Senate Bill 0004er
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1999 Legislature SB 4, 1st Engrossed
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2 An act for the relief of Joseph Bellamy Farver;
3 providing an appropriation to compensate him
4 for injuries and damages sustained as a result
5 of the negligence of the Department of Children
6 and Family Services, formerly the Department of
7 Health and Rehabilitative Services; providing
8 for reimbursement of all unreimbursed medical
9 payments made by Medicaid up to the date that
10 this bill becomes a law; providing an effective
11 date.
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13 WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver was born Joseph Bellamy
14 on May 16, 1985, at Broward General Medical Center in Broward
15 County, Florida, and
16 WHEREAS, although Joseph Bellamy was healthy and normal
17 and was seen by pediatricians as he met his normal development
18 goals for the first three to five months of his life, Joseph
19 Bellamy's parents possessed borderline intelligence levels,
20 were emotionally unstable, and could not handle their son, and
21 WHEREAS, it became evident to friends and neighbors of
22 the Bellamy family that Joseph Bellamy was abused, and
23 WHEREAS, between August 1985 and November 1985,
24 twenty-seven phone calls were placed to the State of Florida
25 Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services regarding
26 Joseph Bellamy, and on all occasions the Department of Health
27 and Rehabilitative Services failed to protect Joseph Bellamy
28 from child abuse, as was their duty and responsibility, and
29 WHEREAS, on October 22, 1985, the Department of Health
30 and Rehabilitative Services received a telephone call
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1999 Legislature SB 4, 1st Engrossed
1 informing them that Joseph Bellamy had been slapped, hit,
2 picked up by one arm, and thrown across a bed, and
3 WHEREAS, in response to the call, the Department of
4 Health and Rehabilitative Services did nothing, and
5 WHEREAS, the rules and regulations of the former
6 Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services required the
7 department to conduct a home visit pursuant to such a call and
8 that the child be seen within 24 hours of the receipt of a
9 telephone call by the department alleging child abuse, and
10 WHEREAS, on November 6, 1985, Joseph Bellamy was
11 admitted to Broward General Medical Center with bruises all
12 over his body, having been shaken, having been brain-damaged
13 to the point where he had retinal hemorrhages, hemorrhages in
14 his eyes, a brain hemorrhage, and being in a coma as a result
15 of physical abuse inflicted by his parents, and
16 WHEREAS, the former Department of Health and
17 Rehabilitative Services knew or should have known that such
18 injuries would occur to Joseph Bellamy because they received
19 telephone calls from friends and relatives of Joseph Bellamy,
20 including Joseph Bellamy's grandparents, informing the
21 department that "the parents were retarded," and
22 WHEREAS, it is clear that the former Department of
23 Health and Rehabilitative Services, its investigators, and its
24 counselors should have performed their duty by removing Joseph
25 Bellamy from the Bellamy home, thus protecting Joseph Bellamy
26 from abuse, beatings, and brain damage, and
27 WHEREAS, had Joseph Bellamy been taken into protective
28 custody, the terrible physical problems from which he now
29 suffers would never have occurred, and
30 WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver will suffer severe
31 neurological medical conditions for the remainder of his life,
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1999 Legislature SB 4, 1st Engrossed
1 as well as other irreversible and permanent medical
2 conditions, and
3 WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver has bilateral subdural
4 hematomas, left parietal intraparenchymal hemorrhage, and
5 subarachnoid hemorrhages, and
6 WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver has a communicating
7 hydrocephalus with a post right ventricular peritoneal shunt,
8 and
9 WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver has a seizure disorder,
10 secondary to his head injury, and
11 WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver has multiple
12 contractures of his heel cords, his hamstrings, his hips, and
13 his elbows, and
14 WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver is profoundly retarded
15 but capable of interacting and showing emotions and responses,
16 and
17 WHEREAS, the number of seizures which Joseph Bellamy
18 Farver experiences are increasing, and
19 WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver takes 30-milligram
20 tablets of phenobarbital five times a day for his seizures,
21 and
22 WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver takes 2 milligrams of
23 valium for assistance in sleeping, and
24 WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver also takes 125
25 milligrams of valporic acid four times a day, and
26 WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver receives physical
27 therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy on a daily
28 basis at school, and is seen on a routine basis by a
29 pediatrician, a neurologist, an orthopedist, and a
30 neurosurgeon, and
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1999 Legislature SB 4, 1st Engrossed
1 WHEREAS, following the final incident of abuse against
2 Joseph Bellamy, Joseph Bellamy became a ward of the State of
3 Florida, and
4 WHEREAS, in 1993, Joseph Bellamy was adopted by Jeffrey
5 and Helen Farver, who reside in Panama City, and
6 WHEREAS, his adoptive parents care for him in his
7 present condition, which requires that they tend to his every
8 need, which is a full-time undertaking and requires more
9 resources than they can afford, and
10 WHEREAS, a lawsuit was brought against the State of
11 Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services on
12 behalf of Joseph Bellamy Farver by his court-appointed
13 guardian ad litem, and
14 WHEREAS, after a lengthy jury trial, the jury found the
15 Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services liable for
16 Joseph Bellamy Farver's injuries and awarded him damages in
17 the amount of $7,000,000, and
18 WHEREAS, the Department of Health and Rehabilitative
19 Services did not appeal the verdict, and has paid $100,000
20 pursuant to the statutory limits of liability set forth in
21 section 768.28, Florida Statutes, NOW, THEREFORE,
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23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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25 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this
26 act are found and declared to be true.
27 Section 2. There is appropriated from nonrecurring
28 general revenue the sum of $4,500,000 to be paid as relief to
29 Joseph Bellamy Farver for injuries and damages sustained.
30 Section 3. The Comptroller shall draw a warrant from
31 nonrecurring general revenue in the sum of $4,500,000 payable
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1999 Legislature SB 4, 1st Engrossed
1 to Helen and Jeff Farver, parents and legal guardians of
2 Joseph Bellamy Farver, to be placed in the Trust created for
3 the benefit of Joseph Bellamy Farver, a minor, to compensate
4 him for injuries and damages sustained. Upon the death of
5 Joseph Bellamy Farver, the Trust balance shall revert to the
6 general revenue of the State of Florida pursuant to the terms
7 of the Trust agreement.
8 Section 4. The governmental entity responsible for
9 payment of the warrant shall pay to the Florida Agency for
10 Health Care Administration the amount due under section
11 409.910, Florida Statutes, prior to disbursing any funds to
12 the claimant. The amount due to the agency shall be equal to
13 all unreimbursed medical payments paid by Medicaid up to the
14 date that this bill becomes a law.
15 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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