Report Finds Florida Rarely Punishes Doctors Sued for Malpractice

South Florida’s newspaper, The Sun-Sentinel, reports that state regulators rarely punish Florida doctors, even after those doctors are sued for malpractice. The Sun-Sentinel reports that over the past decade the Florida Department of Health (Department) reviewed nearly 24,000 resolved state and federal lawsuits against doctors. However, the Department only filed disciplinary charges 128 times. The Department is required to review every malpractice lawsuit filed against Florida doctors to identify and punish problem doctors. Lawyers who represent patients across Florida say that they rarely hear from the Department after cases are closed. Some of the dozen lawyers interviewed said that they have given up expecting the state to take any action.