THOMAS STANTON AND RITA STANTON, HIS WIFE, PETITIONERS,
v.
COMMUNITY HOSPITAL OF SOUTH BROWARD ET AL., RESPONDENTS
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The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal granted a writ of prohibition to prevent a medical malpractice mediation panel from commencing a hearing after the statutorily mandated six-month period had expired. The court held that jurisdiction of the medical mediation panel automatically terminated when no hearing was commenced within six months of the claim filing, consistent with its recent decision in Green v. Broward General Medical Center.
The court held that the medical mediation panel's jurisdiction over petitioners' claim terminated upon the expiration of the six-month period without commencement of a hearing, and therefore the panel lacked authority to proceed with the scheduled hearing.
[1] A medical mediation panel loses jurisdiction if a hearing is not commenced within six months from the claim filing date, even if the parties agree to an extension.
[2] A hearing before a three-member medical mediation panel is mandatory and jurisdictional.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“since no hearing on the claim was commenced within six months from the date the claim was filed that the claimant was entitled to a termination of the medical mediation proceedings”
Establishes the controlling legal principle from Green v. Broward General Medical Center that the six-month period is jurisdictional and non-waivable.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn July 5, 1977, Thomas and Rita Stanton filed a medical malpractice claim initiating mediation proceedings under Florida law. The initial 120-day per…
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CROSS, Judge.
On petitioner’s suggestion for Writ of Prohibition in a medical mediation proceeding, we issued a Rule Nisi. Pursuant thereto, a return by respondents was filed. The matter is now before us for issuance of a Rule Absolute.
On July 5, 1977, Thomas Stanton and Rita Stanton, his wife, filed a claim for medical malpractice which initiated proceedings for mediation pursuant to § 768.44, Florida Statutes (Supp.1978). A motion to extend time for commencing hearing was timely filed and an order of the judicial referee was entered extending the period for commencing hearing from one hundred twenty days to six months. The final hearing was then scheduled to commence on December 20, 1977.
On December 5, 1977, one of several defendants in this matter moved for an order granting a continuance up until the expiration of the ten-month period established as the maximum period over which the medical mediation panel may retain jurisdiction. On January 3, 1978, the judicial referee entered his order granting the requested continuance and re-scheduling the final hearing for March 2 and 3, 1978. Upon expiration of the six-month period established for commencing the final hearing, the Stantons petitioned this court for a writ of prohibition directed to the judicial referee to prevent the commencement of the final hearing after expiration of the six-month period.
Recently, in Green v. Broward General Medical Center, 356 So. 2d 877 (Fla.4th DCA opinion filed March 21, 1978), this court determined that since no hearing on the claim was commenced within six months from the date the claim was filed that the claimant was entitled to a termination of the medical mediation proceedings. Sub ju-dice, the record conclusively demonstrates that no hearing on petitioners’ claim has been commenced within six months from the date the claim was filed. Section 768.44(3), Florida Statutes (Supp.1978). Ac cordingly, jurisdiction of the medical mediation panel over petitioners’ claim has terminated. Green v. Broward General Medical Center, supra. See also Rule 20.190(c), Fla.R.Med.P. In view of the above expressions, we deem it unnecessary, as a matter of respect, to make the Rule Absolute, and such Rule shall issue only on further application of the relators.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
ANSTEAD and MOORE, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Aldana v. Holub, 381 So. 2d 231 (Fla. 1980)…e panel members. The unavailability of the judicial referee cost petitioner his right to mediate in Febles v. Abercrombie, 358 So. 2d 568 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978), and an equally arbitrary result occurred in Stanton v. Community Hospital of South Broward, 359 So. 2d 37 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978).12 From the cases surveyed we find a procedure in which, over fifty percent of the time, a valuable legal right has arbitrarily evaporated through no fault of either party. Such a capricious statute cannot be permitted to stand.…1 / 3
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Murray Cohen, M.D. v. The Honorable William Clayton Johnson, 373 So. 2d 389 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979)…Procedure 20.190, the jurisdiction of the panel terminates if an extension order has been entered but the hearing has not been commenced within six months from the date of the filing of the claim. See Stanton v. Community Hospital of South Broward, 359 So. 2d 37 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); Mellor v. Arakgui, 359 So. 2d 36 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); and Green v. Broward General Medical Center, 356 So. 2d 877 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978). Further, jurisdiction of the panel may not be extended either by order of the court or by sti…
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Ballard v. Louie C. Curatolo, 363 So. 2d 864 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978)…is cause of action in the circuit court. Green v. Broward General Medical Center, 356 So. 2d 877 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); Mellor et al. v. Arakgui et al., 359 So. 2d 36 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); Stanton, et al. v. Community Hospital of South Broward, et al., 359 So. 2d 37 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978). We recognize the hardship this decision seemingly creates on those innocent parties to medical mediation proceedings who are denied statutorily granted rights for reasons beyond their control. For example, a medical practitione…
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- Green v. Broward Gen. Med. Ctr. & Dr. C. L. Reid, 356 So. 2d 877 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978)