Florida Senate - 2022                               CS for SB 74
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       590-02782-22                                            202274c1
    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, lobbying fees, and other costs or similar
   10         expenses; providing an effective date.
   11  
   12         WHEREAS, on August 22, 2017, 6-year-old Harry Augustin
   13  Shumow, suffering from dehydration, fever, and lethargy, was
   14  diagnosed with acute liver failure, hypoglycemia, dehydration,
   15  and hypotension, as well as early signs of acute kidney injury,
   16  and
   17         WHEREAS, Harry was admitted to Jackson Memorial Hospital
   18  and from approximately August 24, 2017, to September 8, 2017,
   19  showed steady and significant physical, cognitive, and
   20  neurological improvements, and
   21         WHEREAS, on September 8, 2017, when a lab technician tested
   22  Harry’s hemoglobin levels, they had decreased significantly
   23  overnight, signaling the possibility of severe anemia, and
   24         WHEREAS, mistakenly attributing the significant change in
   25  hemoglobin levels to sample contamination, the lab technician
   26  canceled the lab results and requested blood be redrawn from
   27  Harry, and
   28         WHEREAS, when Harry’s blood was retested approximately 12
   29  hours later, the hemoglobin levels were even lower than the
   30  first test, and it was discovered that Harry had been bleeding
   31  internally from an earlier kidney biopsy procedure, and
   32         WHEREAS, shortly thereafter, exhibiting low blood pressure
   33  and a slowed heart rate, Harry went into cardiac arrest and did
   34  not fully recover until approximately 1 hour later, and
   35         WHEREAS, as a result of prolonged oxygen deprivation from
   36  the cardiac arrest, Harry suffered severe hypoxic ischemic
   37  encephalopathy, a type of brain injury, which resulted in
   38  significant neurological disabilities that left Harry
   39  quadriplegic, unable to verbally communicate, epileptic, and
   40  subject to painful involuntary muscle spasms, among other
   41  things, and
   42         WHEREAS, Moses and Rose Shumow, as parents and natural
   43  guardians of Harry, filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of the
   44  Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County under
   45  case number 2019-15810-CA-01, alleging that the Public Health
   46  Trust of Miami-Dade County, d/b/a Jackson Memorial Hospital,
   47  through its employees, was the direct and proximate cause of the
   48  injuries to Harry, and
   49         WHEREAS, the Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County has
   50  agreed to settle Harry Augustin Shumow’s claim for $5.3 million,
   51  $300,000 of which will be paid by the Public Health Trust of
   52  Miami-Dade County pursuant to the statutory limits of liability
   53  in s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the remaining $5 million of
   54  which is conditioned upon the Legislature’s passage of a claim
   55  bill, NOW, THEREFORE,
   56  
   57  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   58  
   59         Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
   60  found and declared to be true.
   61         Section 2. The Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County,
   62  d/b/a Jackson Memorial Hospital, is authorized and directed to
   63  appropriate from funds not otherwise encumbered and to draw a
   64  warrant in the sum of $5 million payable to the special needs
   65  trust created for the exclusive use and benefit of Harry
   66  Augustin Shumow as compensation for injuries and damages
   67  sustained.
   68         Section 3. The amount paid by the Public Health Trust of
   69  Miami-Dade County pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and
   70  the amount awarded under this act are intended to provide the
   71  sole compensation for all present and future claims arising out
   72  of the factual situation described in this act which resulted in
   73  injuries and damages to Harry Augustin Shumow. The total amount
   74  paid for attorney fees relating to this claim may not exceed $1
   75  million, the total amount paid for lobbying fees may not exceed
   76  $250,000, and the total amount paid for costs or other similar
   77  expenses may not exceed $133,344.06.
   78         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.