CS/HB 875

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Tyler Giblin, a minor, by and
3	through Gina and Mark Giblin, parents of Tyler Giblin;
4	providing for an appropriation by the Munroe Regional
5	Health System, Inc., to compensate Tyler for injuries
6	sustained as a result of the negligence of the hospital;
7	providing for the use of funds; providing a limitation on
8	the payment of fees and costs; providing for payment of
9	unreimbursed medical costs to the Agency for Health Care
10	Administration; providing an effective date.
11
12	WHEREAS, Gina Giblin, age 22, obtained prenatal obstetrical
13	care from Rasiklal Nagda, M.D., from May 3, 2004, through
14	December 14, 2004, the day Dr. Nagda delivered Tyler Giblin, a
15	full-term baby boy and the son of Gina and Mark Giblin, at
16	Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, a full-service hospital
17	operated by Munroe Regional Health System, Inc., and leased from
18	the Marion County Hospital District, and
19	WHEREAS, Ms. Giblin had undergone two fetal ultrasounds
20	during her pregnancy, the first on August 10, 2004, and the
21	second prior to delivery, both of which were misinterpreted and
22	reported to the Giblins as being without abnormalities despite
23	the fact that the fetus had a severely deformed heart, and
24	WHEREAS, Dr. Nagda delivered Tyler Giblin by emergency
25	cesarean section because of fetal distress as evidenced by a
26	fetal heart rate in the 70's, significantly below the normal 120
27	to 160 beats per minute, with newborn Apgar scores of 9 and 9,
28	and a system assessment by the hospital nursing staff which
29	wrongly concluded that Tyler did not have a heart murmur, and
30	WHEREAS, upon initial examination on December 14, Tyler
31	Giblin's pediatrician, Yves-Lande Pierre, M.D., noted that Tyler
32	had a Grade II heart murmur but took no action, and
33	WHEREAS, on the following day, December 15, Dr. Pierre
34	concluded that Tyler had a Grade III murmur and subsequently
35	ordered four extremity blood pressures to be performed, which
36	were incorrectly taken and misinterpreted by nursing staff, and
37	a chest X ray that was interpreted and documented as within
38	normal limits by radiologist Kerry B. Raduns, M.D., who stated
39	that his assessment of the heart and thoracic cavity was limited
40	due to the baby's position in the X ray, and
41	WHEREAS, a cardiology consultation was scheduled for
42	December 22, 2004, at Shands Hospital in Gainesville following
43	Tyler's discharge, and
44	WHEREAS, in the early morning of December 16, 2004, Tyler
45	was crying and grunting, found to be cyanotic with oxygen
46	saturation levels of 70 to 80 percent, decompensated and found
47	to have a base excess of 6.6, was started on Prostin VR,
48	intubated, placed on a ventilator, and transferred to Shands
49	Hospital, and
50	WHEREAS, Tyler was transferred to Miami Children's Hospital
51	on December 22, 2004, and underwent the open heart Norwood
52	procedure for a hypoplastic left heart ventricle and other
53	significant congenital heart disease, but, because of the delay
54	in the diagnosis of his heart condition, was found to have a
55	heart so damaged as to require a heart transplant, as well as to
56	have suffered from anoxic brain injury due to the cyanotic event
57	of December 16, and
58	WHEREAS, Tyler was transferred back to Shands Hospital
59	where he waited for a heart to become available, and
60	subsequently underwent cardiac transplant on June 3, 2005, and
61	WHEREAS, due to the anoxic brain injury, Tyler will remain
62	totally incapacitated for the remainder of his life, and
63	WHEREAS, due to the negligent failure to correctly diagnose
64	their son's congenital heart defect both prior to and after his
65	birth and because Tyler suffered from severe anoxic damage to
66	his heart and brain leading to the need for a heart transplant
67	and to brain injury, Gina and Mark Giblin, on behalf of their
68	son Tyler and individually, brought suit against the Munroe
69	Regional Health System, Inc., Munroe Regional Medical Center,
70	Inc., and the Marion County Hospital District, as well as Dr.
71	Yves-Lande Pierre and Marion Pediatrics, and
72	WHEREAS, defendant Munroe Regional Health System, Inc., on
73	behalf of the Munroe Regional Medical Center and the Marion
74	County Hospital District, agreed to a consent judgment in the
75	amount of $900,000, of which $200,000 has been paid to Gina and
76	Mark Giblin pursuant to the limits of liability set forth in s.
77	768.28, Florida Statutes, and the remainder is conditioned upon
78	the passage of a claim bill by the Legislature in the amount of
79	$700,000, of which 75 percent is to be placed in a special needs
80	trust created for the benefit of Tyler Giblin, NOW, THEREFORE,
81
82	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
83
84	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
85	are found and declared to be true.
86	Section 2.  Munroe Regional Health System, Inc., is
87	authorized and directed to appropriate from its funds not
88	otherwise encumbered and draw a warrant in the sum of $700,000,
89	payable to Gina and Mark Giblin, parents and legal guardians of
90	Tyler Giblin, as compensation for injuries and damages sustained
91	by Tyler due to the negligence of the hospital, and 75 percent
92	of such funds shall be placed in a special needs trust created
93	for the use and benefit of Tyler Giblin, as agreed to by the
94	parties in a consent judgment.
95	Section 3.  Any amount paid by Munroe Regional Health
96	System, Inc., pursuant to the waiver of sovereign immunity
97	permitted under s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and this award are
98	intended to provide the sole compensation for all present and
99	future claims against the hospital arising out of the factual
100	situation described in the preamble to this act. The total
101	amount paid for attorney's fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other
102	similar expenses relating to this claim may not exceed 25
103	percent of the amount awarded under section 2 of this act.
104	Section 4.  The governmental entity responsible for payment
105	of the warrant shall pay to the Agency for Health Care
106	Administration the amount due under s. 409.910, Florida
107	Statutes, prior to disbursing any funds to the claimants. The
108	amount due the agency shall be equal to all unreimbursed medical
109	payments paid by Medicaid up to the date upon which this act
110	becomes law.
111	Section 5.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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