Bill Text: FL S0034 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relief of Jamiyah, Latricia, and Jerald Mitchell/South Broward Hospital District

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-04-30 - Died in Special Master on Claim Bills [S0034 Detail]

Download: Florida-2021-S0034-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2021                              (NP)    SB 34
       
       
        
       By Senator Diaz
       
       
       
       
       
       36-00078-21                                             202134__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act for the relief of Jamiyah Mitchell, Latricia
    3         Mitchell, and Jerald Mitchell by the South Broward
    4         Hospital District; providing an appropriation to
    5         compensate them for injuries and damages sustained as
    6         a result of the negligence of the South Broward
    7         Hospital District; providing a limitation on the
    8         payment of attorney fees; providing an effective date.
    9  
   10         WHEREAS, on October 8, 2008, Latricia Mitchell, who was
   11  pregnant, went to Memorial Hospital West, operated by the South
   12  Broward Hospital District, with pain, vaginal bleeding, and
   13  contractions, and
   14         WHEREAS, fetal monitoring tracings, which began at 4:33
   15  p.m., reflected a fetal tachycardia, minimal fetal heart rate
   16  variability, and the absence of accelerations, and
   17         WHEREAS, at approximately 5:54 p.m., Mrs. Mitchell was
   18  admitted to Memorial Hospital West, and
   19         WHEREAS, medical records reflect that at 6:29 p.m.,
   20  continued fetal tachycardia, minimal fetal heart rate
   21  variability, the absence of accelerations, and variable
   22  decelerations were present, and
   23         WHEREAS, the minimal variability and absence of
   24  acceleration observations continued until approximately 8:44
   25  p.m., when Jamiyah Mitchell was finally delivered by caesarean
   26  section, and
   27         WHEREAS, the hospital’s records indicate the caesarean
   28  section was performed due to a nonreassuring fetal heart rate,
   29  and
   30         WHEREAS, upon Jamiyah’s birth, there was a presence of
   31  meconium-stained fluids, a sign of fetal asphyxiation, and her
   32  Apgar score was 3 out of 10, and
   33         WHEREAS, Jamiyah suffered a left hemisphere stroke, began
   34  having seizures immediately at birth, and was cared for in the
   35  neonatal intensive care unit for 7 days after her birth for
   36  respiratory distress and seizure activity, and
   37         WHEREAS, Jamiyah was also diagnosed with fetal hypoxic
   38  ischemic encephalopathy, and magnetic resonance imaging of her
   39  brain at 4 days old showed objective findings of a stroke in the
   40  left hemisphere of the brain and a hemorrhage of the occipital
   41  horn of the right lateral ventricle, and
   42         WHEREAS, today, Jamiyah Mitchell is 11 years old and, while
   43  she is able to walk and function in most aspects of everyday
   44  life for an average girl her age, she suffers from attention
   45  deficit/hyperactivity disorder and has a learning disability,
   46  and
   47         WHEREAS, on or about October 10, 2013, Latricia Mitchell
   48  and Jerald Mitchell, Mrs. Mitchell’s spouse and Jamiyah’s
   49  father, individually and on behalf of Jamiyah Mitchell, filed a
   50  legal action in the Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit,
   51  in and for Broward County, Case No. 14-005044, against the South
   52  Broward Hospital District and other parties, alleging, in part,
   53  negligence of the district in failing to establish adequate
   54  protocols and procedures for the admission, monitoring,
   55  evaluation, testing, and referral to medical specialists of
   56  mothers presenting with risk factors for fetal distress,
   57  including timely caesarean section and appropriate oxygenation
   58  and ventilation, and
   59         WHEREAS, on or about July 3, 2019, the Mitchells and the
   60  South Broward Hospital District entered into a settlement
   61  agreement, and
   62         WHEREAS, the settlement agreement provides for the payment
   63  of $200,000 by the South Broward Hospital District to the
   64  Mitchells pursuant to the statutory limit under s. 768.28,
   65  Florida Statutes; the entry of a consent judgment in the amount
   66  of $995,000 which limits execution to $795,000; and the South
   67  Broward Hospital District’s agreement that it supports a claim
   68  bill in the amount of $795,000, NOW, THEREFORE,
   69  
   70  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   71  
   72         Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
   73  found and declared to be true.
   74         Section 2. The South Broward Hospital District is
   75  authorized and directed to appropriate from funds not otherwise
   76  encumbered and to draw a warrant in the sum of $795,000 payable
   77  to Jamiyah Mitchell, Latricia Mitchell, and Jerald Mitchell as
   78  compensation for injuries and damages sustained.
   79         Section 3. The amount paid by the South Broward Hospital
   80  District pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amount
   81  awarded under this act are intended to provide the sole
   82  compensation for all present and future claims arising out of
   83  the factual situation described in this act which resulted in
   84  injuries and damages to Jamiyah Mitchell, Latricia Mitchell, and
   85  Jerald Mitchell. The total amount paid for attorney fees
   86  relating to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the amount
   87  awarded under this act.
   88         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.