Florida Senate - 2023 CS for SB 16
By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Gruters
590-03295-23 202316c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act for the relief of Jamiyah Mitchell, Latricia
3 Mitchell, and Jerald Mitchell by the South Broward
4 Hospital District; providing an appropriation to
5 compensate Latricia Mitchell and Jerald Mitchell,
6 individually and as legal guardians of Jamiyah
7 Mitchell, for injuries and damages sustained as a
8 result of the negligence of the South Broward Hospital
9 District; providing a limitation on the payment of
10 compensation and attorney fees; providing an effective
11 date.
12 WHEREAS, on October 8, 2008, Latricia Mitchell, who was
13 pregnant, went to Memorial Hospital West, operated by the South
14 Broward Hospital District, with pain, vaginal bleeding, and
15 contractions, and
16 WHEREAS, fetal monitoring tracings, which began at 4:33
17 p.m., reflected a fetal tachycardia, minimal fetal heart rate
18 variability, and the absence of accelerations, and
19 WHEREAS, at approximately 5:54 p.m., Mrs. Mitchell was
20 admitted to Memorial Hospital West, and
21 WHEREAS, medical records reflect that, at 6:29 p.m.,
22 continued fetal tachycardia, minimal fetal heart rate
23 variability, the absence of accelerations, and variable
24 decelerations were present, and
25 WHEREAS, the minimal variability and absence of
26 acceleration observations continued until approximately 8:44
27 p.m., when Jamiyah Mitchell was finally delivered by caesarean
28 section, and
29 WHEREAS, the hospital’s records indicate that the caesarean
30 section was performed due to a nonreassuring fetal heart rate,
31 and
32 WHEREAS, upon Jamiyah’s birth, there was a presence of
33 meconium-stained fluids, a sign of fetal asphyxiation, and her
34 Apgar score was 3 out of 10, and
35 WHEREAS, Jamiyah suffered a left hemisphere stroke, began
36 having seizures immediately at birth, and was cared for in the
37 neonatal intensive care unit for 7 days after her birth for
38 respiratory distress and seizure activity, and
39 WHEREAS, Jamiyah was also diagnosed with fetal hypoxic
40 ischemic encephalopathy, and magnetic resonance imaging of her
41 brain at 4 days old showed objective findings of a stroke in the
42 left hemisphere of the brain and a hemorrhage of the occipital
43 horn of the right lateral ventricle, and
44 WHEREAS, Jamiyah is now a teenager and while she is able to
45 walk and function in most aspects of everyday life in a manner
46 typical for an average girl her age, she suffers from attention
47 deficit/hyperactivity disorder and has a learning disability,
48 and
49 WHEREAS, on or about October 10, 2013, Mrs. Mitchell and
50 Jerald Mitchell, Mrs. Mitchell’s spouse and Jamiyah’s father,
51 individually and on behalf of Jamiyah, filed a legal action in
52 the Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit, in and for
53 Broward County, Case No. 14-005044, against the South Broward
54 Hospital District and other parties, alleging, in part,
55 negligence of the district in failing to establish adequate
56 protocols and procedures for the admission, monitoring,
57 evaluation, testing, and referral to medical specialists of
58 mothers presenting with risk factors for fetal distress,
59 including timely caesarean section and appropriate oxygenation
60 and ventilation, and
61 WHEREAS, on or about July 3, 2019, Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell,
62 individually and as legal guardians of Jamiyah, and the South
63 Broward Hospital District entered into a settlement agreement,
64 and
65 WHEREAS, the settlement agreement provides for the payment
66 of $200,000, by the South Broward Hospital District to the
67 Special Needs Trust for the Benefit of Jamiyah Mitchell,
68 pursuant to the statutory limit under s. 768.28, Florida
69 Statutes; the entry of a consent judgment in the amount of
70 $995,000 which limits execution to $795,000; and the South
71 Broward Hospital District’s agreement that it supports a claim
72 bill in the amount of $795,000, NOW, THEREFORE,
73 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
74
75 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
76 found and declared to be true.
77 Section 2. The South Broward Hospital District is
78 authorized and directed to appropriate from funds not otherwise
79 encumbered and to draw a warrant in the sum of $795,000 payable
80 to Mikel Taft, as trustee of the Special Needs Trust for the
81 Benefit of Jamiyah Mitchell, as compensation for injuries and
82 damages sustained.
83 Section 3. The amount paid by the South Broward Hospital
84 District pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amount
85 awarded under this act are intended to provide the sole
86 compensation for all present and future claims arising out of
87 the factual situation described in this act which resulted in
88 injuries and damages to Jamiyah Mitchell, Latricia Mitchell, and
89 Jerald Mitchell. The total amount paid for attorney fees
90 relating to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the amount
91 awarded under this act.
92 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.