PEGGY S. WRIGHT AND STEPHEN R. WRIGHT, HER HUSBAND, PETITIONERS,
v.
VIAJAYA J. RATNESAR, M. D., ET AL., RESPONDENTS
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The court held that a medical mediation panel lost jurisdiction when no final hearing was commenced within six months of filing the claim. Because the January 31, 1979 hearing involved only reserved opening statements and objections to evidence, with no actual evidence presented, it did not constitute a commencement of final hearing under Florida statute.
The panel's jurisdiction terminated because no final hearing was commenced within six months of the filing of the claim. A hearing does not commence for purposes of the statute when the parties merely reserve opening statements and object to evidence without presenting any actual evidence.
[1] A medical liability mediation panel loses jurisdiction if a final hearing is not commenced within six months of the filing of the claim.
[2] A final hearing before a medical liability mediation panel is not commenced when parties merely reserve opening statements and present no evidence.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The final hearing of a medical liability mediation panel must commence within six months of the filing of a medical liability claim.”
Establishes the statutory requirement that triggers loss of jurisdiction
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePetitioners filed a medical liability mediation claim on August 1, 1978. A final hearing was scheduled for January 31, 1979. At the hearing, counsel r…
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SCHEB, Judge.
On this petition for certiorari we review the judicial referee’s denial of the petitioners’ suggestion that jurisdiction of a medical mediation panel had terminated. Petitioners contend that no final hearing was commenced within six months of the filing of their claim, and that therefore the panel no longer had jurisdiction to act.
We agree, and grant certiorari. Petitioners filed a medical liability mediation claim on August 1, 1978. After the judicial referee extended the time for final hearing to six months, counsel for respondents sent a notice of final hearing which set that hearing for January 31, 1979. The notice stated that no testimony would be taken. At the scheduled hearing, counsel reserved their opening statements. Respondents then attempted to introduce hospital records, but petitioners successfully objected to admission of the records on chain of custody grounds. Petitioners also objected to commencement, noting that no evidence had been presented at the hearing. Subsequently, they filed a suggestion that jurisdiction of the panel had terminated. The judicial referee denied the suggestion.
The final hearing of a medical liability mediation panel must commence within six months of the filing of a medical liability claim. § 768.44(3), Fla.Stat. (1977); Fla.R. Med.P. 20.190(c).
Therefore, we must determine whether the hearing in this case was a final hearing within the meaning of the statute and the rule. Our sister court has held that a final hearing is not commenced when the parties merely introduce medical records into evidence, but present no other evidence. Hewitt v. Caffee, 368 So. 2d 1342 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979).
The facts here establish even less semblance of a “hearing” than did the efforts in Hewitt, since the parties put no records or other facts into evidence in this case.
Thus, we hold that the parties did not commence a final hearing within the meaning of Section 768.44(3), Florida Statutes (1977), on January 31, 1979.
We grant certiorari, and remand with directions to the clerk to send a notice of termination of the proceedings to all parties pursuant to Fla.R.Med.P. 20.190.
HOBSON, Acting C. J., and RYDER, J., concur.
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Roberts v. Casey, 413 So. 2d 1226 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982)…covered, or should have been discovered within the exercise of due diligence; . . . . Art. I, § 21, Fia.Const. .See Parker v. Knorr, 383 So. 2d 776 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980); Serrill v. Hilderbrand, 382 So. 2d 316 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979); Wright v. Ratnesar, 373 So. 2d 431 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979); Cohen v. Johnson, 373 So. 2d 389 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); Hirsch v. Kleinman, 375 So. 2d 362 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); Hewitt v. Caffee, 368 So. 2d 1342 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979); Diggett v. Conkling, 368 So. 2d 74 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); Shore v.…
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Herman and Helen Hirsch v. Steven Z. Kleinman, M.D., 375 So. 2d 362 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979)…-month period. In accordance with Hewitt v. Caffee, 368 So. 2d 1342 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), we hold this was not a hearing within the meaning of Section 768.44(3) and (6), Florida Statutes (1977). Hewitt has recently been followed in Wright v. Ratnesar, 373 So. 2d 431 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979). Certiorari is, therefore, granted and the order refusing to terminate jurisdiction is quashed. The matter is remanded and the Clerk of the Circuit Court is ordered to send a notice of termination to all parties pursuant to Flori…
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Parker v. Keith Knorr, M.D., 383 So. 2d 776 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980)…nsistent herewith. REVERSED. COBB and SHARP, JJ., concur. . We use the past tense because of the holding in Aldana. . Hewitt v. Caffee, 368 So. 2d 1342 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), where only medical records were introduced. See also: Wright v. Ratnesar, 373 So. 2d 431 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979); Hirsch v. Kleinman, 375 So. 2d 362 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); Shore v. Abbazia, 375 So. 2d 354 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979).…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Hewitt v. Henry Caffee, M.D., 368 So. 2d 1342 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)