766.204
Availability of medical records for presuit investigation of medical negligence claims and defenses; penalty.
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
FL-LEGleg.state.fl.us
JustiaFla. Statutes
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
766.204 Availability of medical records for presuit investigation of medical negligence claims and defenses; penalty.—
(1) Copies of any medical record relevant to any litigation of a medical negligence claim or defense shall be provided to a claimant or a defendant, or to the attorney thereof, at a reasonable charge within 10 business days of a request for copies, except that an independent special hospital district with taxing authority which owns two or more hospitals shall have 20 days. It shall not be grounds to refuse copies of such medical records that they are not yet completed or that a medical bill is still owing.
(2) Failure to provide copies of such medical records, or failure to make the charge for copies a reasonable charge, shall constitute evidence of failure of that party to comply with good faith discovery requirements and shall waive the requirement of written medical corroboration by the requesting party.
(3) A hospital shall not be held liable for any civil damages as a result of complying with this section.
History.—s. 51, ch. 88-1; s. 27, ch. 88-277; s. 246, ch. 98-166.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 32
cases (10 in the last 5 years), 1995–2025 · leading case: Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, Inc. v. Eartha Pusha, as Personal etc.
Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, Inc. v. Eartha Pusha, as Personal etc. (2018)
“Pusha argues that the plain language of section 766.204 contains no requirement that a person requesting records demonstrate their legal authority to receive the records.”
MARTIN MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER v. Herber (2008)
“§ 766.204(1)-(2), Fla. Stat. We previously held that the failure to provide medical records as required under section 766.”
Yocom v. Wuesthoff Health Systems, Inc. (2004)
“Thereafter, in accordance with section 766.204, Florida Statutes (2001), Dr.”
De La Torre v. ORTA EX REL. ORTA (2001)
“See § 766.204(2), Fla. Stat. (Supp.1998). [2] The trial court said that the failure of the doctor timely to respond had impeded plaintiffs in their investigation of the medical malpractice claim.”
Central Florida Regional Hosp. v. Hill (1998)
“The notice stated that CFRH failed to produce Hill's medical records within ten business days of her request in compliance with section 766.204, Florida Statutes (1995).”
Anderson v. Wagner (2006)
“Anderson's assertion that no corroborating evidence was necessary under section 766.204 due to Dr. Wagner allegedly failing to furnish Mr.”
Escobar v. Olortegui (1995)
“Section 766.204, Florida Statutes (1993), provides in part: (1) Copies of any medical record relevant to any litigation of a medical negligence claim or defense shall be provided to a claimant or a defendant, or to the attorney thereof, at a reasonable charge within 10 business…”
Medina v. Public Health Trust (1999)
“The Notices asserted that because of defendants' failure "to comply with their obligations to produce the pertinent medical records as required by section 766.204, prospective defendants had waived the requirement of written medical corroboration.”
Florida Hosp. Waterman, Inc. v. Buster (2006)
“(2004); § 766.204, Fla. Stat. (2004). Moreover, in the realm of litigation and the discovery process that is part of it, there are sufficient rules in place that will allow parties to obtain requested information under Amendment 7 in an orderly and lawful fashion.”
Burbank v. Kero (2002)
“Sztulman knew the records had been requested and had not been provided, as required by section 766.204, Florida Statutes, equity should estop him from relying on the statutory scheme to avoid answering for his malpractice.”
Tapia-Ruano v. Alvarez (2000)
“Estanillo admits that she did not file a corroborating affidavit from a medical expert, but argues that pursuant to section 766.204, Florida Statutes (1997), such a requirement was waived.”
Otto v. Rodriguez (1998)
“Defendant/Appellee's failure to provide full and complete medical records under section 766.204, Florida Statutes, which prevented the plaintiffs from obtaining a medical affidavit as required under section 766.”
— 766.204(1) — 9 cases
MARTIN MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER v. Herber (2008)
“§ 766.204(1)-(2), Fla. Stat. We previously held that the failure to provide medical records as required under section 766.”
Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, Inc. v. Eartha Pusha, as Personal etc. (2018)
“Pusha argues that the plain language of section 766.204 contains no requirement that a person requesting records demonstrate their legal authority to receive the records.”
Medina v. Public Health Trust (1999)
“The Notices asserted that because of defendants' failure "to comply with their obligations to produce the pertinent medical records as required by section 766.204, prospective defendants had waived the requirement of written medical corroboration.”
— 766.204(2) — 22 cases
De La Torre v. ORTA EX REL. ORTA (2001)
“See § 766.204(2), Fla. Stat. (Supp.1998). [2] The trial court said that the failure of the doctor timely to respond had impeded plaintiffs in their investigation of the medical malpractice claim.”
Anderson v. Wagner (2006)
“Anderson's assertion that no corroborating evidence was necessary under section 766.204 due to Dr. Wagner allegedly failing to furnish Mr.”
Central Florida Regional Hosp. v. Hill (1998)
“The notice stated that CFRH failed to produce Hill's medical records within ten business days of her request in compliance with section 766.204, Florida Statutes (1995).”
Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, Inc. v. Eartha Pusha, as Personal etc. (2018)
“Pusha argues that the plain language of section 766.204 contains no requirement that a person requesting records demonstrate their legal authority to receive the records.”
Medina v. Public Health Trust (1999)
“The Notices asserted that because of defendants' failure "to comply with their obligations to produce the pertinent medical records as required by section 766.204, prospective defendants had waived the requirement of written medical corroboration.”
— 766.204(3) — 1 case
Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, Inc. v. Eartha Pusha, as Personal etc. (2018)
“Pusha argues that the plain language of section 766.204 contains no requirement that a person requesting records demonstrate their legal authority to receive the records.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.