Florida Senate - 2017                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 46
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì252732ÉÎ252732                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/28/2017           .                                
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       The Committee on Judiciary (Montford) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 76 - 95
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 2. The City of Miami is authorized and directed to
    6  appropriate from funds not otherwise encumbered and to draw a
    7  warrant in the sum of $2,300,000 payable to Marilyn Jelks, as
    8  legal guardian of Mary Mifflin-Gee. This sum shall be placed in
    9  the Special Needs Trust created for the exclusive use and
   10  benefit of Mary Mifflin-Gee, to compensate her for injuries and
   11  damages sustained as a result of the negligence of employees of
   12  the City of Miami.
   13         Section 3. The amount paid by the City of Miami pursuant to
   14  s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amount awarded under this
   15  act are intended to provide the sole compensation for all
   16  present and future claims arising out of the factual situation
   17  described in this act which resulted in injuries and damages to
   18  Mary Mifflin-Gee. The total amount paid for attorney fees
   19  relating to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the amount
   20  awarded under this act.
   21  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   22  And the title is amended as follows:
   23         Delete lines 68 - 70
   24  and insert:
   25         An act for the relief of Mary Mifflin-Gee by the City
   26         of Miami; providing for an appropriation to compensate
   27         her for injuries and damages sustained as a result of
   28         the negligence of employees of the City of Miami
   29         Department of Fire-Rescue; providing a limitation on
   30         the payment of attorney fees; providing an effective
   31         date.
   32  
   33         WHEREAS, on October 25, 2012, Mary Mifflin-Gee was in her
   34  vehicle located in a parking lot at 1498 NW 54th Street in Miami
   35  when, according to eyewitness statements, she exhibited seizure
   36  like symptoms and foamed from the mouth, and
   37         WHEREAS, a call was placed to 911, and paramedics Eric
   38  Hough, Marc Alexandre, and Steven Mason of the City of Miami
   39  Department of Fire-Rescue responded to treat Mary Mifflin-Gee,
   40  and
   41         WHEREAS, the fire rescue personnel removed Mary Mifflin-Gee
   42  from her vehicle, and, even though it is a basic Emergency
   43  Medical Technician (EMT) requirement to secure an unconscious
   44  patient to the gurney with the seatbelt, the fire rescue
   45  personnel placed Mary Mifflin-Gee on a gurney without securing
   46  her with the seatbelt and attempted to transfer her into the
   47  ambulance, and
   48         WHEREAS, because of the fire personnel’s failure to follow
   49  the basic EMT requirement, Mary Mifflin-Gee fell off the gurney
   50  and struck her head and, as a result, suffered a severe
   51  traumatic brain injury, and
   52         WHEREAS, Mary Mifflin-Gee was transported to Jackson
   53  Memorial Hospital, where she underwent a left craniectomy and
   54  cranioplasty as well as a posttraumatic hydrocephalus
   55  ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement for her head injury, and
   56         WHEREAS, Mary Mifflin-Gee became tracheostomy dependent and
   57  suffered numerous complications, such as dysphagia,
   58  hypertension, anemia of chronic disease, acute renal failure,
   59  respiratory distress, urinary tract infections, rectal bleeding,
   60  and deep vein thrombosis, and
   61         WHEREAS, Mary Mifflin-Gee was transferred to Jackson
   62  Memorial Long-Term Care Center, where she now depends on nursing
   63  staff for all daily activities and all levels of care and
   64  remains in a persistent vegetative state, and
   65         WHEREAS, Mary Mifflin-Gee was treated by Dr. Craig
   66  Lichtblau, a specialist certified by the American Board of
   67  Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, who determined that she is
   68  93 percent impaired as a result of the accident in question and
   69  that her future medical care will cost several million dollars,
   70  and
   71         WHEREAS, additionally, Mary Mifflin-Gee’s past medical
   72  expenses amount to $1,168,857.93, and
   73         WHEREAS, before the accident, Mary Mifflin-Gee lived alone,
   74  had no significant health issues, and was completely
   75  independent, and
   76         WHEREAS, Marilyn Jelks, as legal guardian of the person and
   77  property of Mary Mifflin-Gee, filed a claim and lawsuit against
   78  the City of Miami in the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial
   79  Circuit of Florida, Case No. 13-026644 CA 01, for compensation
   80  for the injuries, alleging negligence in the care and treatment
   81  by the EMT workers who attended to Mary Mifflin-Gee, and
   82         WHEREAS, mediation was conducted on February 6, 2015, and
   83  the case was settled for $2.5 million, and
   84         WHEREAS, the insurance company of the City of Miami,
   85  Lloyd’s of London, which has a policy that provides for a
   86  $500,000 self-insured retention before the company is
   87  responsible for any excess amount, has agreed to pay $2 million,
   88  and
   89         WHEREAS, the City of Miami has agreed to pay $200,000 in
   90  satisfaction of the sovereign immunity limits under s. 768.28,
   91  Florida Statutes, NOW, THEREFORE,