Bill Text: FL S0016 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relief/Harris & Williams/N. Broward Hospital Dist.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-06 - Placed on Special Order Calendar, 05/06/11 [S0016 Detail]

Download: Florida-2011-S0016-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2011                              (NP)    SB 16
       
       
       
       By Senator Ring
       
       
       
       
       32-00035-11                                             201116__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act for the relief of Laron S. Harris, Jr., by and
    3         through his parents, Melinda Williams and Laron S.
    4         Harris, Sr., and Melinda Williams and Laron S. Harris,
    5         Sr., individually, by the North Broward Hospital
    6         District, d/b/a Coral Springs Medical Center;
    7         providing for an appropriation to compensate them for
    8         injuries sustained as a result of the negligence of
    9         the Coral Springs Medical Center; providing a
   10         limitation on the payment of fees and costs; providing
   11         an effective date.
   12  
   13         WHEREAS, Laron S. Harris, Jr., was born at the Coral
   14  Springs Medical Center on April 1, 2003, suffering from severe
   15  perinatal asphyxia and severe hypoperfusion, and has significant
   16  brain damage as a result of those conditions, and
   17         WHEREAS, Laron’s mother, Melinda Williams, who was
   18  approximately 8 months pregnant, arrived by ambulance at the
   19  medical center at or around 5:45 a.m. on April 1, 2003, and was
   20  bleeding significantly and having abdominal pain, and
   21         WHEREAS, at 7:55 a.m., Dr. Richard Spira performed an
   22  ultrasound and strongly suspected that a placental abruption had
   23  occurred and recommended that another sonogram be performed in
   24  the ultrasound department of the medical center, and
   25         WHEREAS, at 8:45 a.m., a registered nurse performed a
   26  bedside ultrasound on Ms. Williams using a portable ultrasound
   27  machine rather than the more reliable ultrasound equipment
   28  recommended by Dr. Spira in the ultrasound department, and
   29         WHEREAS, Ms. Williams was not taken to the ultrasound
   30  department for the further examinations as requested by Dr.
   31  Spira until after 9:20 a.m., and
   32         WHEREAS, Ms. Williams finally was sent to the operating
   33  room at 9:45 a.m. for an emergency cesarean section that was
   34  performed by Dr. Desouza; however, the surgery, which showed
   35  that the placenta was 40 to 50 percent abrupt, did not begin
   36  until 10:14 a.m., and
   37         WHEREAS, the injuries Laron sustained were foreseeable and
   38  preventable and the medical center had a duty to prevent his
   39  injuries, and
   40         WHEREAS, the medical center breached its duties to Laron
   41  and Ms. Williams by failing to timely diagnose the existence of
   42  the placental abruption and to timely perform an emergency
   43  cesarean section upon diagnosing the placental abruption, and
   44         WHEREAS, if the doctors at the medical center had promptly
   45  diagnosed the placental abruption and timely performed the
   46  emergency cesarean section, Laron most likely would not have
   47  suffered from severe perinatal asphyxia and would not have
   48  developed permanent neurological damage, and
   49         WHEREAS, Laron S. Harris, Jr., and his parents Melinda
   50  Williams and Laron S. Harris, Sr., filed a lawsuit against the
   51  North Broward Hospital District, d/b/a Coral Springs Medical
   52  Center, which was resolved through a mediated consent judgment
   53  for the sum of $2.2 million, the payment of $200,000 authorized
   54  by the state’s limited waiver of sovereign immunity under s.
   55  768.28, Florida Statutes, and an agreement to support a claim
   56  bill for the remaining amount of $2 million, NOW, THEREFORE,
   57  
   58  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   59  
   60         Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
   61  found and declared to be true.
   62         Section 2. The North Broward Hospital District, d/b/a Coral
   63  Springs Medical Center, is authorized and directed to
   64  appropriate from funds of the district not otherwise
   65  appropriated and to draw a warrant in the sum of $2 million
   66  payable to Laron S. Harris, Jr., by and through his parents
   67  Melinda Williams and Laron S. Harris, Sr., and to Melinda
   68  Williams and Laron S. Harris, Sr., individually, as compensation
   69  for injuries and damages sustained.
   70         Section 3. The amount paid by the North Broward Hospital
   71  District pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and this award
   72  are intended to provide the sole compensation for all present
   73  and future claims arising out of the factual situation that
   74  resulted in the injuries to Laron S. Harris, Jr., and his
   75  parents Melinda Williams and Laron S. Harris, Sr. The total
   76  amount paid for attorney’s fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other
   77  similar expenses relating to this claim may not exceed 25
   78  percent of the amount awarded under this act.
   79         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.