State Supreme Court Tries to Draw Line on Malpractice Cases

In a case stemming from an injury to a child who was deaf and had been diagnosed with psychiatric conditions, the Florida Supreme Court tried to resolve questions about when lawsuits deal with medical malpractice — or ordinary negligence.

The questions are important legally because state law makes it harder to pursue medical-malpractice cases than other types of negligence claims.

The justices, in a 24-page opinion, sided with Cinnette Perry, who was a student in 2008 at the National Deaf Academy in Lake County when a confrontation with staff led to her needing to have part of her left leg amputated.