Letters.

Insurance Study

As one who was present at the August 19 meeting of the Insurance Practices Special Study Committee, I would like to provide some context to the News' September 15 story regarding that meeting.

The story lists a number of alleged abuses that the committee will be examining. Notably, many of the comments outlining these alleged abuses were submitted anonymously at the committee's suggestion, even though the committee has acknowledged that it is '"better off launching [its] investigation based on specific information rather than a general fishing expedition based on nothing more than rumors and innuendo." Anonymous comments and information received through private dialogue "to protect disclosure" of complainants foster just that -- rumors and innuendo.

This is reminiscent of the smoked-filled rooms and clandestine meetings of yore. If attorneys believe that limitations imposed upon them are inappropriate, those attorneys should refuse representation; they should not be complaining behind closed doors. As Chair David Bianchi stated at the meeting, the committee should not allow itself to become a sounding board for disgruntled defense attorneys.

There has been no showing of consumer harm. As noted by the committee itself, the only complaining clients have been doctors who object to settlement and want vindication. Yet section F.S. [ss]627.4147(b)1 specifically requires that medical malpractice insurance policies contain a clause authorizing the insurer to settle within policy limits without the insured doctor's consent. Moreover, many of the issues being addressed by the committee have already been reviewed and decided in favor of the insurance industry by the Florida Supreme Court. Solutions already exist to remedy isolated instances of abuse.

If the committee must address these issues, it should not be swayed by emotion or the economic interests of attorneys -- it should decide the issues based on the facts and the law.

Katherine Giddings

Tallahassee

The article on the insurance study committee refers to an insurance company general counsel who wrote to encourage the committee investigation, saying it is needed. From the records of the committee, it appears that I may be that general counsel, but I have not encouraged the investigation.

For more than a hundred years, insurance companies have been defending their Florida insureds through the engagement (and more recently employment) of highly competent members of The Florida...