Florida Hospital Wins Relief in Suit Over Child Abuse Reporting

A Florida appeals court reversed a $200 million verdict against a hospital that allegedly refused to release a child to her parents after reporting suspected child abuse to state authorities.

The immunity provision of a state law designating hospitals as mandatory reporters barred nearly every claim made against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Inc. by Maya and Jack Kowalski. That’s because the hospital participated in good faith in implementing dependency court shelter orders following an investigation of its suspicions, the Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District, said Wednesday.

The statutory scheme was intended to encourage reporting entities to help ...