DADE COUNTY, A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
ANTONIO PEREZ, SR., INDIVIDUALLY AND AS NEXT FRIEND AND GUARDIAN OF HIS NATURAL SON, ANTONIO PEREZ, JR., A MINOR, APPELLEE
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A hospital's statutory lien for treatment charges attaches to the entire settlement amount recovered by a patient from a tort-feasor, and a court cannot arbitrarily reduce the lien.
[1] A hospital lien attaches to all claims and causes of action accruing to a patient for injuries necessitating hospital care, as well as to any judgment or settlement of th…
[2] A statutory hospital lien is not subject to reduction or discretionary limitation by a court.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA minor was injured and treated at a county hospital, which filed a lien for its charges. The personal injury suit was settled, and the trial court re…
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An action for damages for personal injuries was filed in the circuit court of Dade County by Antonio Perez, Jr., a minor, through his father Antonio Perez, Sr., as next friend and guardian, and by the latter individually for derivative damages, against one Gerald Simpson alleged to have proximately caused the minor plaintiff’s injuries by negligent operation of an automobile.
Perez, Jr., was treated at Jackson Memorial Hospital, owned and operated by Dade County, which filed a lien for its charges of $1,931.95, as provided for in Chapter 27032, Laws of Florida 1951. Settlement of the damage suit was effected for $1,780. In a proceeding in the cause, after notice to the county, in which the propriety of the hospital charges was not disputed, the trial court pared the county’s hospital lien to $200. The county appealed.
In the recent case of Dade County v. Bodie, Fla.App. 1970, 237 So.2d 553 (opinion filed May 12, 1970), this court reversed an order which pared a similar hospital lien of $4,362.50 to $1,000 and limited to that amount the enforcement of the lien against the proceeds of a settlement of the personal injury damage suit involved there. In the Bodie case this court said:
“The determinative question presented on the appeal by Dade County is whether the amount which the patient may re-. ceive from the tort-feasor by suit or by settlement is subject to the hospital lien, or is subject only to such part thereof as the circuit court in its discretion shall determine may be allowed and enforced against the proceeds of a judgment or settlement.
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“The statute contains no provision for such a lien to be reduced or pared down by a court in its discretion. On the contrary the statute contains provisions which reveal legislative intent for the amount represented by such a lien to be received by the hospital out of sums recovered by or on behalf of the patient through suit or settlement with a tort-feasor.”
Although the settlement in this case ($1,780) appears to have been made without separate designation of any stated portion thereof as being in settlement of the minor son’s claim for his damages for his personal injuries, or for the derivative damage claim of Perez, Sr., the trial court’s order, upon reciting that the “bulk” of the settlement was for the minor plaintiff’s personal injuries, allocated $200 of the settlement to Perez, Sr. for his derivative claim which involved medical expenses incurred. The trial court then held that the hospital’s statutory lien was not applicable to any of the proceeds of the damage suit settlement except the $200 *783thereof thus earmarked by the court for the medical expense claim.
In reaching that conclusion the trial court was in error. We need not concern ourselves with a question of which of the plaintiffs, the minor or his father, who designated himself as guardian, became obligated to the hospital for the services rendered by it to the injured minor1. This is so because the lien of the hospital, as provided for in § 1 of the statute, is there stated to be a lien for the reasonable charges of the hospital for treatment of the injured person upon the cause of action or claims accruing to the person to whom the treatment is furnished, as well as to claims accruing to a legal representative of the person treated, and is on a judgment rendered upon, or settlement of, the claims arising from the illness or injuries which necessitated the hospital care2.
Contrary to the view of the trial court, the lien provided for by the statute was not restricted to some portion of the recovery which the parties or the court might choose to designate as being in compensation for the claim for medical expenses incurred by or on behalf of the injured party, but the lien provided for applies to whatever is recovered on claims against the tort-feasor arising from the injuries sustained. A different application of the statute, operating to deny to the hospital a substantial part of its lien, such as that made by the trial court, would be authorized only if the statute should be amended by the legislature to so permit.
Accordingly, on authority of Dade County v. Bodie, supra, the order appealed from is reversed, and the cause is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent herewith.
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Luisa Rodriguez v. Travelers Ins. Co., 367 So. 2d 687 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)…mon law doctrine of subrogation2 and we so hold ” 5 See also International Sales-Rentals Leasing Co. v. Nearhoof, 263 So. 2d 569, 571 (Fla.1972); Public Health Trust of Dade County v. O'Neal, 348 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977); Dade County v. Perez, 237 So. 2d 781 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970); Dade County v. Bodie, 237 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970).6 [*690] As to the appellant’s second point, we conclude that when, as here, the trial judge awards the p. i. p. carrier less than what it has demanded in equitable distribu…
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Orlando Reg'l Med. Ctr., Inc. v. Est. OF Edward M. Heron, IV, 596 So. 2d 1078 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992)…ORMC was the only creditor of the estate with a lien on the estate’s settlement proceeds. ORMC argues that this was error and that no proceeds should have been allocated to the other claimants until its lien was satisfied. See Dade County v. Perez, 237 So. 2d 781 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970); Dade County v. Bodie, 237 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970). We find this argument waived on appeal, since our examination of the record reveals that ORMC did not argue to the court that it had a right of preference over the other cr…
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Mirta Fernandez v. S.C. Ins. Co., 408 So. 2d 753 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)…d maintenance. The validity and priority of a hospital lien have been firmly established. Public Health Trust of Dade County v. O’Neal, 348 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977); Dade County v. Pavon, 266 So. 2d 94 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972); Dade County v. Perez, 237 So. 2d 781 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970); Dade County v. Bodie, 237 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970); Palm Springs General Hospital v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 218 So. 2d 793 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969). The clear language of Chapter 25C contains no exclusion for…
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- Dade Cnty. v. Bodie, 237 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970)