| 1 | The Health Care General Committee recommends the following: |
| 2 |
|
| 3 | Council/Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to expert witnesses; creating ss. 458.3175 |
| 7 | and 459.0066, F.S.; requiring the Board of Medicine and |
| 8 | the Board of Osteopathic Medicine, respectively, to issue |
| 9 | expert witness certificates to certain licensed physicians |
| 10 | under certain circumstances; providing requirements for |
| 11 | certification; providing a limitation; requiring the |
| 12 | boards to implement rules and set fees; amending ss. |
| 13 | 458.331 and 459.015, F.S.; providing that certain |
| 14 | fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading expert witness |
| 15 | testimony is grounds for disciplinary action; providing |
| 16 | penalties; amending s. 766.102, F.S.; providing that |
| 17 | certain medical expert testimony is not admissible unless |
| 18 | the expert witness meets certain requirements; providing |
| 19 | an effective date. |
| 20 |
|
| 21 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 22 |
|
| 23 | Section 1. Section 458.3175, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 24 | to read: |
| 25 | 458.3175 Expert witness certificate.-- |
| 26 | (1) Any physician who is licensed to practice allopathic |
| 27 | medicine in any other state or in Canada, whose license is |
| 28 | currently active and valid, who completes a registration form |
| 29 | prescribed by the board, who pays the application fee, and who |
| 30 | has not had a previous expert witness certificate revoked by the |
| 31 | board shall be issued a certificate to provide expert testimony. |
| 32 | For the purpose of this section, an expert witness certificate |
| 33 | shall be considered a license as defined in s. 456.001 and |
| 34 | treated as a license in any applicable disciplinary action |
| 35 | pursuant to this chapter. |
| 36 | (2) A physician possessing an expert witness certificate |
| 37 | may use the certificate solely to give a verified written |
| 38 | medical expert opinion as provided in s. 766.203 and to provide |
| 39 | expert testimony concerning the prevailing professional standard |
| 40 | of care in connection with any medical negligence litigation |
| 41 | pending in this state against a physician licensed under this |
| 42 | chapter or chapter 459. The possession of an expert witness |
| 43 | certificate alone does not entitle the physician to engage in |
| 44 | the practice of medicine as defined in s. 458.305. |
| 45 | (3) Every application for an expert witness certificate |
| 46 | shall be approved or denied within 5 business days after receipt |
| 47 | of a completed application. Any application for a certificate |
| 48 | that is not approved or denied within the required time period |
| 49 | is considered approved. Any applicant for an expert witness |
| 50 | certificate seeking to claim certification by default shall |
| 51 | notify the board, in writing, of the intent to rely on the |
| 52 | default certification provision of this subsection. |
| 53 | (4) All licensure fees other than the initial application |
| 54 | fee, including neurological injury compensation assessments, |
| 55 | shall be waived for those persons obtaining an expert witness |
| 56 | certificate but not otherwise allowed to practice medicine in |
| 57 | this state. |
| 58 | (5) The board shall adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) |
| 59 | and 120.54 to implement this section, including rules setting |
| 60 | the amount of the expert witness certificate application fee. |
| 61 | The application fee for the expert witness certificate may not |
| 62 | exceed $50. An expert witness certificate shall expire 2 years |
| 63 | after the date of issuance. |
| 64 | Section 2. Paragraph (oo) is added to subsection (1) of |
| 65 | section 458.331, Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 66 | 458.331 Grounds for disciplinary action; action by the |
| 67 | board and department.-- |
| 68 | (1) The following acts constitute grounds for denial of a |
| 69 | license or disciplinary action, as specified in s. 456.072(2): |
| 70 | (oo) Providing misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent expert |
| 71 | witness testimony related to the practice of medicine. |
| 72 | Section 3. Section 459.0066, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 73 | to read: |
| 74 | 459.0066 Expert witness certificate.-- |
| 75 | (1) Any physician who is licensed to practice osteopathic |
| 76 | medicine in any other state or in Canada, whose license is |
| 77 | currently active and valid, who completes a registration form |
| 78 | prescribed by the board, who pays the application fee, and who |
| 79 | has not had a previous expert witness certificate revoked by the |
| 80 | board shall be issued a certificate to provide expert testimony. |
| 81 | For the purpose of this section, an expert witness certificate |
| 82 | shall be considered a license as defined in s. 456.001 and |
| 83 | treated as a license in any applicable disciplinary action |
| 84 | pursuant to this chapter. |
| 85 | (2) A physician possessing an expert witness certificate |
| 86 | may use the certificate solely to give a verified written |
| 87 | medical expert opinion as provided in s. 766.203 and to provide |
| 88 | expert testimony concerning the prevailing professional standard |
| 89 | of care in connection with any medical negligence litigation |
| 90 | pending in this state against a physician licensed under this |
| 91 | chapter or chapter 458. The possession of an expert witness |
| 92 | certificate alone does not entitle the physician to engage in |
| 93 | the practice of osteopathic medicine as defined in s. 459.003. |
| 94 | (3) Every application for an expert witness certificate |
| 95 | shall be approved or denied within 5 business days after receipt |
| 96 | of a completed application. Any application for a certificate |
| 97 | that is not approved or denied within the required time period |
| 98 | is considered approved. Any applicant for an expert witness |
| 99 | certificate seeking to claim certification by default shall |
| 100 | notify the board, in writing, of the intent to rely on the |
| 101 | default certification provision of this subsection. |
| 102 | (4) All licensure fees other than the initial application |
| 103 | fee, including neurological injury compensation assessments, |
| 104 | shall be waived for those persons obtaining an expert witness |
| 105 | certificate but not otherwise allowed to practice osteopathic |
| 106 | medicine in this state. |
| 107 | (5) The board shall adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) |
| 108 | and 120.54 to implement this section, including rules setting |
| 109 | the amount of the expert witness certificate application fee. |
| 110 | The application fee for the expert witness certificate may not |
| 111 | exceed $50. An expert witness certificate shall expire 2 years |
| 112 | after the date of issuance. |
| 113 | Section 4. Paragraph (qq) is added to subsection (1) of |
| 114 | section 459.015, Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 115 | 459.015 Grounds for disciplinary action; action by the |
| 116 | board and department.-- |
| 117 | (1) The following acts constitute grounds for denial of a |
| 118 | license or disciplinary action, as specified in s. 456.072(2): |
| 119 | (qq) Providing misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent expert |
| 120 | witness testimony related to the practice of medicine. |
| 121 | Section 5. Subsection (12) of section 766.102, Florida |
| 122 | Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (13), and a new subsection |
| 123 | (12) is added to that section to read: |
| 124 | 766.102 Medical negligence; standards of recovery; expert |
| 125 | witness.-- |
| 126 | (12) If the party against whom or on whose behalf the |
| 127 | expert testimony concerning the prevailing professional standard |
| 128 | of care is offered is a physician licensed under chapter 458 or |
| 129 | chapter 459, the expert witness must be licensed in this state |
| 130 | under chapter 458 or chapter 459 or possess an expert witness |
| 131 | certificate as provided in s. 458.3175 or s. 459.0066. Expert |
| 132 | testimony is not admissible unless the expert providing such |
| 133 | testimony is licensed by this state or possesses an expert |
| 134 | witness certificate. |
| 135 | Section 6. This act shall take effect October 1, 2006. |