Florida hospitals and doctors battle to block release of errors

Battle to block release of errors

By David Gulliver


Published: Saturday, August 9, 2008 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, August 8, 2008 at 11:41 p.m.
Florida hospitals and doctors are now battling in federal court to keep records of medical errors out of public view.


The fight is over Amendment 7, a referendum that passed with 81 percent of the vote in 2004 and became part of the state constitution.

It gives patients "access to any records made or received in the course of business by a health care facility or provider relating to any adverse medical incident."

A ruling by Florida's Supreme Court in March seemed to settle the matter. In a 4-3 decision, justices dismissed challenges by doctors and hospitals, who saw the amendment as an unjustified intrusion into internal records.

Justices also threw out a 2005 state law that issued guidelines for implementing the referendum.

But on July 10, in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, hospitals and doctors sued three state agencies -- the Department of Health, Agency for Health Care Administration and the Attorney General's Office -- that they said are responsible for enforcing the law.

The suit argues that federal laws on medical privacy supersede state laws.

But the amendment's supporters maintain that doctors and insurance companies were covering up mistakes, and the law will force disclosure.
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