With an estimated 16,396,515 citizens (source: US Census Department), lawsuit abuse costs the State of Florida:

$11,821,887,315 per year.

Lawsuit abuse is infecting the healthcare system in Florida and depriving its residents of gaining access to affordable care and services. Since the State Assembly passed on the opportunity to enact reforms this session, Florida is facing a health litigation emergency. Consider some of the symptoms of the state's broken medical liability system:

• Aon Risk Consultants have identified Florida as a leading state in driving the increase in liability costs for the long-term care industry. With trends during the 1990's in the range of 25% to 35% a year, costs have risen close to $11,000 per bed in Florida.

• The American Medical Association has declared Florida as one of 19 states in the country experiencing a medical liability crisis.

• In the past 15 years, 63 hospitals have closed in Florida. Most have cited increased litigation risks and costs as determining factors for discontinuing services. Orlando Regional Healthcare.

• A recent report in the Quarterly Journal of Economics estimates that limiting unreasonable jury awards could cut healthcare costs by 5-9%, which would save $70-126 billion in healthcare costs per year. Saving this money would lower the cost of healthcare coverage and permit an additional 2.4 - 4.3 million Americans to obtain medical insurance. Going without Health Insurance, Families USA, March 10, 2003; "Number of Uninsured Americans On the Rise," Associated Press, March 5, 2003; " Avoiding Health Insurance Crowd-Out," Journal of Health Economics, March 2000

• In a July 2003 study conducted by Harris Interactive, 43% of doctors reported that they have avoided prescribing a particular medication because they were aware that the drug might be involved in litigation. Pharmaceutical Liability Study, Harris Interactive, July 15, 2003

• 75% of suppliers of biomaterials used to make medical implants banned sales to U.S. manufacturers because of litigation fears. Although the Biomaterials Assurance Assistance Act of 2000 aimed to remedy this by providing important legal protections to suppliers in liability lawsuits, numerous medical device producers choose to remain overseas. Study by New York-based Aronoff Associates for HIMA entitled "Biomaterials Availability: a Vital Health Care Industry Hangs in the Balance ; "How FDA Regulation and Injury Litigation Cripple the Medical Device Industry" Policy Analysis 412, August 28, 2001

• An estimated $50 billion per year is spent on unnecessary test procedures designed only to guard doctors and hospitals against malpractice claims. "Do Doctors Practice Defensive Medicine?" Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1996