Florida Couple Awarded $21 Million For Birth Defect Case
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Daniel and Amara Estrada sued Dr. Boris Kousseff for failing to correctly diagnose the birth defect in their first child.
They claim that if their first child had been correctly diagnosed with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (the inability to produce or synthesize cholesterol), they would have tested their second child for the same defect before he was born. The couple says that if their unborn child had tested positive for the same birth defect, they would have terminated the pregnancy.
After the couple had their first child, Dr. Kousseff told them they would be able to have children in the future without any problems. Unfortunately, that was not the case since their second child has the same severe birth defect.
Dr. Kousseff was found to be 90% negligent and another doctor was 10% negligent in this case. Christian Searcy, one of the attorneys representing the Estradas, says that the $21 million award is fair considering the amount of medical attention both children will continually need.
However, Dr. Kousseff works for the University of South Florida and the state law has a $200,000 limit on negligence claims against state agencies. Christian Searcy says that he will work to persuade lawmakers to allow the Estradas to be given more than the $200,000 limit.
How can any parent not feel the misery and financial uncertainty the Estrada's face?
But wait, let's get on the Bush Administration plan of dealing with family values such as this and talk about something much more important. Larry Ellison's yacht has to be far more important than the misery caused by tort-deform a/k/a tort reform. Do you know who Larry is? He's the Czar of Oracle Corp. Yeah that's right he's the CEO (Czar Equal One) of a major software giant conglomerate. Now we are talking about something real important not just some brain damaged kid whose parents will be bankrupted due to a doctor's negligence and tort deform measures intended to allow wrongdoers to avoid liability but save us all from ourselves. Okay back to the important stuff. Seems like Larry already has the second largest private yacht in the world - It's named the Rising Sun and is 454 feet long. It cost a mere $200,000,000.00 to build. But speculation had it he might have to sell it after agreeing to a $122,500,000.00 insider trading lawsuit brought by some greedy trial lawyers probably just interested in making him look bad. Probably, not probably, this is exactly what all the tort deformers have been talking about. This is a prime example of just one more frivolous lawsuit where the innocent wrongdoer had to pay costs of defense just to get back the peace and quiet that a 454 foot boat brings a person.
Let's get back to talking about the boat. My guess is it's named the Rising Sun because Larry believes that every day the sun rises and sets on him. I wonder if his bathroom mirror is really big too. And, how many toilets are onboard? How many do you guess are there? Larry wanted a boat that big because he wanted to have the largest private yacht imaginable but then someone beat him out and so he has to settle for second. But low and behold he discovered that trying to dock a 454 foot boat isn't all that easy. He's had to dock with oil tankers and container ships at industrial ports. Can you imagine that? How impractical that would be and can you just imagine his neighbors? Yeah, can you imagine, immigrant workers who work the shipyards living next door to Larry and watching him sit in his silk robes drinking cappuccino in the morning. We gotta get outta here and fast. What if some of that rubs off on him? He might just feel bad for the Estrada's and Larry can't have that happening.
I wonder how much Larry gave to the Bush Administration as a campaign contribution. Was it worth it? Heck the Bush Administration couldn't even keep him in first place with the biggest and longest yacht! But they did keep the Estrada's from getting more than $200,000.00. Let's see, Larry has $200 million to spend on a boat and the Estrata's get $200,000.00 to pay $21 million dollars in doctor bills. Seemed fair to the Bush Administration, oh yeah there's a Bush Administration in Florida too. So we should all join hands and sing along for the good of family values. Perhaps we should sing "We Shall Overcome".
Okay back to the Estrada child born with the profound birth defect. I did a little checking and it seems his problems might just be bigger than Larry's.
What is Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome?
Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome is a developmental disorder that affects many parts of the body. This condition is characterized by distinctive facial features, small head size (microcephaly), mental retardation or learning disabilities, and behavioral problems. Many affected children have the characteristic features of autism, a developmental condition that affects communication and social interaction. Malformations of the heart, lungs, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, and genitalia are also common. Infants with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome have weak muscle tone (hypotonia), experience feeding difficulties, and tend to grow more slowly than other infants. Most affected individuals have fused second and third toes (syndactyly), and some have extra fingers or toes (polydactyly).
The signs and symptoms of Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome vary widely. Mildly affected individuals may have only minor physical abnormalities with learning and behavioral problems. Severe cases can be life-threatening and involve profound mental retardation and major physical abnormalities.
Oh jees Jebby, I'm sorry Larry and Dubbya (Moe, Larry and Curly), there I go spoiling your morning coffee by talking about something called family values and regulation. There I go tawkin bout family values again and that pesty election is right around the corner. I've got an idea for the Bush Administration that just might work. If Dubbya continues to refuse to appoint someone to the Consumer Product Safety Commission then there still can't be a quorum to do the business that the commission wants to do - like regulate industry. Lead paint on toys isn't all that important an issue because babies can't vote. And if the CPSC can't operate due to not having a quorum then everyone will be distracted from this Estrata family situation which seems to be somewhat messy to discuss.
Okay back to the yachts... Larry is in real good company. Seems he was in second but now he's in fourth place behind the Sheikh of Dubai (524' 10"), King Fahd (482' 3"), Crown Prince of Sultan of Saudia Arabia (456' 10"), then the Czar Equal One followed by Paul Allen (413' 4"). Of course Paul Allen has the twentieth place as well as the fifth place (Tatoosh 301' 8") which is what this may all be about with Larry. Larry is numero uno if you just count American's.
Of course if in his lifetime the Estrada child gets to go out on a Boston Whaler ( 15' 5") he'll feel blessed by God himself. God bless the Estrada family. My prayers are with you.