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News
Fort Lauderdale Attorneys Win $14 million Verdict Against Hollywood
Doctor for Treatment That Left Father Severely Disabled For Life
By: Legal Radar
Attorneys with the personal injury law firm of Sheldon
J. Schlesinger P.A., won a $14 million jury verdict on behalf of
a local father and optometrist left bed-ridden and paralyzed resulting
from a botched, unnecessary procedure seven years ago.
According to the suit, heard by Judge Charles Green in Broward County
Circuit Court, Francis Ziadie was suffering dizziness and slurred
speech when he arrived at the emergency room at Memorial Regional
Hospital in Hollywood in May 2002. Doctors there gave him aspirin
and the anti-platelet medication, Plavix. His symptoms subsided
on medical therapy. Ziadie was admitted overnight for observation.
The next morning, Ziadie complained of short-term
slurred speech and numbness in his hand. A CAT scan and magnetic
resonance angiography showed no evidence of a stroke. Doctors diagnosed
transient ischemic attacks caused by left internal carotid artery
dissection, or a separation of the inner layer of the carotid artery.
The aspirin / Plavix regimen is considered standard of care, as
in most cases, the dissection will heal itself within three to six
months, said Crane Johnstone, Ziadie's lead trial attorney from
Schlesinger Law Firm in Fort Lauderdale. Valerie Conzo was co-counsel
on the case.
Hoang Dinh Doung, M.D., an interventional neuroradiologist
from Radiology Associates of Hollywood, P.A. was consulted. Doung
recommended an immediate procedure to insert a stent into the artery.
During the procedure, Doung punctured the arterial wall. Because
Ziadie was on large doses of blood thinners, blood flowed from the
puncture, pooling around his brain. In the recovery room, Ziadie
had slurred speech and right-sided weakness. Instead of addressing
his problems, nurses sedated him. By the time doctors realized the
problem hours later, the bleeding had caused massive pressure damage
to the brain stem and caustic damage to brain tissue. Ziadie, at
one time an active 46-year-old optician and father of four, was
discharged almost three months later after extensive rehab. Today,
he spends his days in a hospital bed and wheelchair in the home
of his 76-year-old mother, Olivia, who cares for him round-the-clock.
"The jury realized that this was a preventable
injury, and that Mr. Ziadie should never have undergone that procedure,"
Johnstone said. "His legs are paralyzed, he has no bowel or
bladder control. He struggles to string sentences together. He can't
even get out of bed or feed himself."
Defense counsel from Bunnell, Woulfe claimed Mr. Ziadie
suffered from a rare "reperfusion injury." Another defendant,
David M. Feldbaum, MD, a surgeon who was part of the team treating
Mr. Ziadie, was found not liable.
The five-man, one-woman jury didn't buy Dr. Duong's
argument, and returned a verdict in under six hours. In determining
damages, the jury found that Ziadie, now 53, will require skilled
nursing care for the rest of his life. Johnstone also argued successfully
that the best care will be provided to Mr. Ziadie in his home, as
opposed to a nursing facility. The jury awarded $5 million to Mr.
Ziadie for his future care needs, and $8 million for pain, suffering
and mental anguish. Francis Ziadie's minor sons were each awarded
$250,000.
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
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