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MOST EFFECTIVE LAYWERS -2011- PERSONAL INJURY
TWO GUIDED LEGAL TEAM TO $33M AWARD FOR PARAPALEGIC
The Daily Business Review – December 12, 2011
It was the last day of 2008 and the last time Manos Milien would walk.
Milien, now 62, a backseat passenger in a Toyota Corolla, was left a quadriplegic when the sedan was rear-ended by a minivan on I-95 in Deerfield Beach.
There was no disputing the driver, Wendy Whitney of Jacksonville, was distracted when she rammed the Corolla at about 75 mph. She had a 2-year-old child in a safety seat, but she never explained to jurors just what kept her eyes away from the road.
Plaintiff attorneys Stephen Malove and Scott Henratty were concerned with the degree, if any, to which the defense might succeed in shifting the blame.
“They were arguing that out client was not wearing a seat belt and that all of his injuries were a result of that,” Malove said.
He insisted Milien was wearing his belt while noting state law at the time did not require backseat passengers to buckle up. Even if Milien was not wearing his belt, Malove argued the collision was so strong it would not have made a difference.
Arguing a case for a quadriplegic presented special challenges, Malove said. The legal team had to assemble expert witnesses in the fields of biomedical engineering, accident reconstruction, neurosurgery, rehabilitation and economics.
“We spent many hours flying around the country taking depositions. Cases like this are quite expensive to prosecute. For us, it was close to $300,000” he said.
Milien ‘s life at the institute was recorded on video for the jury.
“They brush his teeth, lift him with a crane out of the bed to take him into the bath where they basically hose him down. It’s so demeaning to be a grown man and to have to have your diapers changed or to have somebody feed you. He can do nothing all day but stare at the world around him,” Malove said.
Scott Henratty, the junior partner, handled some damage experts and damage witnesses. He also gave the closing rebuttal.
Malove handled other damage experts and witnesses, jury selection, and opening and closing statements.
The case suffered one setback due to juror misconduct. A trial in June 2010 quickly ended a mistrial. The second trial started the following October and ended in November.
Jurors awarded Milien $33.1 million but found him 5 percent liable, leaving an award at final judgment of #31.45 million plus costs. His attorneys never learned what accounted for the 5 percent assignment of liability but praised the jury.
“The jury was very attentive throughout this entire trial,” Malove said. “They asked a lot of questions.”
Whitney filed a notice of appeal, but no briefs have been submitted to the 4th District Court of Appeal.
$33.1 MILLION AWARD FOR 1-95 CRASH VICTIM
Sun Sentinel – November 10, 2010
A Broward County jury has awarded a man who was left a quadriplegic in a 2008 highway collision more than $30 million in compensatory damages, court records shows.
On Friday evening, the jury decided in favor of Manos Milien, 62, after he sued Wendy Whitney, 38, of Ponte Vedra Beach, according to Broward court records.
Milien accused Whitney of negligence when Whitney of 2004 Kia Sedona rear-ended a 1996 Toyota Corolla that Milien was a passenger in. The crash occurred at 2:40 a.m. Dec. 31, 2008, in the southbound lanes on Interstate 95, just north of Hillsboro Beach Boulevard near Deerfield Beach.
The collision left Milien paralyzed and unable to care for himself, according to Stephen Malove, Milien's lead attorney. In deciding to award Milien $33.1 million for damages and medical expenses, the jury weighed testimony from economists and medical experts about the hardships and bills he faces, Malove said.
Asked whether Whitney, a travel agent, would be able to afford to pay, Malove replied: "There are certain legal issues on that yet to be determined."
Neither Whitney nor her lawyer, Jonathan G. Liss, could be reached for comment late Tuesday despite phone calls.
Milien, formerly of Delray Beach, now lives at the Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation in Wauchula, where he receives extensive care, Malove said.
"It's one of the most catastrophic injuries that could befall a person," said Scott Henratty, Milien's other attorney.
Whitney was cited by the Florida Highway Patrol for failing to use due care. She settled the ticket last year by paying a $145 fine.
Whitney's lawyers have until next week to file additional arguments before Broward Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips enters a judgment in the lawsuit.
Though more hearings may be held, Malove said: "The jury has spoken. Justice has been served, and the jury system does work."
Phillips is expected to calculate a lower amount, $31.4 million, to reflect that the jury found Milien 5 percent at fault. That stems from Milien not wearing a seat belt in the crash, Malove said.
BROWARD JURY AWARDS QUADRIPLEGIC $31.45 MILLION IN I-95 WRECK
Daily Business Review – November 9, 2010
Wendy Whitney of Jacksonville was driving a 2008 Kia Sedona minivan with her 2-year-old daughter in a child safety seat when she rear-ended a 1996 Toyota Corolla in the slow lane in Deerfield Beach.
The Corolla was moving about 50 mph, and the Sedona was doing about 75 mph when they collided, said Scott Henratty, co-counsel for the plaintiff. Stephen Malove also worked the case. Both attorneys are with Stephen Malove & Associates in Fort Lauderdale.
Whitney was distracted at the time of collision but never explained why to the jurors, Henratty said.
“The jury wanted to know that,” Henratty said. “There was talk she may have been talking on the phone, or she was distracted by the baby. It was never explained.”
There were three people in the Toyota, and Milien was the only one in the back seat. An expert witness said a seat belt would not have helped. Milien’s neck was snapped when the Sedona crushed the Corolla’s trunk and pushed the roof down onto his head.
Milien, a father of eight, lives at the Florida Institute for Neurological Rehabilitation in Wauchula.
“It’s an advanced rehab center for quadriplegic and brain-damaged patients,” Henratty said. “Milien needs 24/7, round the-clock care. The man can’t do anything for himself. He has no feeling below the neck.”
Expert Witnesses testified his life was shortened by two to eight years, and he has a life expectancy of 6 to 15 years.
Damages were separated into 53 percent for pain and suffering, with the remainder covering past and future medical expenses.
WOMAN WINS $10 MILLION MALPRACTICE VERDICT
The Associated Press – August 30, 2007
West Palm Beach, FL- A jury granted a woman a $10.3 million verdict Thursday.
Nadine Raphael said Dr. James Shecter did not administer critical medicine when her 73 year-old husband Harvey arrived at Palms West Hospital on April 10, 2003, clearly suffering a heart attack, said her attorney Scott Henratty.
Another doctor ultimately gave him an anti-clotting drug, but Henratty said there’s a window of about two hours of when the medication has to be administered. Raphael didn’t receive the medicine until more than two hours after he arrived.
Raphael received a heart transplant in 2006, but developed an infection and died a month later.
Shecter’s attorney Michael Mittelmark said he plans to appeal.
Palms West Hospital reached a confidential out of court settlement with Nadine Raphael before the trial.
FAMILY OF HEART ATTACK VICTIM AWARDED $10.3M
Daily Business Review- September 10, 2007
In April 2003, Harvey Raphael, then 73, developed severe chest pains and was rushed to the emergency room at Palms West Hospital.
An EKG revealed he was having a serious heart attack. A blood clot in the left anterior descending artery of the heart was preventing necessary oxygen from reaching the lower heart.
Raphael arrived at the hospital about an hour after he first developed the pains and was seen by Shecter. The doctor did not prescribe any medication. Nearly an hour later, he called cardiologist Jean Foucald, who rushed to the emergency room and prescribed the anti-clotting drug Retavase.
The next morning Raphael was transferred to a different hospital for an angioplasty.
The first hour of a heart attack in known as the “golden hour”/ Research indicated treatment within the first hour greatly improves the chance of recovery.
Raphael was in and out of hospitals for the next three years, suffering from congestive heart failure. In January 2006, he had a heart transplant at a New York Hospital, developed an infection and died the following month.
The suit was first filed as a negligence suit and after his death it was amended to a wrongful death claim.
Raphael’s wife, Nadine, sued Foucald, Shecter, Shecter’s Emergency Physician Enterprises and Palms West Hospital, claiming their negligence led to his death.
Plaintiff attorney Malove said he voluntarily dismissed Foucald from the case because discovery proved he did nothing wrong. The hospital settled for a confidential amount before trial. The trial involving Shecter and his physician group lasted for more than three weeks.
HIGH COURT UPHOLDS $10.3 MILLION AWARD
The Palm Beach Post- November 10, 2011
Since her husband’s heart was irrevocably damaged in 2003 when he wasn’t given critical medicine at Palms West Hospital, former Wellington resident Nadine Raphael has been waiting for justice.
She got it this week when the Florida Supreme Court let stand a $10.0 million verdict despite arguments that it should be reduced to less than $1 million because of caps the Florida Legislature placed on jury awards in medical malpractice cases.
“She’s ecstatic,” attorney Stephen Malove said of Raphael’s reaction to the long-awaited decision.
The Supreme Court didn’t specifically rule on Raphael’s case. Instead, it referred to an unrelated decision it made in July when it once again struck down the legislature’s decision to make a law apply retroactively.
One of the main issues in Raphael’s case was whether the caps on damages awarded for pain and suffering applied to Harvey Raphael’s death by medical mistake.
Attorneys representing emergency room physician Dr. James Shecter argues they did because the lawsuit was filed two years after the legislature imposed the caps in 2003, claiming they would rein in skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance rates.
Malove countered that the key wasn’t when the lawsuit was filed but when Harvey Raphael was injured.
Shecter failed to give him the anti-clotting drug Retavase to reduce the impact of a heart attack in April 2003, three months before the caps went into effect.
The 4th District Court of Appeal in 2009 upheld the award, saying, “It is therefore well settled that retrospective laws are generally unjust.” And the high court in the unrelated case, reiterated that sentiment.
Malove had hoped that the Supreme Court would use the case to overturn the caps.
While it stopped far short of that, he said its blanket acceptance of the lower court ruling should hearten defense attorneys and victims of medical malpractice that the caps are on life support.
“This is very positive for throwing out the caps completely,” he said.
The court will hear oral arguments in February in a case challenging the law that caps pain and suffering at $150,000 per person and $300,000 total.
As for Nadine Raphael, the decision doesn’t mean she will automatically get a check for $10.3 million. Attorney Michael Mittlemark, who represents Shecter, said the doctor has a $1 million limit on his insurance policy.
Malove said he will now file a bad faith claim against Shecter’s insurer, arguing that it is liable for the full amount because it should have settled the claim before the case went to trial.
HOW MUCH IS LIFE WORTH? DEBATE RAGES ON MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CAPS
The Palm Beach Post – September 6, 2009
One of the most emotional moments in a 2007 medical malpractice trial came when Harvey Raphael testified that his life was destroyed after a doctor at Palms West Hospital failed to properly treat him for a heart attack.
A once vigorous 70-something, he said he was no longer able to travel, enjoy simple outings with his wife or keep up with his young daughter, an unexpected blessing of his second marriage.
Jurors never saw him in person. The Wellington man testified on video tape. By the time the case went to trial he was dead, having never recovered from Dr. James Shecter's failure to administer the proper medicine in the emergency room in 2003.
The testimony, along with claims that Shecter's actions constituted gross negligence, was persuasive.
The Palm Beach County jury awarded his widow, Nadine, $10.3 million.
But because of limits the Legislature imposed on how much people can collect for pain and suffering in medical malpractice lawsuits, the judgment was reduced to $781,000.
By the time Nadine Raphael pays roughly $440,000 in medical bills, her attorneys and the tens of thousands of dollars they spent on experts to prove the case, she will get nothing, said her attorney Scott Henratty.
Raphael's lawyers are now fighting to get the widow and her daughter the money jurors said they deserved by persuading an appeals court the caps on jury awards are unconstitutional.
"The problem is that this cap . . . it's such an arbitrary number," said Stephen Malove, who also represents her. "How can you tell someone that their spouse's life is only worth $150,000?"
That's what the Legislature did in 2003 to rein in what they labeled a medical malpractice insurance crisis.
And, according to Shecter's attorney, it worked.
"The legislation that was enacted has had the intended effect," said Boca Raton attorney Michael Mittelmark. "We've seen fewer cases and fewer frivolous cases."
The issue, he said, is bigger than one tragic story.
"The goal is to ensure that everyone gets access to emergency medical care," he said. "If a physician is subject to $10 million jury awards, who's going to practice in the state of Florida?"
The dueling views, which have resurfaced in the ongoing battle over federal health care reform, are key to the court fight that is being watched by groups representing lawyers, doctors and business leaders throughout the state.
To get the Fourth District Court of Appeal to toss the caps, Raphael's attorneys have to persuade it that the medical malpractice crisis was trumped up by a Republican governor and Republican-led legislature that long sided with doctors and insurance companies against what they portrayed as greedy trial lawyers.
Mittelmark, the Florida Medical Association, the Florida Hospital Association and the Florida College of Emergency Physicians scoff at such claims. In court briefs, they all point out that the caps were enacted after a year-long study by a task force of university presidents appointed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush. While it made 60 recommendations of steps that could be taken to reel in medical malpractice insurance rates that it claimed were driving doctors from the state, it said caps were the key.
In a special session, the Legislature capped damages against doctors for pain and suffering at $500,000 or $1 million if a person dies or is left in a vegetative state. For emergency room doctors, who argued that they are forced to make life or death decisions involving patients they don't know or select, the legislature capped damages at $150,000 per person or, if a person had more than one survivor like Raphael, a maximum $300,000.
Six years after the caps were imposed, there is still vast disagreement over whether they worked.
Jeff Scott, general counsel for the Florida Medical Association, said while rates haven't fallen dramatically, they have stabilized. "We're not seeing triple-digit increases in premiums," he said.
South Florida doctors still pay the highest premiums in the nation, according to the most recent survey by the Medical Liability Monitor. A Palm Beach County obstetrician/gynecologist paid about $182,000 for insurance in 2008, a drop of about 20 percent when compared to some 2007 policies. Rates for internists dropped about the same percentage to $40,000, the survey found.
Still, a recent study by Americans for Insurance Reform, concluded that caps, like the ones enacted in Florida, had nothing to do with the drop in insurance rates for doctors. Instead, it found that such increases are cyclical and tied to how much insurance companies earn from investment income.
Russ Sutter, author of an annual report that tracks litigation cost trends, said his research showed that the amount of money awarded in medical malpractice suits has declined but also fewer lawsuits are filed.
"There's ample evidence that caps on non-economic damages have had an impact," said Sutter, a principal for Towers Perrin, a risk management consulting firm.
Before stripping people of their constitutional rights to recover damages for injuries more evidence was needed, Malove argues.
"The neediest malpractice victims are forced to bear the primary financial burden of alleviating the alleged medical malpractice crisis while doctors who cause the most grievous injuries are immunized against the financial consequences of their acts," he wrote.
Some who have been watching the court fight from the sidelines say they doubt the appeals court will dive into the debate by declaring the caps unconstitutional. Malove has offered them an out by arguing that at least Raphael's widow shouldn't have been subject to the caps because her husband was injured before the caps went into effect in 2003 even though the suit wasn't filed until 2005.
But, Malove doubts the appeals court will have the last say.
"Regardless of how they rule," he said, "this is going to the Florida Supreme Court."
FATHERS PLAN TO SUE DCF IN FATAL FIRE
The Miami Herald - April 7, 2004
Two men whose daughters died in a Hialeah house fire said Tuesday they plan to sue the Department of Children & Families for failing to remove the girls from the home, according to their attorney.
The girls’ mother, Marie Auguste, 43, is the prime suspect in the intentionally set fire that killed the girls and two of her other children, according to Hialeah police. Auguste, severely burned in the fire, died nearly six weeks later.
“DCF should have known the mother had serious problems and was unfit to care for the children,” said Stephen Malove, the Fort Lauderdale attorney representing the fathers.
Roger Jean Joseph said he is the father of Rose, 6, who died in the blaze. Yves St. Fort’s daughter Kyla perished in the flames, trapped by an iron gate.
Of the five children in the house, only a 13-year-old brother survived the Feb 15 fire. He now lives with St. Fort.
The fathers also want to hold responsible whoever installed the illegal burglar bars that trapped the children in the inferno and kept firefighters at bay – and the public officials who did not force Auguste to remove the bars.
At a press conference Tuesday, Malove said the focus has been on the mother as the culprit in the fire.
“We just want to set the record straight and say that there were other parties that played a role in this tragedy,” Malove said. “DCF dropped the ball and… the parties who installed or allowed the security bars to remain are also accountable.”
Stephen Malove, representing the father of two of Auguste’s children, said this week that he plans to file wrongful-death lawsuits against the Florida Department of Children & Families. The agency took the children from Auguste and then returned them last year.
Malove also said he plans to sue those responsible for installing the burglar bars, which do not meet code requirement, and the public officials who did not force Auguste to remove those bars.
LAWSUIT, PARENTAL BATTLES FILE CASE OF A 12-YEAR-OLD KILLED BY A CAR
St. Petersburg Times - February 14, 2001
Months from now, even years, perhaps, a jury might listen to days of testimony about a young boy named Stewart and a Spring Hill woman who stuck him with her car one night in January.
They will have to decide whether Geraldine Berotti, 74, was careless when she headed north on middle Pinehurst Drive, crested a hill and hit 12-year-old Stewart and his twin brother, Anthony- each riding scooters across the Spring Hill street- before she realized what happened. They will have to put a value on Stewart’s life and his brother’s injuries and then say how much, if anything, Berotti owes their family- unless a settlement can be reached or the case is dismissed.
Florida Highway Patrol officials have not concluded their investigation of the crash and have yet to assign blame. But Stewart’s mother Amber Costa, has. On Friday, she sued Berotti.
“She has just been devastated. It is an indescribable loss- particularly when you have a twin child who you see every day as a constant reminder,” said Costa’s lawyer, Steve Malove. “We believe the driver was careless and (Stewart) died as a result of that carelessness.”
In addition to the lawsuit against the driver, Malove said he is researching whether the scooters the twins were riding were defective.
“So many children are being injured,” he said. “There are a lot of issues that need to be resolved.”
PANEL OKS SETTLEMENT TO AMPUTEE IN ER CASE
The Miami Herald - April 9, 1996
It has been eight years since negligence in the emergency room at North Broward Medical Center cost Jaharvis Frazier the use of his legs and an arm. But the 11-year-old Pompano Beach boy and his mother got some long-awaited news Monday when a legislative committee in Tallahassee approved a bill ordering payment of $3 million to the family. The North Broward Hospital District, which operates North Broward Medical Center, admits it was at fault and supports the bill, which must yet pass both houses of the Legislature to become law.
Jaharvis was a few weeks shy of his third birthday when he was taken to North Broward's emergency room on March 21, 1988, suffering a high fever, restlessness and other symptoms.
A doctor prescribed Tylenol and took blood tests, but according to a House lawyer's review of the case, Jaharvis sat in an examining room for nearly two hours before a pediatrician examined him.
By then his condition had worsened and a form of meningitis had stopped the flow of blood to his diseased limbs, forcing the amputation of both lower legs and an arm the next day.
"For some unexplained reason, it took approximately an hour and 45 minutes before the pediatrician examined Jaharvis," said Gerald Curington, the House attorney or special master, who recommended the $3 million settlement Monday. The delay in treatment caused not only the amputation of Jaharvis' limbs, but "significant disfigurement and scarring," Curington told the House Claims Committee.
It took just minutes for the committee to vote 6-0 in favor of a $3 million settlement in a bill (HB 1155) sponsored by Rep. Willie Logan, D-Opa-locka, and in the Senate by Sen. Daryl Jones, D-Miami.
But most surprising was an announcement by the hospital district's key lobbyist, Tom Panza, that the tax-supported district supports the payment, even though no jury had heard the case. Lawmakers are not used to hearing North Broward Hospital District lobbyists agree to pay $3 million.
Panza's statement was in stark contrast to a year ago, when the district hired extra lobbyists and spent the session fighting a measure to require a multimillion-dollar claim to Justin Bates, a Broward boy left brain-damaged due to negligence at another district-run hospital.
Panza, who worked on a two-day settlement of the Frazier case, said any comparison between the two cases is unfair.
"Our position is, whenever we can work it out and get people paid, that's what we do," Panza said. "If there's a reasonable settlement and there's liability, the district wants to do the right thing for the child. In the Bates case, I think there was some legitimate disagreement."
Panza said last year's fight over the Bates case made him decide he would no longer lobby for the district to win passage of claims bills unless both sides had reached a settlement.
Jaharvis Frazier's mother, Lillie Willis, sued the hospital district in 1991. The district agreed to settle the case as long as the two sides could agree on the amount. Under state law, governments can be required to pay a maximum of $200,000 in liability cases, unless the state Legislature orders a higher amount.
"We believed that it was in the best interest of the child to get it resolved," said Stephen Malove, the Parkland attorney who represents the family. To speed the settlement, Malove said he agreed to accept 20 percent of the claim or $600,000 in legal fees, less than the 25 percent maximum permitted under state law.
Of the remaining $2.4 million, $2 million will be used to buy a long-term annuity to care for Jaharvis for the rest of his life. Another $400,000 was set aside for Willis and Jaharvis to buy a new home and for other expenses.
Willis also filed a separate lawsuit against Coastal Emergency Services of Hollywood, the company that provided emergency room doctors at Broward General. Coastal's insurance carrier settled for $1.2 million.
MAN SUES FLORIDA CITY POLICE OVER HIS ARREST, ALLEGED BEATING
The Miami Herald - May 28, 1989
A man who contends he was part of a love triangle with a neighbor and a jealous Florida City police officer has filed suit against three officers, the department and the chief, claiming he was beaten and illegally arrested. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District court May 19, alleges that for three or four weeks last spring, Lt. Scott Cote began to “follow, frighten, harass and badger” Steve Odom Jr., a Homestead construction contractor. The suit says Cote and Odom had “an amorous relationship with the same woman.”
The suit claims Cote, the department’s second-highest- ranking officer, enlisted the help of the other Florida City officers in harassing Odom. It says Police Chief John Folden knew of and condoned the conspiracy.
While on April 17, 1988 Odom sat down at a Florida City restaurant counter, the suit states, Cote came in and handcuffed Odom’s hands behind his back, arresting him without explanation. Odom says Cote dragged him out the door and put him in Seago’s squad car. The suit says that Cote pulled him out of the car, tripped him and threw him against the bumper at the Florida City Police Department. It charges Cote, Seago and Mees beat and kicked him while he lay on the ground, picked him up, knocked him down again and slammed him into the door. Odom says in the suit that he was carried inside the police stating, thrown against some desks, and locked in a jail cell for two hours with “blood dripping down over his face and covering his clothes” before paramedics were called. Three-and-a-half hours after his arrest, the suit says, Odom was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he received 17 stitches over his eye.
On June 17, 1988, a Dade circuit judge dismissed charges of fleeing from an officer and making an improper U-turn lodged against Odom by the Florida City officers. Dade Circuit Judge Thomas Carney on July 7 dismissed charges of battery on a police officer and resisting arrest with violence.
Odom, contacted at his home Friday refused to comment on the lawsuit, which seeks $1 million in compensatory damages and $ 2 million in punitive damages.
“Remember the Dukes of Hazzard on TV? That’s what it’s like down there,” said Stephen Malove, Odom’s attorney. “It is a very frightening experience even for a lawyer to be involved in a case like this, knowing some of the things these police officers do.”
PARENTS OF CRUSHED BOY GET $2 MILLION SETTLEMENT
The Miami Herald - February 19, 1988
The parents of a 7-year-old South Dade boy, who was killed by toppling lumber at a Home Depot store last year, have settled their lawsuit against the store for $2 million, the family’s attorney said Thursday.
Elton Jerome Lee was crushed May 8 by sheets of three-quarter-inch-thick plywood that fell from a flatbed lumber cart inside the store, at 16051 S. Dixie Hwy.
“The store took the side railing off the cart so they could stock more lumber on it,” said Stephen Malove, the family’s attorney. “I hope Home Depot won’t modify their carts anymore.”
Charles Flick, the attorney representing the store, said Home Depot was not directly responsible for the accident. He refused to confirm the amount of the settlement.
“It was an amount that we felt was fair under the circumstances, “he said. “The Lee’s suffered a great loss, and we feel deeply for them.”
The boy was the oldest son of Elton and Barbara Lee. On the day he died, he was accompanying his grandfather, Thomas Lee, to buy lumber for a shed.
“He was standing right next to me,” the grandfather said after the accident. “He wasn’t doing anything... All of a sudden, it just fell.”
Customers helped Lee pull the stack of planks off his grandson. The boy was already dead.
COURT SCOLDS CITY ON HANDICAPPED RAMP
The Miami Herald - July 28, 1987
The city of Key West created “a trap” for a wheelchair—bound Miami man who was hit by a car while he was searching for an access ramp to a Duval Street sidewalk, an appeal court has ruled.
Donald Feldstein, 41, a vocational counselor for disabled patients at Jackson Memorial Hospital was unwittingly lured into danger when he rolled his wheelchair down one access ramp at Olivia and Duval streets and was confronted by a foot-high curb at the opposite corner, the Third District Court of Appeal ruled last week.
Unable to get his heavy motorized wheelchair over the curb, he headed south on Duval, with his back to traffic, and was struck by a car which crushed his legs and right hip.
The appeal court reversed the October decision of Circuit Judge Helio Gomez, who dismissed the suit after he ruled the city wasn’t negligent in not providing an access ramp at the southwest corner of Olivia and Duval.
“To provide a handicapped person access to a crosswalk without providing such person egress from the crosswalk is to place the handicapped person is special jeopardy,” the appeals court wrote.
Feldstein’s attorney Stephen Malove said he was elated by the decision. Feldstein, dependent on a wheelchair since he contracted polio at age 4, lost the little mobility he had after the Key West accident on Nov. 26, 1983, Malove said.
“I believe justice has been done, “Malove said. “I believe the city of Key West created a trap. I don’t know what they expected Mr. Feldstein to do, in a dark and rainy night, when they in effect invited him into the street by putting a curb cut in the northwest corner. On the other side, they say, ‘sorry, buddy, figure it out yourself? ‘ ’’
DEAD WOMAN’S FAMILY AWARDED $3.9 MILLION
The Miami Herald - March 27, 1986
Seven years after the death of a woman, who went to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital for what was to be simple gynecological surgery, a jury awarded her family $3.9 million in damages Wednesday. Maria Teresa Silva, the wide of a staff physician at Cedars, now called Cedars Medical Center, died on Mother’s Day 1979, after lying in a coma since the operation the previous August.
Silva’s story made headlines in 1978 when her husband, Orlando, who specialized in cancer treatment and internal medicine, took over her case and made desperate efforts to revive her. At times he used medication, and at others he resorted to the Cuban rites of Santeria, including animal sacrifice.
After a 15-day trial in 1980, a jury found that Cedars and anesthesiologist Ruben Gurvich negligently caused the death of Teresa Silva, 39. But the jury became confused over how to award damages, and an appeal court sent the case back to be tried again solely on the damage question.
On Wednesday, a six-member jury awarded Dr. Silva $1.05 million, gave each of his four children $710,000, and added $5,075.20 for funeral expenses. Silva’s lawyer, Stephen Malove, sought $ 20 million.
Malove’s firm will get 50 percent of the jury award.
Womack, Cedar’s attorney, said his client would have to decide whether to appeal. He said Cedars will try to get some of the money from anesthesiologist Gurvich, who carried no insurance at the time. Gurvich’s lawyer, Kenneth Duboff, said his client will appeal.
MALPRACTICE JURY AWARDS $2 MILLION HIGHEST SUM IN ORANGE COUNTY COMES IN SUIT ON WOMAN’S SUICIDE TRY
Orlando Sentinel - February 22, 1986
An Orange County jury awarded $2.15 million Friday to a South Carolina woman who filed a malpractice lawsuit against an Orlando psychiatrist after she attempted suicide by setting herself on fire.
Legal experts say the verdict is the highest for a medical malpractice lawsuit in Orange County history.
The woman, Linda Paddock, and her husband, William, raised their arms in jubilation on the Orange County Courthouse steps after the jury announced its verdict.
“I’m usually a conservative person, but he deserves it,” Paddock said, referring to the amount of the award against the psychiatrist, Dr. Chawallur Chacko.
Chacko examined Paddock, 38, of Columbia S.C., in June 1983 after she attempted suicide two weeks before by drinking a mixture of alcohol and poisonous chemicals. Two days after the examination Paddock, whose parents, Charles and Ruby Burkhardt, brought her to Orlando for treatment, called Chacko, complaining that her condition was worse. Chacko counseled the woman during the call but decided not to hospitalize her. Paddock again tried to commit suicide two days later by slitting her wrists and setting her clothes on fire. She suffered third- degree burns over a third of her body.
Paddock’s attorney, Stephen Malove of Miami, argued during the three-week trial that Chacko neglected his client by not hospitalizing Paddock when she called.
The jury of four woman and two men sided with Malove, saying Chacko should have done more to prevent Paddock from hurting herself.
“Dr. Chacko didn’t care,” said juror Wilson Love after the verdict was announced. “There’s got to be a certain amount of caring.” He faulted Chacko for not seeing Paddock at once when she was hospitalized for the second suicide attempt.
Other jurors said they decided against Chacko because they believed the psychiatrist altered office records to show that Paddock refused his suggestion that she be hospitalized.
Legal experts said the verdict is twice as high as any other medical malpractice award in county history. Chacko was insured by St Paul Fire and Marine Casualty Co., the state’s largest medical malpractice insurer.
FORD SETTLES 8 FIRESTONE RELATED LAWSUITS
News Library.com - December 27, 2000
No. 2 automaker Ford Motor Co. (F) recently settled at least eight lawsuits over accidents involving its popular Explorer SUVs equipped with Firestone tires and is in talks to settle other cases, plaintiffs’ attorneys and the company said on Wednesday.
The Dearborn, Mich., company last week settled seven Florida cases, said Bruce Kaster, the Florida attorney handling six of them. The settlements were first reported in USA Today.
“They approached me, which I thought was unusual,” Kaster said. “And they approached me when I didn’t have any motions pending or trial dates actually set. They indicated they wanted to start with me and then move across the country.”
An eighth case was settled with a south Florida family on Dec. 14, according to the attorney involved.
As many as 200 lawsuits have been filed against Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., a unit of Japan’s Bridgestone Corp. (5108), on behalf of people injured or killed in accidents involving Firestone tires on Explorers, according to groups working with plaintiffs’ attorneys. Most of the accidents occurred in Florida, California and Texas.
Firestone recalled 6.5 million ATX and Wilderness AT tires in August after reports of lost treads and blowouts linked to what is now 148 U.S. traffic deaths and about 500 injuries. Most of the tires were on Explorer SUVs.
Ford spokeswoman Susan Krusel said the settlements were not unusual, adding that most such lawsuits are settled out of court.
“We’ve got several lawsuits filed against our company and we’ve committed significant resources to their prompt investigation and early resolution,” she said. “We will continue to meet with those that have claims against the company to try to resolve them favorably to both parties.”
SOME SUITS SETTLED BEFORE THEY WERE FILED
Of the seven cases settled, Kaster said, three lawsuits hadn’t been scheduled for trial and three others hadn’t even been filed. The case he wasn’t handling involved two people injured while traveling with one of his clients.
All of the settled lawsuits were personal-injury cases filed in state court, said Kaster, who declined to disclose settlement amounts. He said he has two other Florida cases he hasn’t filed yet but that Ford also indicated it wanted to settle.
Ford’s attorneys were apologetic to Kaster’s clients, he said, and the automaker took responsibility for its responsibility in the accident without acknowledging any problems with its vehicles. The company has said the problems are related to the tires alone, while Bridgestone/ Firestone said Ford shares in the blame.
Ford’s Krusel said the company’s sincerity was not new. “Whenever there’s an accident involving our customers, it’s tragic and we’re concerned,” she said.
Tab Turner, an Arkansas attorney with a case in Corpus Christi, Texas, due to go to trial in early January, said Ford’s effort were not unusual. He said the company has also sought to settle the 36 lawsuits he is handling against the automaker and Bridgestone/Firestone.
“Ford has a history of trying to sweep in and settle cases early and cheaply, especially involving the Firestone tires,” he said. “Some people take those settlements, and some don’t”
Ford settled another case on Dec. 14 with a South Miami Dade family involved in a 1997 rollover accident. Orestes and Evelyn Alvarez suffered multiple injuries when a Firestone ATX tire on their 1993 Explorer separated, causing the rollover and them to be thrown from the vehicle.
“The settlement was fair to both sides.” said Stephen Malove, the plaintiffs’ attorney. “We do believe it was substantial.” Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed.
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