Rally At The Capitol
by Jayne Mittan,PA-C

Physicians in Florida have finally stepped up to the plate and joined together for a common cause. That cause is the malpractice insurance crisis in our state. On Thursday, March 27th, Florida physicians took their cause to the Capitol.

Over 4,000 doctors and their staffs made a pilgrimage to Tallahassee. They marched up Apalachee Parkway, straight to the steps of the old Capitol building, for a forum with the powers that be. The event was sponsored and organized by the Florida Medical Association. There were plenty of signs, banners, and chanting as the demonstrators clammered to be heard. Passing motorists honked in support (?) of the crowd. The front lawn of the Capitol complex was a sea of white coats.

As the crowd gathered, they were greeted by none-other than Governor Jeb Bush. He incited the crowd by preaching his support of the $250,000 cap on non-economic damages in malpractice cases that recently passed the House.

CEO Tom Gallagher also rendered his support to the cause, along with Speaker of the House, Johnny Byrd, R-Plant City, and Leutenent Governor, Toni Jennings. Lt. Gov. Jennings praised the House for their success in passing the issue, and chastised the Senate for failing to follow the House's lead. She encouraged the doctors to visit their Senators and ask them a very important question: "When your child, wife, mother, or loved one gets sick, or has a serious accident or injury, who are you going to call? Your lawyer?!"

Senate President Jim King,R-Jacksonville, had the misfortune of following all of the supporters. He was soundly boo'd for his comments against the cap. Despite his best efforts to explain his position, he won no supporters among the crowd.

Following the speeches, participants were encouraged to go inside and personally visit their lawmakers and express their opinions. Interestingly, on entering the House side of the building, we were greeted by a sign showing the diagram of a U-turn. It said, "Doctors, the House Supports You. For Medical Malpractice Relief, the Florida Senate is 140 feet behind you."

That pretty well sums up the day. In my 23 years of practice in Tallahassee, I have never seen such cohesion of the medical community. Not only did most major group practices close to attend the rally, they took out ads in the newspaper to announce that they would be closing to attend. Not a good day to need health care in Tallahassee.

PAs were there in support of our supervising doctors. We all know that if our doctors don't get some relief soon, more of them will be leaving. We can't practice without our docs, so please, join the fight! Time is of the essence. We must put pressure on our state Senators to pass this legislation. Call, write, or email your Senators today!! We can't afford to lose this one!