The Florida Senate

¹774.205  Claimant proceedings.--

(1)  A civil action alleging an asbestos or silica claim may be brought in the courts of this state if the plaintiff is domiciled in this state or the exposure to asbestos or silica that is a substantial contributing factor to the physical impairment of the plaintiff on which the claim is based occurred in this state.

(2)  A plaintiff in a civil action alleging an asbestos or silica claim must include with the complaint or other initial pleading a written report and supporting test results constituting prima facie evidence of the exposed person's asbestos-related or silica-related physical impairment meeting the requirements of s. 774.204(2), (3), (5), or (6). For any asbestos or silica claim pending on the effective date of this act, the plaintiff must file the report and supporting test results at least 30 days before setting a date for trial. The defendant must be afforded a reasonable opportunity to challenge the adequacy of the proffered prima facie evidence of asbestos-related impairment. The claim of the plaintiff shall be dismissed without prejudice upon a finding of failure to make the required prima facie showing.

(3)  All asbestos claims and silica claims filed in this state on or after the effective date of this act must include, in addition to the written report described in ²subsection (2) and the information required by s. 774.207(2), a sworn information form containing the following information:

(a)  The claimant's name, address, date of birth, and marital status;

(b)  If the claimant alleges exposure to asbestos or silica through the testimony of another person or alleges other than direct or bystander exposure to a product, the name, address, date of birth, ³and marital status for each person by which the claimant alleges exposure, hereinafter the "index person," and the claimant's relationship to each such person;

(c)  The specific location of each alleged exposure;

(d)  The beginning and ending dates of each alleged exposure as to each asbestos product or silica product for each location at which exposure allegedly took place for the plaintiff and each index person;

(e)  The occupation and name of the employer of the exposed person at the time of each alleged exposure;

(f)  The specific condition related to asbestos or silica claimed to exist; and

(g)  Any supporting documentation of the condition claimed to exist.

History.--s. 5, ch. 2005-274.

¹Note.--Section 10, ch. 2005-274, provides that "[t]his act shall take effect July 1, 2005. Because the act expressly preserves the right of all injured persons to recover full compensatory damages for their loss, it does not impair vested rights. In addition, because it enhances the ability of the most seriously ill to receive a prompt recovery, it is remedial in nature. Therefore, the act shall apply to any civil action asserting an asbestos claim in which trial has not commenced as of [July 1, 2005]."

²Note.--Substituted by the editors for a reference to "subsection (3) of section 5" of ch. 2005-274. Section 5, ch. 2005-274, became s. 774.205 Subsection (2) describes the written report.

³Note.--The word "and" was inserted by the editors.