Uninsured doctors on the rise in South Florida

A state physician database shows that South Florida has become the nation's capital for doctors without medical malpractice insurance, leaving patients at risk of getting little financial help for care after a medical error. Nearly one-quarter of doctors in Broward and Palm Beach counties, and one-eighth statewide, opt out of malpractice insurance under a state law that lets them go without coverage. Florida laws has allowed doctors to go without malpractice coverage for decades. Critics say the law raises the chances patients cannot collect enough money in court to cover medical bills from physician mistakes. Also, malpractice victims and lawyers are less likely to sue doctors who don't carry insurance, experts say.