News

SUN SENTINEL, January 29, 1986
Metro Extra
Digest

"$2 million awarded in suit"

by Katie Springer

A former Fort Lauderdale man left paralyzed after a motorcycle accident, was awarded $2 million Tuesday in a medical malpractice suit against Memorial Hospital in Hollywood and one of its doctors.

David Joseph Lee, 25, said he was rushed by ambulance to the hospital after the April 1978 accident, but was then left unattended for 40 minutes. By the time a doctor saw him, he was paralyzed from the waist down, he said.

"He should have been restricted and immobilized," his lawyer, Scott Schlesinger said. "It is not a foregone conclusion that a man with a fractured back is going to be paralyzed."

The Broward Circuit Court jury that made the award also found Dr. Brett Whipple, the emergency room doctor who initially attended Lee, liable.

The third party found responsible by the jury was the professional association of doctor Richard Dellerson, whose business provided the emergency room personnel.

Whipple disputed Lee's story, saying he saw Lee right away. The doctor also testified that several people tried to hold Lee down after he was brought to the hospital, but he dept thrashing around.

Whipple's lawyer, John Neely, said he believes Lee was paralyzed at the time of the accident and that Whipple did everything he could to help him.

Lee has since moved to Arkansas.

Sheldon J. Schlesinger, P.A. represents clients throughout the state of Florida including the cities of Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Carol City, Cooper City, Coral Gables, Coral Springs, Davie, Deerfield Beach, Delray Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hialeah, Hollywood, Jupiter, Lake Worth, Miramar, Miami, Oakland Park, Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Springs, Pompano Beach, and Rivera Beach

Broward County • Miami-Dade County • Palm Beach County