$15M payment to patient may yield cutbacks at KY hospital

Gov. Rick Scott signed a claims bill Thursday requiring Lee Memorial Health System to pay a brain-injured boy $15 million, an amount hospital administrators say will likely lead to budget cuts in the coming months. The boy's family claimed medical staff improperly induced labor and were to blame for the boy's condition. A Lee County jury later assessed almost $31 million in damages against the health system. Sovereign immunity, which limits damages against government entities such as the health system, capped the award in this case at $200,000. The bill Scott signed overruled that.