HB 875

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Tyler Giblin, a minor, by and
3	through Gina Giblin and Mark Giblin, parents of Tyler
4	Giblin, by the Marion County Hospital District; providing
5	for an appropriation by the Marion County Hospital
6	District to compensate Tyler Giblin for injuries sustained
7	as a result of the negligence of the district; providing
8	for the use of funds; providing for the reversion of funds
9	to the state; providing a limitation on attorney's fees,
10	lobbying fees, costs, and other similar expenses relating
11	to the claim; providing an effective date.
12
13	WHEREAS, Gina Giblin, age 22, obtained prenatal obstetrical
14	care from Rasiklal Nagda, M.D., from May 3, 2004, through
15	December 14, 2004, the day Dr. Nagda delivered Tyler Giblin, a
16	full-term baby boy and the son of Gina and Mark Giblin, at
17	Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, a full-service hospital
18	operated by Munroe Regional Health System, Inc., and leased from
19	the Marion County Hospital District, and
20	WHEREAS, Gina Giblin had undergone two fetal ultrasounds
21	during her pregnancy, the first on August 10, 2004, and the
22	second prior to delivery, both of which were misinterpreted and
23	reported to the Giblins as being without abnormalities despite
24	the fact that the fetus had a severely deformed heart, and
25	WHEREAS, Dr. Nagda delivered Tyler Giblin by emergency
26	cesarean section because of fetal distress as evidenced by a
27	fetal heart rate in the 70's, significantly below the normal 120
28	to 160 beats per minute, with newborn Apgar scores of 9 and 9,
29	and a system assessment by the hospital nursing staff which
30	wrongly concluded that Tyler Giblin did not have a heart murmur,
31	and
32	WHEREAS, upon initial examination on December 14, 2004,
33	Tyler Giblin's pediatrician, Yves-Lande Pierre, M.D., noted that
34	Tyler Giblin had a Grade II heart murmur but took no action, and
35	WHEREAS, on the following day, December 15, 2004, Dr.
36	Pierre concluded that Tyler Giblin had a Grade III heart murmur
37	and subsequently ordered four extremity blood pressure readings
38	to be performed and ordered a chest X ray, and
39	WHEREAS, the blood pressure readings were incorrectly
40	administered and misinterpreted by nursing staff and the chest X
41	ray was interpreted and documented as being within normal limits
42	by radiologist Kerry B. Raduns, M.D., who stated that his
43	assessment of the heart and thoracic cavity was limited due to
44	the baby's position in the X ray, and
45	WHEREAS, a cardiology consultation was scheduled for
46	December 22, 2004, at Shands Hospital in Gainesville following
47	Tyler Giblin's discharge, and
48	WHEREAS, in the early morning of December 16, 2004, Tyler
49	Giblin was crying and grunting, found to be cyanotic with oxygen
50	saturation levels of 70 to 80 percent, had a decompensated
51	heart, and was found to have a base excess of 6.6, and
52	WHEREAS, consequently, Tyler Giblin was started on Prostin
53	VR, intubated, placed on a ventilator, and transferred to Shands
54	Hospital, and
55	WHEREAS, Tyler Giblin was transferred to Miami Children's
56	Hospital on December 22, 2004, and underwent the open-heart
57	Norwood procedure for a hypoplastic left heart ventricle and
58	other significant congenital heart disease, and
59	WHEREAS, however, because of the delay in the diagnosis of
60	his heart condition, the damage to Tyler Giblin's heart was
61	found to be so extensive as to require a heart transplant, and
62	WHEREAS, it was also determined that Tyler Giblin had
63	suffered from anoxic brain injury due to the cyanotic event of
64	December 16, 2004, and
65	WHEREAS, Tyler Giblin was transferred back to Shands
66	Hospital where he waited for a heart to become available and
67	subsequently underwent cardiac transplant on June 3, 2005, and
68	WHEREAS, due to the anoxic brain injury, Tyler Giblin will
69	remain totally incapacitated for the remainder of his life, and
70	WHEREAS, due to the negligent failure to correctly diagnose
71	their son's congenital heart defect both prior to and after his
72	birth and because Tyler Giblin suffered from severe anoxic
73	damage to his heart and brain leading to the need for a heart
74	transplant and to brain injury, Gina and Mark Giblin, on behalf
75	of their son, Tyler Giblin, and individually, brought suit
76	against the Munroe Regional Health System, Inc., Munroe Regional
77	Medical Center, Inc., and the Marion County Hospital District,
78	as well as Dr. Yves-Lande Pierre and Marion Pediatrics, and
79	WHEREAS, defendant Munroe Regional Health System, Inc., on
80	behalf of the Munroe Regional Medical Center and the Marion
81	County Hospital District, agreed to a consent judgment in the
82	amount of $900,000, of which $200,000 has been paid to Gina and
83	Mark Giblin pursuant to the limits of liability set forth in s.
84	768.28, Florida Statutes, and the remainder of which is
85	conditioned upon the passage of a claim bill by the Legislature
86	in the amount of $700,000, which is to be placed in a special
87	needs trust created for the benefit of Tyler Giblin, NOW,
88	THEREFORE,
89
90	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
91
92	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
93	are found and declared to be true.
94	Section 2.  The Marion County Hospital District is
95	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the
96	district not otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant in the
97	sum of $700,000, payable to Gina Giblin and Mark Giblin, parents
98	and legal guardians of Tyler Giblin, as compensation for
99	injuries and damages sustained by Tyler Giblin due to the
100	negligence of the Marion County Hospital District, which funds
101	shall be placed in a special needs trust created for the use and
102	benefit of Tyler Giblin, as agreed to by the parties in a
103	consent judgment. Any funds remaining in the trust upon the
104	death of Tyler Giblin shall revert to the General Revenue Fund.
105	Section 3.  Any amount paid by the Marion County Hospital
106	District pursuant to the waiver of sovereign immunity permitted
107	under s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and this award are intended
108	to provide the sole compensation for all present and future
109	claims against the Marion County Hospital District arising out
110	of the factual situation described in the preamble to this act
111	which resulted in injuries and damages to Tyler Giblin and Gina
112	and Mark Giblin. The total amount paid for attorney's fees,
113	lobbying fees, costs, and other similar expenses relating to
114	this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the amount awarded under
115	section 2 of this act.
116	Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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