HB 965

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Aaron Edwards, a minor, and
3	his parents, Mitzi Roden and Mark Edwards, by Lee
4	Memorial Health System of Lee County; providing for an
5	appropriation to compensate Aaron Edwards and his
6	parents for damages sustained as a result of medical
7	negligence by employees of Lee Memorial Health System
8	of Lee County; providing a limitation on the payment
9	of fees and costs; providing an effective date.
10
11	WHEREAS, Mitzi Roden and Mark Edwards' only child, Aaron
12	Edwards, was born on September 5, 2007, at Lee Memorial
13	Hospital, and
14	WHEREAS, during Mitzi Roden's pregnancy, Mitzi Roden and
15	Mark Edwards attended childbirth classes through Lee Memorial
16	Health System and learned of the potentially devastating effect
17	that the administration of Pitocin to augment labor may have on
18	a mother and her unborn child when not carefully and competently
19	monitored, and
20	WHEREAS, Mitzi Roden and Mark Edwards communicated directly
21	to Nurse Midwife Patricia Hunsucker of Lee Memorial Health
22	System of their desire to have a natural childbirth, and
23	WHEREAS, Mitzi Roden enjoyed an uneventful full-term
24	pregnancy with Aaron Edwards, free from any complications, and
25	WHEREAS, on September 5, 2007, at 5:29 a.m., Mitzi Roden,
26	at 41 and 5/7 weeks' gestation awoke to find that her membranes
27	had ruptured, and
28	WHEREAS, when Mitzi Roden presented to the hospital on the
29	morning of September 5, she was placed on a fetal monitoring
30	machine that confirmed that Aaron Edwards was doing well and in
31	very good condition, and
32	WHEREAS, Mitzi Roden tolerated well a period of labor from
33	9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., but failed to progress in her labor to
34	the point of being in active labor. At that time, Nurse Midwife
35	Patricia Hunsucker informed Mitzi Roden and Mark Edwards that
36	she would administer Pitocin to Mitzi in an attempt to speed up
37	the labor, but both Mitzi Roden and Mark Edwards strenuously
38	objected to the administration of Pitocin because of their
39	knowledge about the potentially devastating effects it can have
40	on a mother and child, including fetal distress and even death.
41	Mitzi Roden and Mark Edwards informed Nurse Midwife Patricia
42	Hunsucker that they would rather undergo a cesarean section than
43	be administered Pitocin, but in spite of their objections, Nurse
44	Midwife Patricia Hunsucker ordered that a Pitocin drip be
45	administered to Mitzi Roden at an initial dose of 3 milliunits,
46	to be increased by 3 milliunits every 30 minutes, and
47	WHEREAS, there was universal agreement by the experts
48	called to testify at the trial in this matter that the
49	administration of Pitocin over the express objections of Mitzi
50	Roden and Mark Edwards was a violation of the standard of care,
51	and
52	WHEREAS, for several hours during the afternoon of
53	September 5, 2007, the dosage of Pitocin was consistently
54	increased and Mitzi Roden began to experience contractions
55	closer than every 2 minutes at 4:50 p.m., and began to
56	experience excessive uterine contractility shortly before 6
57	p.m., which should have been recognized by any reasonably
58	competent obstetric care provider, and
59	WHEREAS, in spite of Mitzi Roden's excessive uterine
60	contractility, the administration of Pitocin was inappropriately
61	increased to 13 milliunits at 6:20 p.m. by Labor and Delivery
62	Nurse Beth Jencks, which was a deviation from the acceptable
63	standard of care for obstetric health care providers because, in
64	fact, it should have been discontinued, and
65	WHEREAS, reasonable obstetric care required that Dr.
66	Duvall, the obstetrician who was ultimately responsible for
67	Mitzi Roden's labor and delivery, be notified of Mitzi Roden's
68	excessive uterine contractility and that she was not adequately
69	progressing in her labor, but the health care providers
70	overseeing Mitzi Roden's labor unreasonably failed to do so, and
71	WHEREAS, in spite of Mitzi Roden's excessive uterine
72	contractility, the administration of Pitocin was increased to 14
73	milliunits at 7:15 p.m., when reasonable obstetric practices
74	required that it be discontinued, and a knowledgeable obstetric
75	care provider should have known that the continued use of
76	Pitocin in the face of excessive uterine contractility posed an
77	unreasonable risk to both Mitzi Roden and Aaron Edwards, and
78	WHEREAS, Lee Memorial's own obstetrical expert, Jeffrey
79	Phelan, M.D., testified that Mitzi Roden experienced a tetanic
80	contraction lasting longer than 90 seconds at 8:30 p.m., and Lee
81	Memorial's own nurse midwife expert, Lynne Dollar, testified
82	that she herself would have discontinued Pitocin at 8:30 p.m.,
83	and
84	WHEREAS, at 8:30 p.m., the administration of Pitocin was
85	unreasonably and inappropriately increased to 15 milliunits when
86	reasonable obstetric practices required that it be discontinued,
87	and
88	WHEREAS, at 9 p.m., Nurse Midwife Hunsucker visited Mitzi
89	Roden at bedside, but mistakenly believed that the level of
90	Pitocin remained at 9 milliunits, when, in fact, it had been
91	increased to 15 milliunits, and further, she failed to
92	appreciate and correct Mitzi Roden's excessive uterine
93	contractility, and
94	WHEREAS, Lynne Dollar acknowledged that it is below the
95	standard of care for Nurse Midwife Patricia Hunsucker to not
96	know the correct level of Pitocin being administered to her
97	patient, Mitzi Roden, and
98	WHEREAS, at 9:30 p.m., the administration of Pitocin was
99	again unreasonably and inappropriately increased to 16
100	milliunits, when reasonable obstetric practice required that it
101	be discontinued in light of Mitzi Roden's excessive uterine
102	contractility and intrauterine pressure, and
103	WHEREAS, at 9:40 p.m., Aaron Edwards could no longer
104	compensate for the increasingly intense periods of
105	hypercontractility and excessive intrauterine pressure brought
106	on by the overuse and poor management of Pitocin administration,
107	and suffered a reasonably foreseeable and predictable severe
108	episode of bradycardia, where his heart rate plummeted to life-
109	endangering levels, which necessitated an emergency cesarean
110	section. Not until Aaron Edwards' heart rate crashed at 9:40
111	p.m. did Nurse Midwife Patricia Hunsucker consult with her
112	supervising obstetrician, Diana Duvall, M.D., having not
113	discussed with Dr. Duvall her care and treatment of Mitzi
114	Roden's labor since 12:30 p.m. Because Dr. Duvall had not been
115	kept informed about the status of Mitzi Roden's labor, she was
116	not on the hospital grounds at the time Aaron Edwards' heart
117	rate crashed, and another obstetrician who was unfamiliar with
118	Mitzi Roden's labor performed the emergency cesarean section to
119	save Aaron Edwards' life, and
120	WHEREAS, there existed at the time of Mitzi Roden's labor
121	and delivery a compensation system whereby a nurse midwife such
122	as Patricia Hunsucker had a financial disincentive to consult
123	with her supervising obstetrician during the period of labor,
124	and
125	WHEREAS, Lee Memorial Health System had in place at the
126	time of Mitzi Roden's labor and delivery rules regulating the
127	use of Pitocin for the augmentation of labor which required that
128	Pitocin be discontinued immediately upon the occurrence of
129	tetanic contractions, nonreassuring fetal heart-rate patterns,
130	or contractions closer than every 2 minutes, and
131	WHEREAS, in violation of rules regulating the use of
132	Pitocin for the augmentation of labor, Labor and Delivery Nurse
133	Beth Jencks and Nurse Midwife Patricia Hunsucker failed to
134	immediately discontinue the administration of Pitocin in the
135	face of hyperstimulated uterine contractions and excessive
136	intrauterine pressure and increased the amount of Pitocin being
137	administered to Mitzi Roden or remained completely unaware that
138	the levels of Pitocin were being repeatedly increased, and
139	WHEREAS, Aaron Edwards suffered permanent and catastrophic
140	injuries to his brain as a consequence of the acute hypoxic
141	ischemic episode at birth, and
142	WHEREAS, Aaron Edwards currently and for the remainder of
143	his life will suffer from spastic and dystonic cerebral palsy
144	and quadriparesis, rendering him totally and permanently
145	disabled, and
146	WHEREAS, Aaron Edwards currently and for the remainder of
147	his life will not be able to orally communicate other than to
148	his closest caregivers, and is entirely dependent on a computer
149	tablet communication board for speech, and
150	WHEREAS, Aaron Edwards suffers from profound physical
151	limitations affecting all four of his limbs such that he
152	requires supervision 24 hours a day and cannot feed, bathe,
153	dress, or protect himself, and
154	WHEREAS, Aaron Edwards will never be able to enter the
155	competitive job market and will require a lifetime of medical,
156	therapeutic, rehabilitation, and nursing care, and
157	WHEREAS, after a 6-week trial, a jury in Lee County
158	returned a verdict in favor of Aaron Edwards, Mitzi Roden, and
159	Mark Edwards, finding Lee Memorial Health System 100 percent
160	responsible for Aaron Edwards' catastrophic and entirely
161	preventable injuries and awarded a total of $28,477,966.48 to
162	the Guardianship of Aaron Edwards, $1,340,000 to Mitzi Roden,
163	and $1 million to Mark Edwards, and
164	WHEREAS, the court also awarded Aaron Edwards, Mitzi Roden,
165	and Mark Edwards $174,969.65 in taxable costs, and
166	WHEREAS, Lee Memorial Health System tendered $200,000
167	toward payment of this claim, in accordance with the statutory
168	limits of liability set forth in s. 768.28, Florida Statutes,
169	NOW, THEREFORE,
170
171	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
172
173	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
174	are found and declared to be true.
175	Section 2.  Lee Memorial Health System, formerly known as
176	the Hospital Board of Directors of Lee County, is authorized and
177	directed to appropriate from funds of the county not otherwise
178	appropriated and to draw the following warrants as compensation
179	for the medical malpractice committed against Aaron Edwards and
180	Mitzi Roden:
181	(1)  The sum of $28,454,838.43, payable to the Guardianship
182	of Aaron Edwards;
183	(2)  The sum of $1,338,989.67, payable to Mitzi Roden; and
184	(3)  The sum of $999,199.03, payable to Mark Edwards.
185	Section 3.  The amount paid by Lee Memorial Health System
186	pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amount awarded
187	under this act are intended to provide the sole compensation for
188	all present and future claims arising out of the factual
189	situation described in this act which resulted in the injuries
190	suffered by Aaron Edwards. The total amount paid for attorney's
191	fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other similar expenses relating
192	to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the total amount
193	awarded under this act.
194	Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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