Florida Senate - 2010 (NP) SB 64 By Senator Wilson 33-00202-10 201064__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act for the relief of Charles Pandrea by the North 3 Broward Hospital District; providing for an 4 appropriation to compensate Charles Pandrea, husband 5 of Janet Pandrea, for the death of Janet Pandrea as a 6 result of the negligence of the North Broward Hospital 7 District; providing a limitation on the payment of 8 fees and costs; providing an effective date. 9 10 WHEREAS, Janet Pandrea died on April 2, 2002, in Broward 11 County as a result of the treatment that she received for non 12 Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a disease that she did not have, and 13 WHEREAS, the Coral Springs Medical Center, part of the 14 North Broward Hospital District, by and through its pathologist, 15 Peter Tsivis, M.D., breached the applicable standard of care by 16 and through his diagnosis and interpretation of certain slides 17 as being consistent with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, when the tissue 18 was a benign thymoma, and 19 WHEREAS, based upon the misdiagnosis of the benign thymoma 20 as cancer, Janet Pandrea was subsequently treated with multiple 21 rounds of chemotherapy to which she had adverse reactions, which 22 led to multiple complications and her eventual demise, and 23 WHEREAS, Charles Pandrea was married to Janet Pandrea on 24 May 19, 1956, and they had four children together during the 25 course of their 46-year marriage, and 26 WHEREAS, Charles Pandrea is suffering from the tragic 27 memories of the suffering of his wife from complications from 28 chemotherapy and her prolonged hospital stay and eventual 29 demise, which were related to the initial misdiagnosis, and 30 WHEREAS, Charles Pandrea will continue to suffer mental 31 pain and anguish for the remainder of his life, which has caused 32 and will continue to cause serious psychological problems for 33 him, and 34 WHEREAS, as a matter of law, a jury in Broward County 35 returned a verdict against North Broward Hospital District on 36 June 8, 2005, and the verdict was reduced to a final judgment in 37 the amount of $808,554.78 on June 15, 2005, and 38 WHEREAS, as a matter of law, it was determined that neither 39 Charles Pandrea nor Janet Pandrea did anything to cause or 40 contribute to the cause of the losses and injuries complained 41 of, and 42 WHEREAS, the North Broward Hospital District has paid the 43 statutory limit of $200,000 under s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, 44 and 45 WHEREAS, the North Broward Hospital District is responsible 46 for paying the remainder of the judgment, which is $608,554.78, 47 NOW, THEREFORE, 48 49 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 50 51 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are 52 found and declared to be true. 53 Section 2. The North Broward Hospital District is 54 authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the 55 district not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in the 56 sum of $608,554.78, payable to Charles Pandrea, husband of Janet 57 Pandrea, deceased, as compensation for the death of Janet 58 Pandrea as a result of the negligence of the North Broward 59 Hospital District. 60 Section 3. The amount paid by the North Broward Hospital 61 District pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amount 62 awarded under this act are intended to provide the sole 63 compensation for all present and future claims arising out of 64 the factual situation described in this act which resulted in 65 the death of Janet Pandrea. The total amount paid for attorney’s 66 fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other similar expenses relating 67 to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the amount awarded 68 under this act. 69 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.