![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MIA_31_Florida_Legislation_Session_2026_MJO.JPG\" "\\"A")
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A general view of the Florida Capitol on Monday, Jan 12, 2026, in Tallahassee, Fla.<\/p>\n
Photo by Matias J. Ocner<\/p>\n
mocner@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Tallahassee<\/p>\n
Florida lawmakers tried in recent weeks to intervene in an unusual Miami case where Mount Sinai Medical Center CEO Gino Santorio and other top officials are being sued for a baby\u2019s \u201cpermanent brain damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
They appear to have failed. Had they succeeded, the CEO could have been shielded from liability under the same law created to protect the hospital and doctors who delivered the child.<\/p>\n
That law, which created the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association, or NICA, is intended to shield doctors and hospitals from malpractice lawsuits in specific cases where a preventable permanent neurological birth injury is caused in delivery. In return, the NICA program is supposed to pay for the injured baby\u2019s medical treatments and other services.<\/p>\n
Now the question at center in the lawsuit against Santorio is whether executives like him are also protected under the law. The Miami-Dade judge presiding over Santorio\u2019s case ruled he is not. His attorneys have appealed, and deny that he was negligent. They said in a court document he and other hospital administrators are protected under existing law from lawsuits pertaining to the child\u2019s birth injury for several reasons, including that policies he set \u201cwould have guided the medical decision-making\u201d pertaining to the baby\u2019s delivery.<\/p>\n
But, instead of letting the courts work it out, lawmakers tried to shield Santorio and other hospital executives in a bill, SB 1668<\/a>, updating the 1988 NICA law. The issue became public for the first time in a Senate Rules Committee last week when a Republican moved to insert language that would strip protection of hospital executives and administrators from the bill, leading lawmakers and hospital lobbyists to publicly acknowledge that Santorio\u2019s case was the driver behind the proposed change in statute.<\/p>\n \u201cWe currently have a pending legal case here in Florida related to an administrator or hospital CEO who is being sued over claims related to a NICA-related injury,\u201d the sponsor of the bill, Sen. Colleen Burton, said during the March 3 committee meeting.<\/p>\n Burton, a Winter Haven Republican, later said she was not attempting to \u201csolve\u201d Santorio\u2019s case.<\/p>\n Mark Delegal, a lobbyist for the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, which represents Mount Sinai, laid out the stakes for his client to lawmakers.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a runaway judge in circuit court in Miami-Dade County, and we\u2019re just begging you to fix it,\u201d Delegal said. \u201cWe beg you to fix this issue, or there will be incentives to close maternity wards and for [obstetrics and gynecology doctors] to walk away from their practices.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. Jason Pizzo further clarified that Santorio\u2019s case motivated the proposed change to shield hospital administrators under NICA when he said he wanted to \u201capologize to Gino Santorio, who called me this weekend to discuss this bill, that I have not called back on purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n Pizzo, a Hollywood independent, then asked Delegal: \u201cDo you think it\u2019s appropriate that we\u2019re just going to legislate this as a fix to an open case in a different branch of government?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know of course my answer is going to be, absolutely yes, because you have the power to legislate,\u201d Delegal responded. \u201cYou can fix this problem right now when you see that a judge has misinterpreted a program in a statute, and is about to eviscerate its effectiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n Delegal argued that the case against Santorio would carve out a new lane for lawyers to go after hospital administrators for money they won\u2019t get through the NICA program. He believes that if Santorio is found liable, it will harm hospitals by making their liability insurance go up\u2014something NICA was supposed to prevent\u2014and lead to financial problems, and thus, maternity ward closures.<\/p>\n But in a rare turn of events, Delegal, on behalf of hospitals, and top Senate Republicans lost the argument. Burton\u2019s proposal to change the law so that it\u2019s clear administrators are also shielded from malpractice lawsuits related to a baby\u2019s brain injury during delivery was rejected. The House adopted the change.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear whether the Legislature will pass the bill without the legal fix benefitting Santorio. Lawmakers are expected to conclude their annual legislative session on Friday.<\/p>\n House Speaker Daniel Perez told reporters that his chamber\u2019s bill \u201chas nothing to do with\u201d the lawsuit.<\/p>\n \u201cI know there\u2019s ongoing litigation. I don\u2019t know the details of the case,\u201d Perez, a Miami Republican, said on Tuesday. \u201cThe bill wasn\u2019t moving in one way or another because of a litigation that was active.\u201d<\/p>\n Santorio told the Herald\/Times in a statement that \u201cprotecting access to maternity care remains a priority at Mount Sinai.\u201d<\/p>\n