The case<\/a> centers, in part, on whether medical records the doctors forwarded to the patient\u2019s Florida physicians constitute \u201cproducts, materials, or things processed, serviced, or manufactured\u201d under Florida\u2019s \u201clong-arm\u201d statute.<\/p>\nThe Sixth District Court of Appeal said \u201cno\u201d last year and affirmed the trial court.<\/p>\n
The patient, Jennifer Palmer, had a tumor removed from her thigh at Sloan-Kettering when she lived in New York between 2012 and 2015, records show.<\/p>\n
Palmer died in 2021 at age 34 after moving back to Orlando for further treatment, the records show. Her mother is named in the suit as a representative of Palmer\u2019s estate.<\/p>\n
The plaintiffs allege that the New York surgeon and a radiologist failed to detect the cancer that spread to Palmer\u2019s bones and waited weeks after an MRI to schedule a follow-up visit.<\/p>\n
The Sixth DCA found, among other things, that the plaintiffs failed to establish a \u201ctemporal\u201d connection to the New York treatment. The forwarding of medical records doesn\u2019t fit the long-arm statute\u2019s definition, the Sixth DCA determined.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile a report is certainly a \u2018thing,\u2019 the writing of a report does not constitute \u2018processing,\u2019 \u2018servicing,\u2019 or \u2018manufacturing\u2019 the report,\u201d the opinion states. \u201cThe ordinary meaning of \u2018processing,\u2019 \u2018servicing,\u2019 or \u2018manufacturing,\u2019 a \u2018thing\u2019 does not include simply writing a written document.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the Sixth DCA asked justices to resolve a conflict with a 2001 First DCA opinion, Dean v. Jones, that involved medical reports transmitted to Florida by an Alabama physician. The First DCA reached a different finding with regard to the reports, but the Sixth DCA stresses that the facts of the case \u201care very different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dean held that writing a report and sending it to Florida \u201cis precisely what section 48.193(1)(a)6.b. contemplates,\u201d the plaintiffs stress.<\/p>\n
Whether \u201cinjury in Florida\u201d constitutes \u201ca tortious act,\u201d raises implications that stretch far beyond medical malpractice, the plaintiffs argue.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsidering the unprecedented interconnectedness of the modern world, instances of Floridians being injured by nonresidents\u2019 tortious behavior will likely only increase,\u201d they wrote. \u201cThe time is ripe for this Court to resolve this conflict, thus clarifying and guiding the rights of thousands of these numerous, as-yet-unknown, future tort victims.\u201d<\/p>\n
The plaintiffs also argue that \u201calternatively,\u201d Florida could exercise \u201cgeneral personal jurisdiction\u201d over Memorial Sloan-Kettering based on a \u201cCooperative Research Agreement,\u201d a \u201cData Collaboration Agreement,\u201d and an \u201cAlliance Relationship Agreement,\u201d the center has with Baptist Health South Florida, a Coral Gables-based hospital.<\/p>\n
The AMA and its Florida affiliate warn in an amicus brief that \u201cexercising personal jurisdiction over out-of-state physicians\u201d would risk the health of Florida patients who travel for specialty care.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf specialists at Sloan Kettering, MD Anderson, the Cleveland Clinic and other facilities can be haled (sic) into court in Florida for alleged malpractice in their home states when transitioning or collaborating on patient care in Florida, they may be compelled to stop assisting Florida physicians to avoid the costs of such liability,\u201d the amicus states.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court scheduled oral arguments for May 7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do forwarded medical records trigger Florida jurisdiction? The Supreme Court will soon be asked to decide whether two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-241740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Supreme](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Supreme-Court-2024-244x300.jpg\")
The Supreme Court will soon be asked to decide whether two New York doctors and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center can be sued in a Florida court for alleged malpractice by a patient who returned here for follow-up care.<\/p>\n