HB 647

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Raul Otero by the South Broward
3	Hospital District; providing for an appropriation to
4	compensate him for injuries sustained as a result of the
5	negligence of Memorial Regional Hospital; providing a
6	limitation on the payment of fees and costs; providing an
7	effective date.
8
9	WHEREAS, on March 28, 2003, 18-year-old Raul Otero was
10	involved in a motorcycle accident, and was seriously injured and
11	taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida.
12	Memorial Regional Hospital is a public hospital owned by the
13	South Broward Hospital District. His injuries resulted in an
14	above-the-knee amputation of his left leg and a spleenectomy.
15	The insurer of the at-fault driver tendered $1 million, which
16	was the driver's policy limit, and
17	WHEREAS, on April 16, 2003, while in the trauma intensive
18	care unit at Memorial Regional Hospital, Mr. Otero was taken
19	during the night shift to the MRI laboratory for a scan to rule
20	out a nonemergency shoulder injury. Although he was alert and
21	oriented, he had not given consent for the procedure, and his
22	parents, who do not speak English, had not given consent for the
23	procedure. Mr. Otero became panicky during the scan and was
24	given several doses of a narcotic sedative, Versed, in addition
25	to the narcotic medication he was already receiving
26	intravenously. Because of his panicked thrashing, an order for a
27	paralytic drug was also given. Lawton Tang, M.D., a surgical
28	resident employed by Mt. Sinai Medical Center and working under
29	the supervision of attending physicians of the South Broward
30	Hospital District on a rotation through Memorial Regional
31	Hospital, was not present and gave the medication orders by
32	telephone, and
33	WHEREAS, shortly thereafter Raul Otero went into cardiac
34	arrest, a code was called, and, after a relatively extended
35	process, Mr. Otero was successfully resuscitated. However, he
36	was found to be suffering from anoxic encephalopathy, and
37	WHEREAS, several physicians, including the trauma resident
38	on duty at the time, testified that Mr. Otero was not stable
39	enough to be taken from intensive care during the midnight shift
40	for an elective MRI. In fact, the very next day this practice
41	was expressly forbidden by then Chief of Trauma, Lawrence
42	Lottenberg, M.D., and
43	WHEREAS, the hospital's pharmacist failed to prohibit the
44	overdose and stop the doubling and tripling of medication
45	administration and the administration of inappropriate paralytic
46	medication, as did the nursing staff, and the medication orders
47	were also ratified by the head nurse in the trauma intensive
48	care unit that night, and
49	WHEREAS, Mr. Otero was accompanied by a nurse and a
50	respiratory therapist to the MRI laboratory, but was removed
51	from his ventilator at the time he was transported to the MRI
52	during the night shift when the hospital operates using
53	significantly fewer staff. As a result, Mr. Otero was not
54	adequately monitored and his ventricular fibrillation was not
55	detected in a timely manner. Indeed, based on the severity of
56	his brain damage, it appears that Mr. Otero was in ventricular
57	fibrillation for a significant time before resuscitation began.
58	As a result, oxygenated blood was not being delivered to his
59	brain or other vital organs when he was being ventilated, and
60	WHEREAS, the records clearly state that Mr. Otero was not
61	connected to any type of cardiac monitor when he was transported
62	to the MRI laboratory. Although it is not clear from the record,
63	there is some evidence to suggest that Mr. Otero may have
64	exhibited cardiac symptoms before the evening of April 16, and
65	WHEREAS, Raul Otero is completely incontinent, is
66	quadriplegic, and cannot speak, and is unable to consistently
67	follow simple one-step commands. Mr. Otero's life-care plan was
68	drafted by Sharon Griffin, Ph.D., and was originally valued in
69	excess of $20 million. Now that his feeding tube and ventilator
70	have been removed, the cost of his future care has been revised
71	to approximately $12 million, and
72	WHEREAS, the surgical resident, Lawton Tang, M.D., the
73	resident who gave the telephonic medication orders, and Mt.
74	Sinai Medical Center, his employer, have settled for $2 million,
75	and
76	WHEREAS, the South Broward Hospital District has agreed to
77	pay $100,000 to Raul Otero and $100,000 to his mother and
78	primary caregiver, Ana Otero, pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida
79	Statutes. In addition, the district has agreed to the passage of
80	a claim bill in the amount of $2 million and to expressly lobby
81	for passage of such bill, NOW, THEREFORE,
82
83	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
84
85	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
86	are found and declared to be true.
87	Section 2.  The South Broward Hospital District is
88	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the
89	district not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in the
90	sum of $2 million payable to Raul Otero as compensation for
91	injuries and damages sustained.
92	Section 3.  The amount awarded in this act is intended to
93	provide the sole compensation for all present and future claims
94	arising out of the factual situation described in this act which
95	resulted in injury to Raul Otero. The total amount paid for
96	attorney's fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other similar
97	expenses relating to the adoption of this act may not exceed 25
98	percent of the total amount awarded under this act.
99	Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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