BRYAN SIRAVO, A MINOR, BY AND THROUGH HIS PARENTS AND NATURAL GUARDIANS, ROBERT SIRAVO AND MAURO SIRAVO, AND ROBERT SIRAVO AND MAURO SIRAVO, INDIVIDUALLY, APPELLANTS,
v.
FLORIDA BIRTH-RELATED NEUROLOGICAL INJURY COMPENSATION ASSOCIATION, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the lower court decision denying recovery under Florida's Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act (NICA), holding that notice to patients about provider participation in NICA is a condition precedent to the Act's application. The court certified to the Florida Supreme Court the question of whether such predelivery notice is required by statute.
The court held that notice to patients about provider participation in NICA is a condition precedent to reliance on the Act. The court reversed and certified the notice requirement question to the Florida Supreme Court for authoritative determination, following parallel decisions in Bradford and Behan.
[1] Failure to provide statutory notice of participation in the Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act (NICA) deprives the agency of exclusive jurisdiction.
[2] Notice of participation in NICA is a condition precedent to the invocation of NICA as a patient's exclusive remedy.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“DOES SECTION 766.316, FLORIDA STATUTES (1993), REQUIRE THAT HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS GIVE PREDELIVERY NOTICE TO THEIR OBSTETRICAL PATIENTS OF THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE FLORIDA BIRTH-RELATED NEUROLOGICAL INJURY COMPENSATION PLAN AS A CONDITION PRECEDENT TO THE PROVIDERS INVOKING NICA AS THE PATIENT'S EXCLUSIVE REMEDY?”
The certified question to the Florida Supreme Court establishing the central legal issue regarding whether predelivery notice is a mandatory condition precedent to NICA's application.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBryan Siravo, a minor, suffered a neurological injury allegedly occurring during birth. An administrative claim was filed under the Birth-Related Neur…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Notice Requirements cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
Reversed on the authority of Bradford v. Florida Birth Related Neurological Injury Compensation Ass’n, 667 So. 2d 401 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); Behan v. Florida Birth Related Neurological Injury Compensation Ass’n, 664 So. 2d 1173 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Mills v. North Broward Hospital District, 664 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); and Turner v. Hubrick, 656 So. 2d 970 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995). Here, as in Bradford and Behan, an administrative claim was filed under the Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act. Appellants asserted in the administrative proceedings that the Act was not applicable as the patient was not provided notice by the doctor of his participation in the appellee/as-soeiation (NICA) as required by the section 766.316, Florida Statutes.
Here, the hearing officer declined to determine whether notice to a patient is a condition precedent to application of the statute before concluding, as in Bradford and Behan, in denying recovery on the merits, that the injury to the child did not occur during birth as required under 766.301, Florida Statutes. In concluding that the notice to the patient is a condition precedent to reliance on NICA, we certify to the supreme court the same question certified in Bradford:
DOES SECTION 766.316, FLORIDA STATUTES (1993), REQUIRE THAT HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS GIVE PREDELIVERY NOTICE TO THEIR OBSTETRICAL PATIENTS OF THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE FLORIDA BIRTH-RELATED NEUROLOGICAL INJURY COMPENSATION PLAN AS A CONDITION PRECEDENT TO THE PROVIDERS INVOKING NICA AS THE PATIENT’S EXCLUSIVE REMEDY?
We need not determine here whether the condition precedent may be waived by the patient.
STONE and STEVENSON, JJ., concur. KLEIN, J., dissents with opinion.
KLEIN, Judge,
dissenting.
I dissent for the same reasons I dissented in Bradford v. Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Ass’n, 667 So. 2d 401 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Galen OF Fla., Inc. v. Braniff, 696 So. 2d 308 (Fla. 1997)…and limitations under the plan. Without exception the district courts of appeal that have addressed the issue have read section 766.316 to require pre-delivery notice. Braniff; Siravo v. Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Ass’n, 667 So. 2d 971 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); Bradford v. Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Ass’n, 667 So. 2d 401 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Behan v. Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Ass’n, 664 So. 2d 1173 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Mills v. N…
Authorities Cited
- Turner v. Hubrich, 656 So. 2d 970 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995)
- Behan v. Fla. Birth-Related Neurological Injury Comp. Ass'n, 664 So. 2d 1173 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)
- Mills v. N. Broward Hosp. Dist., 664 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)
- Bradford v. Fla. Birth-Related Neurological Injury Comp. Ass'n, 667 So. 2d 401 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)