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FLORIDA'S MEDICAL MALPRACTICE TORT REFORM: A COGNITIVE ANALYSIS OF LITIGIOUS, LEGISLATIVE PROMULGATION AND JURISPRUDENCE
Title
FLORIDA'S MEDICAL MALPRACTICE TORT REFORM: A COGNITIVE ANALYSIS OF LITIGIOUS, LEGISLATIVE PROMULGATION AND JURISPRUDENCE.
Creator
Formoso, Joseph, Milon, Abby, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Public opinion in recent years has been seemingly manipulated by superfluous stories, bad press, and negative commentaries regarding the perceived "Medical Malpractice Crisis." It has initiated a political attack on Florida's tort system which has resulted in making valid medical malpractice claims even more so difficult for victimized plaintiffs to pursue. After months of diligent research, and with the loyal aid of my university advisors and the dedicated law librarians I've had the honor...
Show morePublic opinion in recent years has been seemingly manipulated by superfluous stories, bad press, and negative commentaries regarding the perceived "Medical Malpractice Crisis." It has initiated a political attack on Florida's tort system which has resulted in making valid medical malpractice claims even more so difficult for victimized plaintiffs to pursue. After months of diligent research, and with the loyal aid of my university advisors and the dedicated law librarians I've had the honor to work with, I have thoroughly analyzed Florida's past and present medical malpractice tort reforms and governing procedural laws; in addition to arguing, by virtue of this thesis, why these reforms were truly enacted, how traditional tort reforms have egregiously compromised public interests, why Florida's future - with regard to legislative change - is grim, and how new, innovative tort reforms - such as those established overseas - could genuinely benefit Floridians. The premise of the conclusion reached in this research is partially iterated in a quote by the critically acclaimed "Insurance Law Expert," Tom Baker: "...the medical malpractice myth. Built on a foundation of urban legend mixed with the occasional true story, supported by selective references to academic studies, and repeated so often that even the mythmakers forget the exaggeration, half truth, and outright misinformation employed in the service of their greater good, the medical malpractice myth has filled doctors, patients, legislators, and voters with the kind of fear that short circuits critical thinking." -Baker, T. (2005). The medical malpractice myth. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
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Date Issued
2012
Identifier
CFH0004207, ucf:44972
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004207
Economic Valuation of Florida Sea Turtles in Face of Sea Level Rise
Title
Economic Valuation of Florida Sea Turtles in Face of Sea Level Rise.
Creator
Hamed, Ahmed, Madani Larijani, Kaveh, VonHolle, Mary, Wright, James, Milon, Joseph, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Sea level rise (SLR) is posing a great risk of flooding and inundation to coastal areas in Florida. Some coastal nesting species, including sea turtle species, have experienced diminished habitat from SLR. In an effort to assess the economic and ecosystem service loss to coastal areas with respect to sea turtles Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA) were used. The CVM was used to measure the economic impacts of SLR on sea turtles. Open-ended and dichotomous...
Show moreSea level rise (SLR) is posing a great risk of flooding and inundation to coastal areas in Florida. Some coastal nesting species, including sea turtle species, have experienced diminished habitat from SLR. In an effort to assess the economic and ecosystem service loss to coastal areas with respect to sea turtles Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA) were used. The CVM was used to measure the economic impacts of SLR on sea turtles. Open-ended and dichotomous choice CVM was used to obtain the willingness to pay (WTP) values of Florida residents to implement certain mitigation strategies which would protect Florida's east coast sea turtle nesting areas. The problem of sample selection bias was reduced by surveying residents of two cities that would potentially have varying interest in coastal conservation due to their relative distance from the coast. The hypothetical WTP of Florida households to implement policies designed to protect sea turtle habitat from development encroachment was estimated to be between $21 and $29 per year for a maximum of five years. Characteristics of respondents were found to have statistically significant impacts on their WTP. Findings include a negative correlation between the age of a respondent and the probability of an individual willing to pay the hypothetical WTP amount. Counter intuitively, it was found that WTP of an individual was not dependent on prior knowledge of the effects of SLR on sea turtle habitat. As the level of this awareness increased, the probability to pay the hypothetical WTP value decreased. The greatest indicators of whether or not an individual was willing to pay to protect sea turtle habitat were the respondents' perception regarding the importance of sea turtle population health to the ecosystem, and their confidence in the conservation methods used. Concepts of Habitat Equivalency Analysis were used in order to determine the ecosystem service lost due to SLR. The study area of Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge (ACNWR) has a continually increasing sea turtle population due to various conservation efforts. However, how the inundation of the coastal area will injure this habitat was assessed, and if mitigation strategies to compensate for the loss are necessary. The carrying capacity (CC) of the refuge was chosen as the metric of the ecosystem service. Using the estimated area of ACNWR and the approximate area needed by a sea turtle to nest, the theoretical number of sea turtle nests possible on the refuge was calculated. This value was then projected to the year 2100 using the sea level rise scenarios provided by IPCC (2007) and NRC (2010). In order to quantify the injury caused by the decrease in the refuge's CC, the number of sea turtle nests on the refuge was projected to the year 2100 using the data obtained over the past 30 years. The analysis concludes a potential loss of service to be experienced as early as 2060's due to the carrying capacity of the refuge diminishing with the loss of the habitat due to the increase in the mean sea level.
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Date Issued
2013
Identifier
CFE0005002, ucf:50021
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005002
Livelihoods support programs, conservation attitudes, and tropical biodiversity: an evaluation of biocomplexity in southeastern Ghana
Title
Livelihoods support programs, conservation attitudes, and tropical biodiversity: an evaluation of biocomplexity in southeastern Ghana.
Creator
Ekpe, Edem, Hinkle, Charles, Quigley, Martin, VonHolle, Mary, Weishampel, John, Uddin, Nizam, Owusu, Erasmus, Milon, Joseph, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Human activities are a major driver of biodiversity degradation and loss, especially in tropical forest areas, where forest-fringe towns and villages depend on the forests for their livelihoods. In order to reduce threats that human activities pose to biodiversity, livelihoods support programs are employed as economic incentives for biodiversity conservation. These programs support the livelihoods activities of local communities, with the aim of triggering favorable attitudes and behaviors...
Show moreHuman activities are a major driver of biodiversity degradation and loss, especially in tropical forest areas, where forest-fringe towns and villages depend on the forests for their livelihoods. In order to reduce threats that human activities pose to biodiversity, livelihoods support programs are employed as economic incentives for biodiversity conservation. These programs support the livelihoods activities of local communities, with the aim of triggering favorable attitudes and behaviors towards conservation, and ultimately reduce biodiversity degradation. Their effectiveness as conservation tools has not been evaluated. I investigated the effects of livelihoods programs on conservation attitudes and the consequent effects on biodiversity in the Afadjato-Agumatsa and Atewa forest areas in southeastern Ghana.The study areas are coupled human and natural systems, which are excellent for research in the theoretical framework of biocomplexity in the environment. Using literature reviews and field visits, I documented the specific livelihoods support activities (LSAs) used for biodiversity conservation, their historical trend and geographical distribution in Ghana. I used ex-post cost-benefit analysis to determine socio-economic estimates of the LSAs in the two forest areas. Since communities were not randomly assigned to the interventions, I employed quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effects of LSAs on environmental attitudes. I evaluated the effect of conservation attitudes on biodiversity at two levels. These levels included 1) functional biodiversity at the landscape level represented by mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of forest; and 2) compositional biodiversity at the species level represented by species diversity of fruit bats. The earliest record of LSAs used for biodiversity conservation in Ghana was in 1993. I identified 71 different activities belonging to eight categories. Some of these activities are beekeeping, animal husbandry, crop farming, and snail rearing. Most LSA programs have been in northern Ghana. There was an increasing tendency to make LSAs part of every conservation program in Ghana and this satisfies the current policy of collaborative conservation.The socio-economic estimates of LSAs included: 1) capital investment; 2) net socio-economic benefits; and 3) the benefit-cost ratio. The per-community values of the three estimates were not different between the two study areas. The per capita values of capital investment and net economic benefit were not significantly different between the two study areas. However, benefit-cost ratio per capita was higher in Afadjato-Agumatsa than in Atewa. Estimates of economic returns from LSAs were marginal but the perceptions of success were relatively high.Environmental attitudes in LSA communities and non-LSA communities were not significantly different, and this was confirmed by an estimate of infinitesimal effects of LSAs on forest conservation attitudes. Among LSA communities, benefit-cost ratio of LSAs predicted favorable forest conservation attitudes; and change in pro-conservation attitudes were significantly higher in communities that had active LSAs than in communities which had no active LSA.Mean NDVI of the forests decreased from 1991 to 2000 and decreased further but at a slower rate to 2010. Higher forest conservation attitudes predicted higher mean NDVI in 2010. Higher change in mean NDVI from 1991 to 2000 predicted higher change in mean NDVI from 2000 to 2010. Eleven of the 13 fruit bat species in Ghana were recorded in the study areas. Longer distances between a local community and its forest predicted higher species diversity of forest-specialist fruit bats.The results indicate that LSAs have become a major contribution to Ghana's current collaborative forest policy. The fact that perceptions of LSA success were moderate even though the economic returns from them were marginal suggest that other factors such as provision of employment, training in new skills and community cohesion played a part in how communities viewed the success as LSAs. Evaluations of conservation attitudes suggest that just participating in LSAs did not improve attitudes; but higher benefit-cost ratio predicted favorable conservation attitudes, and conservation attitudes were higher in communities that sustained their LSAs. Therefore, it may serve biodiversity conservation to invest in LSAs that can be sustained and involve the least costs to local communities. Primary production of the forests, a proxy for a functional habitat, continued to decrease. Preventing communities from locating closer to forests could improve fruit bat diversity, which contributes to natural forest regeneration. Improving conservation attitudes should be an objective of conservation at the landscape scale.On the basis of the results, I developed a conceptual model for forest biodiversity conservation in a biocomplexity framework. This model could be useful for evaluating conservation in tropical forest areas. Lessons from this study can be applied in other incentive-based conservation programs such as payments for ecosystem services systems and carbon market schemes. I suggest that this study be repeated after a decade and that other socio-political and biogeochemical variables be integrated into future studies.
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Date Issued
2012
Identifier
CFE0004246, ucf:49511
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004246