This story about a pediatrician in Florida is really inspiring. It is also sobering because it reveals what is at stake in medical malpractice expenses.

Funds to serve patients without insurance — for free or for a fee of $10, $15 or $20 — come from One by One Leadership Foundation of Southwest Florida, a faith-based, nonprofit organization. The pediatric clinic receives at least $1,000 a month from them, Villarosa says.

Florida Community Bank, which has headquarters in Immokalee, has been paying his medical malpractice insurance premiums for the past two years. This year, he received more $12,000.

The board felt that they needed to support Villarosa, says Steve Price, chairman of the board and CEO of the bank.

“Dr. V is an outstanding pediatrician and Immokalee desperately needs him,” Price says. “He is not only a good doctor, but a man who has a good heart.”

Father Patrick O’Connor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish echoes Price’s sentiments, commending Villarosa for giving up what could have been a “very lucrative career” to serve the poor community.

“I think he’s a wonderful role model,” O’Connor says, adding that Villarosa is both a doctor of the body and of the spirit.

That fits with Villarosa’s personal mission: He serves God by treating children, he says. Villarosa, who was born in Virginia and raised in the Philippines, treats children with a mission to serve God (emphasis added).

That is a straightforward example of how medical malpractice costs affect a doctor’s ability to work.  And they are affected by the threat of a lawsuit. Looking at the doctor’s practice, I doubt anyone is going to claim that he would be less careful with his patients if he didn’t have litigation to threaten him. No, he is already dedicated to his patients’ welfare.

The threat of litigation simply makes is more expensive for him to practice medicine. No one benefits from that.