Florida Injury Attorney Blog

13 years after Dr. Marc J. Philippon performed hip arthroscopy on Katie Shreffler, then 17, the orthopedic surgeon and Holy Cross Hospital of Fort Lauderdale have lost their final appeal and must now pay the $2.15 Broward County medical malpractice verdict that a jury had awarded to the former ballerina.

Schreffler, who continued to experience pain and limited mobility after undergoing surgery performed by Philippon to repair a labral tear, sued Holy Cross Hospital and the orthopedic surgeon for Ft. Lauderdale medical malpractice in 1999. Another surgeon who had performed a debridement on her a year after she was operated on Philippon told her that there were gouges in her cartilage that appear to have been caused by a sharp instrument.

At the 2007 South Florida civil trial, surgical technician Julie Snogles testified that Shreffler was only Philippon’s second or third patient that he had performed hip arthroscopy on. Snogles also says that not only did the orthopedic surgeon tell her that the procedure a new one, but also that this was a new surgery for him.

Snogles a claims that halfway through the procedure on Shreffler, Philippon created a third portal, which he told her was an opening he needed to take out foreign object. However, even though the implication was that Philippon may have broken a shaver inside the teenager (and damaged cartilage while retrieving the broken parts), Snogles also testified that she never saw any foreign object being retrieved taken out of the patient.

10 years after the surgery performed on her by Philippon, Scheffler, who had studied ballet for 15 years, was still in pain, walking with a crutch, and needing more surgery to correct the damage from the original procedure. She was awarded the $2.15 million Broward County medical malpractice verdict that year.

Examples of Surgical Errors that Cause Serious Patient Injuries:
• Wrong site surgery
• Anesthesia errors
• Incision mistakes
• Leaving foreign objects, such as medical instruments and sponges, in the patient
• Using instruments that were not properly sterilized
• Delayed surgery
• Causing organ, tissue, or nerve damage because of surgical mistakes
• Substandard care after the operation
• Prolonged surgery

Surprise Testimony From Surgical Tech Leads to $2.15M Malpractice Award, Outpatient Surgery, June 10, 2010

Read the Appeal (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
Holy Cross Hospital of Fort Lauderdale

Hip Arthroscopy

The family of Bree Kelly is suing Collier middle school teacher Andrea Kidder and her husband Matthew Kidder for Florida wrongful death. Kidder is the driver that struck the sport utility truck that Kelly, a 22-year-old Naples resident, was a passenger in on November 13, 2009.

n their Collier County motor vehicle crash lawsuit, Kelly’s parents March and John, and her sister Ashlee Rose are accusing Andrea of speeding, driving drunk, and of driving her vehicle into the truck that Andrea was riding.

Blood tests to determine Kidder’s blood-alcohol content are still pending and a police report notes that excessive speed and careless driving appear to have been involved. To date, however, no citations or criminal charges have been filed against Andrea over the deadly Florida auto crash.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Andrea was driving her 2005 Infiniti G35 sport sedan behind a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac pickup truck operated by Nicholas P. Mason, age 19, on I-75 at a speed above the 70 mph speed limit. She allegedly failed to respond quickly enough as Mason’s truck started to slow down.

Instead, Andrea rear-ended the truck, which caused it to spin out of control until it overturned several times on the grassy shoulder. Kelly, who was riding in the front seat of the truck and did not have her seat belt on, was thrown from the truck.

Kelly’s family is seeking wrongful death recovery damages for funeral costs, medical and emergency costs, funeral-related bills, lost future income, and other damages.

According to a 2008 article in Science Daily, about 31% of US car crashes are rear-end collisions. This type of auto accident can result in serious injuries for everyone involved, including soft tissue injuries, neck injuries, back injuries, spinal cord injuries, head injuries, brain injuries, whiplash, facial injuries, knee and ankle injuries, carpal tunnel injuries, and in some cases, death.

Fatal I-75 crash in 2009 spawns lawsuit against Collier teacher, Naples Daily News, June 13, 2010

Human Factors Psychologists Study How To Avoid Rear-end Collisions, Science Daily, May 1, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

The parents of Michael Sclawy-Adelman are suing the Boy Scouts of America for his Miami-Dade County wrongful death. The 17-year-old collapsed and died of heatstroke in May 2009.

Sclawy-Adelman was taking part in a 20-mile hike in 100 degree temperatures through the Big Cypress National Park of the Florida Everglades when he started to display signs of heat exhaustion. He then collapsed.

Judith Sclawy-Adelman and Howard Adelman are accusing the Boy Scouts and its scoutmasters of negligence. They claim that the Boy Scout leaders waited for over 90 minutes at the 15th mile before contacting 911. They say GMS data and investigative reports support this claim and that by that time, the teen was “dizzy, disoriented, and delirious. ” They also contend that their son began to show signs of heat exhaustion as early as mile 10 but that the hikers kept going.

Howard and Judith are also suing BSA's South Florida Council, Plantation United Methodist Church, and scoutmasters Andrew L. Schmidt and Howard K. Crompton, who set up, planned, and led the three boys on the hike.

Inadequate Supervision of Minors
Parties in charge of supervising minors can be held liable for Miami wrongful death if negligence, such as inadequate supervision, failure to respond properly during an emergency situation, failure to remove or repair a hazard on a premise, or some other kind of negligent act contributed to causing the victim's death. The negligence does not have to be intentional, and there may be more than one liable party.

Parents sue Boy Scouts over teen's death, Miami Herald, June 9, 2010

Parents of teen who died on hike sue Boy Scouts, Sun-Sentinel, June 9, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Heat Stroke, MedicineNet

Boy Scouts of America National Council

A judge says that the Florida wrongful death lawsuit against polo club founder John Goodman can move forward. Goodman, 46, is being sued by the parents of Scott Patrick Wilson, who died in a Palm Beach car crash on February 12.

According to investigators, Goodman, who was riding his Bentley convertible, ran a red stop sign before hitting Wilson’s vehicle. The impact of the car crash caused Wilson’s auto to flip over into a canal where he drowned. The polo magnate drove away from the Palm Beach County car accident site and waited nearly an hour before calling the police. According to test results, Goodman’s BAC was 0.117% even three hours after the fatal accident.

Wilson’s parents Lilli and William Wilson are accusing Goodman of not just getting behind the steering wheel of his Bentley while drunk, but also of using “controlled substances” either earlier that day or the day before. They also contend that Goodman did not make any attempt to rescue their son who he knew was seriously injured and likely drowning.

Goodman, who pleaded not guilty to the charges of vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, and failing to render aid in the car crash death, has entered a written plea of not guilty. He is demanding a jury trial.

He had sought to have the Palm Beach wrongful death lawsuit halted until he resolves the criminal charges against him. His defense attorney had argued that since Goodman would likely to have to exercise his Fifth amendment right against self-recrimination to prevent any responses he gave for the civil case from being used against him during a criminal trial, it was more logical to place the family’s lawsuit on hold.

The Wilsons are also suing the International Polo Club Palm Beach, which Goodman owns, and The Players Club, the establishment where he was drinking before the Palm Beach car crash happened. The bar’s employees are accused of continuing to serve Goodman alcohol that night even though he was “obviously drunk” and known for being an alcoholic.

Judge: Wrongful death suit against polo magnate Goodman can proceed despite pending criminal case, The Palm Beach Post, May 28, 2010

Polo Mogul's Tactic in Crash Case: Delay, Delay, Delay, New Times, May 28, 2010

Related Web Resources:

Wellington polo boss John Goodman involved in deadly crash; booze could have been factor, Page2Live.com, February 12, 2010

Drinking and Driving, 2Potsdam.edu