Hospital Bears Brunt of Suit Settlement
St. Petersburg Times
Copyright 2003 St. Petersburg Times.
Saturday, September 20, 2003
CITRUS TIMES
COLLEEN JENKINS
Joseph and Rebecca Davis will celebrate their son's third birthday
on Sunday.
Celebration is a relative term, of course. Cody Davis has progressed
since his
tragic first day, but he can't walk or talk and must take medication
to ward
off seizures. He gets nourishment from a tube to his stomach.
He suffered permanent brain damage during his mother's labor and
delivery on
Sept. 21, 2000, at Seven Rivers Community Hospital in Crystal River.
In a lawsuit filed in Citrus County, the parents blamed the hospital,
doctors
and nurses for negligent care. The medical professionals denied
all wrongdoing.
But in an agreement reached April 11, just one month before the
suit was set
for trial, the parties settled the case for $6.65-million. Seven
Rivers must
pay $6-million of the total settlement.
After attorney's fees and expenses, the Davis family will receive
about $3.3-
million. The money will provide for the child's medical, therapeutic
and
nursing care, which his lawyer said could have been avoided if physicians
had
performed a Caesarean section sooner.
"It's absolutely tragic what happened with this child and absolutely
preventable," said Rebecca L. Larson, the West Palm Beach lawyer
who
represented the Davises. Her firm received nearly $2.7-million,
40 percent of
the settlement, for its services.
Like many medical malpractice lawsuits, this one was never reported
in the
newspapers. But recently, a Times reporter was looking through the
professional
liability closed claims records on the Florida Department of Financial
Services
Web site and noticed a particularly large claim made against Seven
Rivers.
The case's court file revealed an extensive complaint that accused
two doctors,
three nurses and the hospital of negligence. The 13 volumes also
included
adamant defenses and expert opinions that framed the allegations
as unfounded.
The lawyers representing the involved parties were reluctant to
discuss the
suit's outcome, having been under the impression that details of
the settlement
were confidential.
However, motions to seal the settlement documents were not granted
by Circuit
Judge Patricia Thomas until Friday morning, after a Times reporter
began asking
questions about the case.
The file provides a glimpse at the kinds of costly medical malpractice
lawsuits
Florida legislators, doctors, lawyers and insurance companies spent
much of
this year debating. Some physicians, particularly obstetricians,
complained
that large jury awards were driving up their malpractice insurance
rates and
forcing them out of business.
Gov. Jeb Bush has signed a bill that will cap pain and suffering
awards in
egregious cases at $1-million for doctors and $1.5-million for hospitals.
In their complaint, filed in August 2001, the Davises accused Dr.
Jose R.
Fernandez, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Crystal River, of
failing to
recognize and treat cephalopelvic disproportion. The condition,
according to
the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINEplus Web site, occurs
when a mother's
pelvis is too small for her infant's head to pass through.
It is a common reason for doctors to perform a Caesarean section,
which
eventually happened in Rebecca Davis' case. But it was ordered too
late, Larson
said. The baby had been deprived of oxygen too long.
Fernandez's lawyers disputed this version of events.
"The injuries or damages alleged by Plaintiffs are the sole
result of the
natural and inexorable process of human disease and/or an act of
God, and not
the result of any act or omission by this Defendant," stated
the doctor's legal
response, submitted in September 2001.
The couple and its attorney also argued Dr. Leonard Calodney, an
anesthesiologist, and C.R. Anesthesia did not properly research
the fetal
status before inducing Rebecca Davis' anesthesia.
Finally, the suit accused three registered nurses - Katia P. Bowden,
Dorothea
J. Lombardi and Carol F. Durden - of negligence. It said they inappropriately
monitored the mother's labor, failed to report signs of abnormal
labor
associated with fetal distress or intervene when there was evidence
of fetal
distress and did not make timely preparations for an emergency Caesarean
section.
None of the medical professionals admitted negligence as part of
the
settlement.
"It's an unfortunate incident," said Thomas Saieva, one
of the hospital's
Tampa-based attorneys. "Nothing's going to be done to reverse
that. The
settlement has been done to provide the care."
Seven Rivers is owned by Tenet Health Corp. However, Health Management
Associates Inc. announced in August that it would buy the hospital.
Fernandez's lawyer, Michael Minkin of Tampa, said expert reviews
of the birth
process bolstered the doctor's assertion that he was not negligent.
This is the
first time the doctor has been sued since he began practicing in
1960, Minkin
said.
Neither Fernandez nor Calodney has been disciplined by any medical
board for
this case or any others during the past 10 years, according to Florida
Department of Health records.
"The decision to settle the case was primarily an economic
one more than
anything else," Minkin said.
The settlement requires Calodney and C.R. Anesthesia to pay $400,000;
Fernandez
will be responsible for the remaining $250,000.
The Davis family will get most of its money by way of monthly payments
from
annuities purchased by the hospital, according to court records.
A $2-million annuity package will provide Cody Davis with $6,302
each month for
at least the next 40 years. His parents, who moved away from Crystal
River to
the Florida Panhandle, will receive $2,944 monthly for the next
15 years
through a separate annuity. Both payments began this summer, court
documents
show.
Rebecca Davis, now 24, provides around-the-clock care for her son,
the family's
lawyer said. She intends to always do so.
"This child will never be in an institution," Larson said.
"He is very much
loved. They have built their entire world around him."