HB 1021

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Adam Susser by the North Broward
3	Hospital District; providing for the relief of Adam
4	Susser, a minor, by and through his parents and natural
5	guardians, Judith Susser and Gary Susser; providing for an
6	appropriation to compensate him for injuries and damages
7	sustained as a result of the negligence of the North
8	Broward Hospital District, d.b.a. Coral Springs Medical
9	Center; providing an effective date.
10
11	WHEREAS, in July 2000, Gary Susser, a lawyer, and his wife,
12	Judith Susser, a paralegal, were residing in Boca Raton,
13	Florida, and
14	WHEREAS, prior to her marriage to Gary Susser, Judith
15	Susser was unable to have children, and
16	WHEREAS, after their marriage, Judith and Gary Susser badly
17	wanted to have children, despite the fact that Judith Susser was
18	47 years of age, and
19	WHEREAS, Judith Susser went to a fertility expert and was
20	finally able to become pregnant through in vitro fertilization,
21	and
22	WHEREAS, prenatal tests revealed that Judith Susser was
23	pregnant with twins, and consequently Judith and Gary Susser
24	were looking forward to the birth of their twin boys, and
25	WHEREAS, Judith and Gary Susser sought out high-risk
26	pregnancy experts who could guide them through Judith Susser's
27	pregnancy in order to ensure that her pregnancy progressed
28	safely and without complications, and
29	WHEREAS, Judith Susser kept all of her appointments and
30	complied with all orders by her physicians, and
31	WHEREAS, at approximately 34 weeks gestation, Judith
32	Susser's membrane on the sac holding Adam Susser ruptured, and
33	WHEREAS, Gary Susser immediately took his wife to the Coral
34	Springs Medical Center where, on July 6, 2000, she was admitted
35	by her obstetrician's office and where she remained until her
36	discharge on July 12, 2000, and
37	WHEREAS, during the admission, a high-risk perinatal
38	expert, Dr. Christine Edwards, as well as Dr. Kerry Kuhn and Dr.
39	Carrie Greenspan, Dr. Kuhn's partner, also saw Judith Susser,
40	and
41	WHEREAS, despite a nonreassuring fetal heart pattern and
42	despite the fact that the nurses kept having difficulties
43	getting the fetal monitoring to perform properly, the pregnancy
44	was allowed to continue for 4 and 1/2 days, with the nurses
45	never reporting the abnormal test results or the difficulties
46	they were having with the fetal monitoring equipment to the
47	physicians, and
48	WHEREAS, two days into Judith Susser's labor, a biophysical
49	profile was ordered to be performed by Dr. Edwards, and
50	WHEREAS, that biophysical profile yielded abnormal
51	indications and, although they were not reported by the nurses,
52	the obstetricians were aware of the abnormal results, and
53	WHEREAS, despite this, the obstetricians allowed Judith
54	Susser's labor to continue, and
55	WHEREAS, finally, on the early morning of the fifth day of
56	labor, Judith Susser was taken to the operating room for
57	delivery, and
58	WHEREAS, the physician in charge was insistent on
59	performing a vaginal delivery despite all the obvious needs for
60	an emergency cesarean section, and
61	WHEREAS, when Dr. Kuhn reached the delivery room, he asked
62	for fetal monitoring to be commenced and the nurses indicated
63	that they could not bring the fetal monitoring machine into the
64	delivery room because they did not have a fetal monitor for
65	twins available, and
66	WHEREAS, Gary Susser then asked the nurses to get the fetal
67	monitoring machine from the room that Judith Susser had
68	previously been in for 4 days, which demand was also made by Dr.
69	Kuhn, and the nurses said they could not remove the monitoring
70	machine from the wall, and
71	WHEREAS, for the next hour there was only manual monitoring
72	of Adam Susser, and Dr. Kuhn continued to wait, and
73	WHEREAS, on July 10, 2000, Adam Susser was born by vaginal
74	delivery, and
75	WHEREAS, tragically, as a result of the extraordinary and
76	egregious malpractice by the physicians and nurses at the Coral
77	Springs Medical Center, Adam Susser was born severely depressed
78	and oxygen-deprived, which led to severe brain damage, and
79	WHEREAS, Adam Susser cannot walk and will never be able to
80	walk, cannot sit up on his own, cannot use his hands or arms, is
81	cortically blind, needs to be fed through a feeding tube, and is
82	severely mentally and physically impaired, and
83	WHEREAS, though by all accounts Adam Susser will have a
84	normal life expectancy, which means that he should live into his
85	70's, Adam Susser will require medical care and treatment for
86	the remainder of his life, and
87	WHEREAS, the negligent care administered by the Coral
88	Springs Medical Center formed the basis of legal action against
89	the North Broward Hospital District, d.b.a. Coral Springs
90	Medical Center, and
91	WHEREAS, the matter was settled prior to trial with the
92	overall settlement amount being $9.8 million, and
93	WHEREAS, the hospital's private insurer, the Zurich
94	Insurance Company, paid the claimants the amount of
95	$3,831,218.04 on behalf of the North Broward Hospital District,
96	and
97	WHEREAS, the North Broward Hospital District paid $200,000
98	for the benefit of Adam Susser pursuant to the limits of
99	liability set forth in section 768.28, Florida Statutes, and
100	WHEREAS, in addition, the North Broward Hospital District
101	fully supports the passage of a claim bill for the amount of
102	$668,781.96, NOW, THEREFORE,
103
104	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
105
106	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
107	are found and declared to be true.
108	Section 2.  The North Broward Hospital District is
109	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the
110	hospital district not otherwise appropriated and to draw a
111	warrant in the sum of $668,781.96 payable to the special needs
112	trust established for the care and benefit of Adam Susser, minor
113	child of Judith Susser and Gary Susser, as compensation for
114	injuries and damages sustained as a result of the negligence of
115	the North Broward Hospital District.
116	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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