Florida Senate - 2022                              (NP)    SB 74
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       39-00189A-22                                            202274__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act for the relief of Harry Augustin Shumow by the
    3         Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County, d/b/a
    4         Jackson Memorial Hospital; providing for an
    5         appropriation to compensate him for injuries sustained
    6         as a result of the negligence of an employee of the
    7         Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County; providing a
    8         limitation on the payment of compensation and attorney
    9         fees; providing an effective date.
   10  
   11         WHEREAS, on August 22, 2017, 6-year-old Harry Augustin
   12  Shumow, suffering from dehydration, fever, and lethargy, was
   13  diagnosed with acute liver failure, hypoglycemia, dehydration,
   14  and hypotension, as well as early signs of acute kidney injury,
   15  and
   16         WHEREAS, Harry was admitted to Jackson Memorial Hospital
   17  and from approximately August 24, 2017, to September 8, 2017,
   18  showed steady and significant physical, cognitive, and
   19  neurological improvements, and
   20         WHEREAS, on September 8, 2017, when a lab technician tested
   21  Harry’s hemoglobin levels, they had decreased significantly
   22  overnight, signaling the possibility of severe anemia, and
   23         WHEREAS, mistakenly attributing the significant change in
   24  hemoglobin levels to sample contamination, the lab technician
   25  canceled the lab results and requested blood be redrawn from
   26  Harry, and
   27         WHEREAS, when Harry’s blood was retested approximately 12
   28  hours later, the hemoglobin levels were even lower than the
   29  first test, and it was discovered that Harry had been bleeding
   30  internally from an earlier kidney biopsy procedure, and
   31         WHEREAS, shortly thereafter, exhibiting low blood pressure
   32  and a slowed heart rate, Harry went into cardiac arrest and did
   33  not fully recover until approximately one hour later, and
   34         WHEREAS, as a result of prolonged oxygen deprivation from
   35  the cardiac arrest, Harry suffered severe hypoxic ischemic
   36  encephalopathy, a type of brain injury, which resulted in
   37  significant neurological disabilities that left Harry
   38  quadriplegic, unable to verbally communicate, epileptic, and
   39  subject to painful involuntary muscle spasms, among other
   40  things, and
   41         WHEREAS, Moses and Rose Shumow, as parents and natural
   42  guardians of Harry, filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of the
   43  Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County under
   44  case number 2019-15810-CA-01, alleging that the Public Health
   45  Trust of Miami-Dade County, d/b/a Jackson Memorial Hospital,
   46  through its employees, was the direct and proximate cause of the
   47  injuries to Harry, and
   48         WHEREAS, the Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County has
   49  agreed to settle Harry Augustin Shumow’s claim for $5.3 million,
   50  $300,000 of which will be paid by the Public Health Trust of
   51  Miami-Dade County pursuant to the statutory limits of liability
   52  in s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the remaining $5 million of
   53  which is conditioned upon the Legislature’s passage of a claim
   54  bill, NOW, THEREFORE,
   55  
   56  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   57  
   58         Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
   59  found and declared to be true.
   60         Section 2. The Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County,
   61  d/b/a Jackson Memorial Hospital, is authorized and directed to
   62  appropriate from funds not otherwise encumbered and to draw a
   63  warrant in the sum of $5 million payable to the Special Needs
   64  Trust created for the exclusive use and benefit of Harry
   65  Augustin Shumow as compensation for injuries and damages
   66  sustained.
   67         Section 3. The amount paid by the Public Health Trust of
   68  Miami-Dade County pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and
   69  the amount awarded under this act are intended to provide the
   70  sole compensation for all present and future claims arising out
   71  of the factual situation described in this act which resulted in
   72  injuries and damages to Harry Augustin Shumow. The total amount
   73  paid for attorney fees relating to this claim may not exceed 25
   74  percent of the total amount awarded under this act.
   75         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.