HB 0929

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The Committee on Judiciary recommends the following:
2
3	Committee Substitute
4	Remove the entire bill and insert:
5
6	A bill to be entitled
7	An act for the relief of Cindy Haider, wife of Jeffrey
8	Haider, deceased, Alan Haider, adult dependent child of
9	Jeffrey Haider, deceased, Max Haider, adult child of
10	Jeffrey Haider, deceased, Jonathan Haider, adult child of
11	Jeffrey Haider, deceased, and Jessica Haider, adult child
12	of Jeffrey Haider, deceased, by the South Broward Hospital
13	District; providing for an appropriation to compensate
14	them for injuries and damages sustained as a result of the
15	negligence of the South Broward Hospital District;
16	providing for the establishment of trusts and requirements
17	with respect thereto; providing for attorney's fees and
18	costs; providing an effective date.
19
20	WHEREAS, in May 2000, Jeffrey Haider, a 45-year-old man,
21	began experiencing headaches, vomiting, fatigue, dizziness, and
22	behavioral changes such as difficulty concentrating and
23	confusion, and
24	WHEREAS, as a result of these symptoms, Jeffrey Haider saw
25	several health care providers over a period of several weeks,
26	and
27	WHEREAS, an MRI of Jeffrey Haider was taken on May 31,
28	2000, and
29	WHEREAS, a radiologist and a neurologist determined that
30	Jeffrey Haider had a large mass within the right temporal lobe
31	which was 7 x 5 centimeters in size, and
32	WHEREAS, the mass was diagnosed as a brain tumor and
33	Jeffrey Haider was referred to a neurosurgeon, and
34	WHEREAS, the neurosurgeon who examined Jeffrey Haider
35	agreed that the patient had a right temporal lobe tumor and
36	recommended a craniotomy for resection of the tumor, and
37	WHEREAS, the procedure was performed on June 5, 2000, and
38	once the incisions in the area of the middle cerebral artery
39	were made, massive bleeding occurred, with blood gushing out of
40	Jeffrey Haider's incisions under pulsating pressure, and
41	WHEREAS, at this point the neurosurgeon realized that the
42	diagnosis of a tumor was incorrect and that Jeffrey Haider had
43	an aneurysm, and
44	WHEREAS, in fact, the neurosurgeon notes in his operative
45	report that "at this point, we felt that this probably was an
46	aneurysm. I brought in the radiologist who felt that, in
47	retrospect, this was a possibility," and
48	WHEREAS, an aneurysm is a permanent, abnormally blood-
49	filled dilation of a blood vessel, usually resulting from the
50	disease of a vessel wall, and it is common medical knowledge
51	that puncturing an aneurysm is the incorrect treatment for a
52	cerebral aneurysm, and
53	WHEREAS, the surgeon and the radiologist then summoned an
54	interventional radiologist who performed an angiogram, a
55	procedure that should have been ordered prior to the operation,
56	and
57	WHEREAS, the intraoperative angiogram revealed a giant
58	aneurysm filling from the right middle cerebral artery, and
59	WHEREAS, in an instance of further negligence on the part
60	of the South Broward Hospital District, the neurosurgeon did not
61	repair Jeffrey Haider's middle cerebral artery, but instead
62	controlled the bleeding from the aneurysm for about 45 minutes
63	and then closed the dura and the skull, and then sent Jeffrey
64	Haider to the intensive care unit "with the idea of reoperating
65	at a later time," and
66	WHEREAS, however, within hours, Jeffrey Haider was
67	exhibiting dangerous neurological symptoms and was in need of
68	immediate repair of the aneurysm, and
69	WHEREAS, on June 6, 2000, the repair surgery was commenced,
70	and
71	WHEREAS, when Jeffrey Haider's skull was reopened the brain
72	was noted to be "extremely swollen" and the "aneurysm was
73	causing tremendous pressure on the brain and herniating through
74	the craniotomy," and
75	WHEREAS, at that point the neurosurgeon compounded Jeffrey
76	Haider's condition by tearing off the M1 artery from the
77	junction of the aneurysm and the M2 artery so that he was unable
78	to perform an anastomosis to repair and join the arteries, and
79	WHEREAS, Dr. Rodriquez, the neurosurgeon, states in his
80	operative report that "the larger M2 (artery), and even the
81	other one, were essentially on the aneurysm bulbous dilation and
82	I could not bring them together to do an anastomosis," and
83	WHEREAS, Jeffrey Haider and his family suffered
84	astronomical economic and noneconomic damages as a result of the
85	treatment he received from the South Broward Hospital District,
86	and
87	WHEREAS, Jeffrey Haider was in a chronic vegetative state
88	and required 7-day-a-week, around-the-clock care until his death
89	on January 1, 2004, NOW, THEREFORE,
90
91	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
92
93	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
94	are found and declared to be true.
95	Section 2.  The South Broward Hospital District is
96	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the
97	district not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in
98	favor of Cindy Haider, wife of Jeffrey Haider, deceased; Alan
99	Haider, adult dependent child of Jeffrey Haider, deceased; Max
100	Haider, adult child of Jeffrey Haider, deceased; Jonathan
101	Haider, adult child of Jeffrey Haider, deceased; and Jessica
102	Haider, adult child of Jeffrey Haider, deceased, in the sum of
103	$3,800,000 plus liquidated interest of $46,437 for a total of
104	$3,846,437, as agreed to by the claimants and the district, as
105	compensation for injuries and damages sustained as a result of
106	the negligence of employees of the South Broward Hospital
107	District. After payment of costs and attorney's fees as limited
108	by section 768.28(8), Florida Statutes, payments shall be
109	distributed as follows:
110	(1)  Sixty percent to be paid to Cindy Haider.
111	(2)  Ten percent to be paid to the trust account
112	established for Alan Haider pursuant to section 3.
113	(3)  Ten percent to be paid to the trust account
114	established for Max Haider pursuant to section 3.
115	(4)  Ten percent to be paid to the trust account
116	established for Jonathan Haider pursuant to section 3.
117	(5)  Ten percent to be paid to the trust account
118	established for Jessica Haider pursuant to section 3.
119	Section 3.  Alan Haider, Max Haider, Jonathan Haider,
120	Jessica Haider, and their respective attorneys shall be
121	required, as a condition of payment under section 2, to nominate
122	either a financial institution doing business in Florida or an
123	independent individual who is not related to the claimants by
124	either blood, marriage, or contract and who possesses financial
125	and trust management experience to act as a trustee for an
126	irrevocable inter vivos trust established for the benefit of
127	each respective claimant. The proceeds to be paid to Alan
128	Haider, Max Haider, Jonathan Haider, and Jessica Haider pursuant
129	to section 2 shall be placed in separate irrevocable inter vivos
130	trusts, to be used solely for the health care, support,
131	maintenance, and education of each respective claimant until the
132	claimant is 30 years of age. The trustee must take into
133	consideration any other resources and income of the beneficiary
134	of a trust before disbursing any funds from the trust to the
135	beneficiary.
136	Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.