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The President's Report

A Year in Review => Summer 2006

John Burigo, M.D.

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the pertinent legislative issues for Ob/Gyn physicians that surfaced during this past year and also comment on an issue that was raised by one of our members.

Legislative Summary

• The doctrine of joint and several liability was repealed. Citizens will now be held accountable financially only for the portion of any judgment that they are responsible for. No longer do you face the prospect of being the only defendant left in a malpractice case who might be expected to satisfy the entirety of a large judgment even if you were personally held responsible for only 10% of the liability.
• CME requirements for state–mandated courses have changed. HIV/AIDS CME is required only once after licensure and domestic violence CME is required only once every 6 years.
• NICA legislation now establishes that the administrative judge presiding over the claim has exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether appropriate notice has been given to allow for NICA coverage. This has been a problem in the past and is a welcomed change.
• Only dermatologists or plastic surgeons will be allowed to supervise ancillary personnel in a satellite office that provides primarily aesthetic skin care services including laser hair removal. The same law limits offsite supervision of satellite offices in general to 2 sites for specialists and 4 sites for primary care. We were successful in defining Ob/Gyn as primary care in this law.
• The state will now issue a "certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth" for any fetus born stillborn beyond 20 weeks gestation. We were successful in adding a provision which states that the law may not be used to establish, bring, or support a civil cause of action... seeking damages... or wrongful death for a stillbirth.
• Prohibition against self-insuring did not make it out of committee.
• A bill filed last year and then again this year, which would have opened the possibility to create a cause of action for the loss of a fetus from the time of conception, was withdrawn.
• The FMA initiative to temporarily license expert witnesses prior to testimony so that they would potentially be subject to disciplinary action and loss of licensure by the state unfortunately failed.

Know your personal limits

A question was raised from a member regarding the appropriateness of ordering certain follow-up tests on the recommendation of another physician in a report of a diagnostic study; for example—ordering a stereotactic breast biopsy when suggested to do so in a mammogram report. Our best advice is to order tests when you personally feel comfortable addressing the problem and are confident about counseling the patient. If these criteria are not met, it would be best to refer the patient to an appropriate colleague or specialist.

I thank all of you for the opportunity to serve as your President this past year. In particular, my thanks to the support of the other Board members and to Amy Young, who does a tremendous job representing the interests of the Society in Tallahassee. Best wishes to Jimmy Orr, who I know will represent us well in the coming year.