A doctor’s negligence nearly killed me and left me $175,000 in debt. In most other states her malpractice insurance would have covered any costs but in Florida doctors aren’t required to carry it, putting patients lives and livelihoods at risk.

On January 11, 2013, I had surgery at the Office of Dr. Amaryllis Pascual. During the next 5 days, I began to feel ill, to the point that I thought I was going to die. When I finally checked into an emergency room, a CT scan revealed that Dr. Pascual had perforated my intestines and colon. It took two operations to save my life. Due to Dr. Pascual’s negligence I spent an extra 21 days in the hospital. The surgeons told me that if I had not gone to the ER, I would have died at home that evening.

My doctor — who forewent traditional malpractice insurance — was legally required to “self insure” herself by putting up collateral  assets of at least $100,000. But trickily she has avoided all obligations by filing for bankruptcy. Now, my insurance company refuses to cover my hospital stay and because Dr. Pascual has filed bankruptcy I have nowhere to turn and am left swimming in a sea of debt.

I am asking the state of Florida to require doctors to retain no less than $250,000 of malpractice insurance. Florida’s patients deserve protection from medical negligence and irresponsible physicians. Please join me.

I have fought very hard for the last two years to stay alive but Dr. Pascual’s unethical and deceitful practices just make me want to give up. I once had a nearly perfect credit score and now I may have to file for bankruptcy myself to protect myself from creditors whose money I relied on pay my hospital bills.

We will all have to trust a doctor at some point. Hopefully that medical professional will be responsible and have our best interest in mind when they treat us. But Florida makes it easy for those doctors who cut corners to get away with an astonishing amount of negligence with little or no consequences. This isn’t right.

Please join me in telling the State of Florida to require doctors to carry malpractice insurance. When you go under the knife, the last thing you should worry about is your pocketbook.