$______ VERDICT - MEDICAL MALPRACTICE - REHABILITATION CENTER NEGLIGENCE - DEFENDANT FACILITY FAILS TO APPRECIATE DECEDENT'S HISTORY OF UTIS AND FAILS TO RECOGNIZE DECEDENT'S SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF UTI CAUSING DECEDENT TO CONTRACT SEPSIS AND UROSEPSIS - WRONGFUL DEATH OF 61-YEAR-OLD FEMALE.

• Pages: 2-3

Featured Cases

$3,326,711 VERDICT – MOTOR VEHICLE NEGLIGENCE – MULTI-VEHICLE REAR END

COLLISION – DEFENDANT STRIKES REAR OF STOPPED VEHICLE THAT IS THEN

PUSHED INTO REAR OF PLAINTIFF’S STOPPED VEHICLE – CERVICAL DISC

HERNIATIONS – RADICULOPATHY – FUTURE SURGERY REQUIRED – DAMAGES ONLY.

Duval County, FL

The plaintiff in this motor vehicle negligence

action maintained that she suffered serious and

permanent injuries to her neck when she was

involved in a multiple-vehicle rear end collision

caused by the negligence of the defendant driver.

The driver stipulated liability, but denied the

nature and extent of the plaintiff’s damages.

On October 24, 2014, the female plaintiff was stopped

on Town Center Parkway at its intersection with St. Johns

Bluff Road in Duval County, Florida. The plaintiff’s vehicle

was struck in the rear by a vehicle that had been com-

pletely stopped when struck in the rear by the defen-

dant. The force of the impact to the plaintiff’s vehicle

pushed it into the vehicle in front for a second impact.

The plaintiff alleged that the accident resulted in severe

cervical injuries including 2 disc herniations with annular

tears and cervical radiculopathy. She suffers from neck

spasms and severe headaches. The plaintiff maintained

that she will require future surgery to address her injuries

and will suffer life-long pain.

The plaintiff maintained that the defendant driver was

negligent in failing to pay proper attention to the opera-

tion of the vehicle, failing to keep a proper lookout, fail-

ing to make a proper and timely application of the

brakes, failure to maintain an assured clear distance

and failing to stop for traffic. The defendant admitted

causing the collision, but denied that the plaintiff sus-

tained any serious or permanent injuries.

The jury found that the defendant’s negligence was a

factual cause of brining harm to the plaintiff. The jury

awarded the plaintiff past medicals of $58,457.59, fu-

ture medicals of $1,068,313.91, past pain and suffering

of $200,000 and future pain and suffering of

$2,000,000, for a total of $3,326,771.50.

REFERENCE

Annie Goodfellow vs. Sydney Cichon. Case no. 16-

2016-CA-003221; Judge Waddell Wallace, III, 01-18-19.

Attorney for plaintiff: Timothy Moran of Morgan &

Morgan in Jacksonville, FL. Attorney for defendant:

Harris Brown in Jacksonville, FL.

$1,758,230 VERDICT – MEDICAL MALPRACTICE – REHABILITATION CENTER

NEGLIGENCE – DEFENDANT FACILITY FAILS TO APPRECIATE DECEDENT’S HISTORY OF

UTIS AND FAILS TO RECOGNIZE DECEDENT’S SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF UTI

CAUSING DECEDENT TO CONTRACT SEPSISANDUROSEPSIS–WRONGFULDEATHOF

61-YEAR-OLD FEMALE.

Palm Beach County, FL

In this medical malpractice action, the plaintiff

estate maintained that the defendant

rehabilitation center failed to properly diagnose

and treat the decedent’s UTI causing a severe

infection, sepsis, urosepsis and the wrongful

death of the decedent. The defendant denied all

allegations of negligence and injury.

On February 5, 2016, the plaintiff’s female decedent

was transferred from a local hospital to the defendant’s

rehabilitation facility located in Palm Beach County,

Florida. At the time of her admission, the decedent was

a high risk for urinary tract infections due to a prior history.

While a patient at the defendant facility, the decedent

experienced in change in mental status and physical

condition where she stopped getting out of bed, was

sweating profusely and was incoherent. The decedent

also attempted to remove her catheter. Despite these

signs of infection, the defendant facility failed to diag-

nose and treat a UTI which led to sepsis and urosepsis re-

quiring an emergency hospitalization on March 7, 2016,

at a nearby hospital. The hospital performed life-saving

treatment; however, the decedent died from her

infections on April 12, 2016.

The decedent is survived by her adult son. The estate

maintained that the defendant facility was negligent in

failing to properly assess the resident for infections in-

cluding UTIs, failing to respond properly to signs and

symptoms of infection, failing to prevent the decedent’s

UTI, failing to order a urology consult and failing to ap-

propriately respond to infections and complications of

2

Volume 31, Issue 10, October 2021

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