Senate Bill sb0038er
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2007 Legislature CS for SB 38, 2nd Engrossed
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2 An act for the relief of Adam Susser by the
3 North Broward Hospital District; providing for
4 the relief of Adam Susser, a minor, by and
5 through his parents and natural guardians,
6 Judith Susser and Gary Susser; providing for an
7 appropriation to compensate him for injuries
8 and damages sustained as a result of the
9 negligence of the North Broward Hospital
10 District, d.b.a. Coral Springs Medical Center;
11 providing for purchase of an annuity to benefit
12 the special needs trust; providing for payment
13 of attorney's fees, lobbyist's fees, and costs;
14 providing an effective date.
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16 WHEREAS, in July 2000, Gary Susser, a lawyer, and his
17 wife, Judith Susser, a paralegal, were residing in Boca Raton,
18 Florida, and
19 WHEREAS, prior to her marriage to Gary Susser, Judith
20 Susser was unable to have children, and
21 WHEREAS, after their marriage, Judith and Gary Susser
22 badly wanted to have children, despite the fact that Judith
23 Susser was 47 years of age, and
24 WHEREAS, Judith Susser went to a fertility expert and
25 was finally able to become pregnant through in vitro
26 fertilization, and
27 WHEREAS, prenatal tests revealed that Judith Susser was
28 pregnant with twins, and consequently Judith and Gary Susser
29 were looking forward to the birth of their twin boys, and
30 WHEREAS, Judith and Gary Susser sought out high-risk
31 pregnancy experts who could guide them through Judith Susser's
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2007 Legislature CS for SB 38, 2nd Engrossed
1 pregnancy in order to ensure that her pregnancy progressed
2 safely and without complications, and
3 WHEREAS, Judith Susser kept all of her appointments and
4 complied with all orders by her physicians, and
5 WHEREAS, at approximately 34 weeks gestation, Judith
6 Susser's membrane on the sac holding Adam Susser ruptured, and
7 WHEREAS, Gary Susser immediately took his wife to the
8 Coral Springs Medical Center where, on July 6, 2000, she was
9 admitted by her obstetrician's office and where she remained
10 until her discharge on July 12, 2000, and
11 WHEREAS, during the admission, a high-risk perinatal
12 expert, Dr. Christine Edwards, as well as Dr. Kerry Kuhn and
13 Dr. Carrie Greenspan, Dr. Kuhn's partner, also saw Judith
14 Susser, and
15 WHEREAS, despite a nonreassuring fetal heart pattern
16 and despite the fact that the nurses kept having difficulties
17 getting the fetal monitoring to perform properly, the
18 pregnancy was allowed to continue for 4 and 1/2 days, with the
19 nurses never reporting the abnormal test results or the
20 difficulties they were having with the fetal monitoring
21 equipment to the physicians, and
22 WHEREAS, two days into Judith Susser's labor, a
23 biophysical profile was ordered to be performed by Dr.
24 Edwards, and
25 WHEREAS, that biophysical profile yielded abnormal
26 indications and, although they were not reported by the
27 nurses, the obstetricians were aware of the abnormal results,
28 and
29 WHEREAS, despite this, the obstetricians allowed Judith
30 Susser's labor to continue, and
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2007 Legislature CS for SB 38, 2nd Engrossed
1 WHEREAS, finally, on the early morning of the fifth day
2 of labor, Judith Susser was taken to the operating room for
3 delivery, and
4 WHEREAS, the physician in charge was insistent on
5 performing a vaginal delivery despite all the obvious needs
6 for an emergency cesarean section, and
7 WHEREAS, when Dr. Kuhn reached the delivery room, he
8 asked for fetal monitoring to be commenced and the nurses
9 indicated that they could not bring the fetal monitoring
10 machine into the delivery room because they did not have a
11 fetal monitor for twins available, and
12 WHEREAS, Gary Susser then asked the nurses to get the
13 fetal monitoring machine from the room that Judith Susser had
14 previously been in for 4 days, which demand was also made by
15 Dr. Kuhn, and the nurses said they could not remove the
16 monitoring machine from the wall, and
17 WHEREAS, for the next hour there was only manual
18 monitoring of Adam Susser, and Dr. Kuhn continued to wait, and
19 WHEREAS, on July 10, 2000, Adam Susser was born by
20 vaginal delivery, and
21 WHEREAS, tragically, as a result of the extraordinary
22 and egregious malpractice by the physicians and nurses at the
23 Coral Springs Medical Center, Adam Susser was born severely
24 depressed and oxygen-deprived, which led to severe brain
25 damage, and
26 WHEREAS, Adam Susser cannot walk and will never be able
27 to walk, cannot sit up on his own, cannot use his hands or
28 arms, is cortically blind, needs to be fed through a feeding
29 tube, and is severely mentally and physically impaired, and
30 WHEREAS, though by all accounts Adam Susser will have a
31 normal life expectancy, which means that he should live into
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2007 Legislature CS for SB 38, 2nd Engrossed
1 his 70's, Adam Susser will require medical care and treatment
2 for the remainder of his life, and
3 WHEREAS, the negligent care administered by the Coral
4 Springs Medical Center formed the basis of legal action
5 against the North Broward Hospital District, d.b.a. Coral
6 Springs Medical Center, and
7 WHEREAS, the matter was settled prior to trial with the
8 overall settlement amount being $9.8 million, and
9 WHEREAS, the hospital's private insurer, the Zurich
10 Insurance Company, paid the claimants the amount of
11 $3,831,218.04 on behalf of the North Broward Hospital
12 District, and
13 WHEREAS, the North Broward Hospital District paid
14 $200,000 for the benefit of Adam Susser pursuant to the limits
15 of liability set forth in section 768.28, Florida Statutes,
16 and
17 WHEREAS, in addition, the North Broward Hospital
18 District fully supports the passage of a claim bill for the
19 amount of $668,781.96, NOW, THEREFORE,
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21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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23 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this
24 act are found and declared to be true.
25 Section 2. The North Broward Hospital District is
26 authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the
27 hospital district not otherwise appropriated and to draw a
28 warrant in the sum of $668,781.96, plus the interest that has
29 accrued on those funds in the account maintained by the
30 district, to purchase an annuity benefiting the special needs
31 trust established for the care and benefit of Adam Susser,
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2007 Legislature CS for SB 38, 2nd Engrossed
1 minor child of Judith Susser and Gary Susser, as compensation
2 for injuries and damages sustained as a result of the
3 negligence of the North Broward Hospital District.
4 Section 3. Payment for attorney's fees and costs
5 incurred by the claimant's attorneys shall not exceed
6 $108,764. Payment for the professional services and costs of
7 lobbyists advocating for passage of this claim shall not
8 exceed $6,688.
9 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
10 law.
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