeffrey H. Jeff" , "Bennett - Michael S. Mike" , "Bullard - Larcenia J." , "Campbell - Walter G. Skip" , "Carlton - Lisa" , "Clary - Charlie" , "Constantine - Lee" , "Cowin - Anna P." , "Crist - Victor D." , "Dawson - M. Mandy" , "Diaz de la Portilla - Alex" , "Dockery - Paula" , "Fasano - Mike" , "Garcia - Rudy" , "Geller - Steven A." , "Haridopolos - Mike" , "Hill - Anthony C.Tony" , "Jones - Dennis" , "King - James E" , "Klein - Ron" , "Lawson, Alfred" , "Lee - Tom" , "Lynn - Evelyn J." , "Margolis - Gwen" , "Miller - Lesley" miller.lesley.web@flsenate.gov>, "Peaden - Durell" , "Posey - Bill" , "Pruitt - Ken" , "Saunders - Burt L." , "Sebesta - Jim" , "Siplin - Gary" , "Smith - Rod" , "Villalobos - J. Alex" , "Wasserman Schultz - Debbie" , "Webster - Daniel" , "Wilson - Frederica S." , "Wise - Stephen R."
_______________________
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NEW FLORIDA HOUSE MEMBER CONTACT INFO(Wednesday, June 18, 2003)
___________________________
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Select HOUSE Committee on Medical Liability Insurance
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/View_Page_House.pl?File=index.html&Directory=committees/house/535mls/
Select HOUSE Committee on
Medical Liability Insurance - Members
J. Dudley Goodlette, Chair
Donald
D. "Don" Brown
Gaston I. Cantens
Dan Gelber
Carole Green
Gayle B. Harrell
David Simmons
Christopher L. "Chris" Smith
Eleanor Sobel
___________________________
NEW FLORIDA HOUSE E-MAIL
ADDRESSES
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_________________________
FL
SENATE _________________________
2002-2004 Senators By Last Name
Legislator District Party County
"Alexander, JD"
,
17 Republican Consists of Hardee,
Highlands, and parts of DeSoto, Glades, Okeechobee, Polk, and St. Lucie counties
"Argenziano, Nancy" ,
3
Republican Consists of Baker, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Suwannee, Taylor, and
parts of Citrus, Columbia, Jefferson, Leon, Levy, Madison, and Marion counties
"Aronberg, Dave" ,
27 Democrat
Consists of parts of Charlotte, Glades, Hendry, Lee, and Palm Beach counties
"Atwater, Jeffrey H. Jeff" ,
25
Republican Consists of parts of Broward, and Palm Beach counties
"Bennett, Michael S. Mike" ,
21
Republican Consists of parts of Charlotte, DeSoto, Lee, Manatee, and Sarasota
counties
"Bullard, Larcenia J." ,
39 Democrat Consists of Monroe, and parts of Broward, Collier, Hendry,
Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties
"Campbell, Walter G. Skip, Jr." <
campbell.walter.web@flsenate.gov>,
32 Democrat Consists of part of
Broward County
"Carlton, Lisa" ,
23
Republican Consists of parts of Charlotte, Manatee, and Sarasota counties
"Clary, Charlie" ,
4 Republican
Consists of parts of Bay, Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Walton counties
"Constantine, Lee" ,
22 Republican
Consists of parts of Orange, and Seminole counties
"Cowin, Anna P."
,
20 Republican Consists of parts of Lake,
Marion, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties
"Crist, Victor D."
,
12 Republican Consists of parts of
Hillsborough, and Pasco counties
"Dawson, M. Mandy"
,
29 Democrat Consists of parts of Broward,
and Palm Beach counties
"Diaz de la Portilla, Alex"
,
36 Republican Consists of part of
Miami-Dade County
"Dockery, Paula" ,
15 Republican Consists of parts of Hernando, Lake, Osceola, Polk, and Sumter
counties
"Fasano, Mike" ,
11
Republican Consists of parts of Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, and Pinellas counties
"Garcia, Rudy" ,
40 Republican
Consists of part of Miami-Dade County
"Geller, Steven A."
,
31 Democrat Consists of part of Broward
County
"Haridopolos, Mike" ,
26
Republican Consists of parts of Brevard, Indian River, Osceola, and St. Lucie
counties
"Hill, Anthony C.Tony, Sr. " <
Hill.Anthony.web@flsenate.gov>,
1 Democrat Consists of parts of Duval,
Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns, and Volusia counties
"Jones, Dennis L.,
D.C." ,
13 Republican Consists of part of
Pinellas County
"King, James E. Jim, Jr." ,
8 Republican Consists of parts of Duval, Flagler, Nassau, St. Johns, and
Volusia counties
"Klein, Ron" ,
30
Democrat Consists of parts of Broward, and Palm Beach counties
"Lawson,
Alfred Al, Jr." ,
6 Democrat Consists of
Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson, Liberty, Wakulla, and parts of Bay,
Jefferson, Leon, and Madison counties
"Lee, Tom"
,
10 Republican Consists of parts of Hillsborough,
Pasco, and Polk counties
"Lynn, Evelyn J."
,
7 Republican Consists of parts of Clay,
Marion, Putnam, and Volusia counties
"Margolis, Gwen"
,
35 Democrat Consists of parts of Broward,
and Miami-Dade counties
"Miller, Lesley Les, Jr."
<.web@flsenate.gov>,
18 Democrat Consists of parts of Hillsborough,
Manatee, and Pinellas counties
"Peaden, Durell, Jr."
,
2 Republican Consists of Holmes,
Washington, and parts of Bay, Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Walton
counties
"Posey, Bill" ,
24 Republican
Consists of parts of Brevard, Orange, and Seminole counties
"Pruitt,
Ken" ,
28 Republican Consists of Martin, and
parts of Indian River, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie counties
"Saunders, Burt L. " ,
37 Republican
Consists of parts of Collier, and Lee counties
"Sebesta, Jim"
,
16 Republican Consists of parts of
Hillsborough, and Pinellas counties
"Siplin, Gary"
,
19 Democrat Consists of parts of Orange, and
Osceola counties
"Smith, Rod" ,
14
Democrat Consists of Alachua, Bradford, Gilchrist, Union, and parts of Columbia,
Levy, Marion, and Putnam counties
"Villalobos, J. Alex"
,
38 Republican Consists of part of
Miami-Dade County
"Wasserman Schultz, Debbie"
,
34 Democrat Consists of parts of Broward,
and Miami-Dade counties
"Webster, Daniel"
,
9 Republican Consists of parts of Orange,
Osceola, and Seminole counties
"Wilson, Frederica S."
,
33 Democrat Consists of part of
Miami-Dade County
"Wise, Stephen R." ,
5 Republican Consists of parts of Clay, Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns
counties
_______________________
END OF
DOCUMENT
