Fatal error costs hospital $1 million:  Hospital gives widow $1-million, apology.  Norma Jean Cecil got $1-million and sincere apologies Wednesday from University Community Hospital and the two health care workers responsible for her husband's death from an allergic reaction to a painkiller.  But what matters more to the grieving widow are the sweeping changes the hospital agreed to make in its emergency room.

Jury awards cancer patient $1.6 million:  A Largo man was awarded $1.6-million last month when a six-person jury decided Sun Coast Hospital and three of its physicians were negligent in treating his prostate cancer and subsequent health problems.

Malpractice award totals $500,000:  A civil jury has ordered a Zephyrhills orthopedic surgeon to pay a 53-year-old patient $500,000 in damages for failing to properly diagnose and treat a ruptured disk.  After the trial, Marion's attorney said his client "was concerned that Dr. Knight become a little better doctor and that this not happen to anybody else."  "He thinks that justice was done," said Patrick Dekle.

NFL Medical Policies Under Scrutiny...Is NFL medical care good enough?

At what price a player's pain?...more on the Jeff Novak case.

Schools told to pay autistic boy's parents:  For Mrs. DiNapoli, 53, the ruling ended a seven-year struggle with Pinellas school officials about allegations that her son, David, was abused. She said complaints by her and others were ignored by school officials.

Family demanding Hospital Records:  When Alan Brenia's mother came out of abdominal surgery at Community Hospital of New Port Richey, her prognosis was good and she was quickly regaining consciousness.  "Two hours later, we saw her and she was in a deep coma," said Brenia.  When Brenia asked what had happened, he said, the doctor's response was worrisome: "There's been an accident."  Dorothy Brenia, who was 66, died shortly after the accident in December.

Woman settles suit for $500,000:  A 34-year-old Lykes Pasco employee accepted a $500,000 settlement Wednesday from two machinery companies, settling a 3-year-old lawsuit over a 1992 boiler mishap that burned her over a third of her body.

Racer sues for medical payments:  Emil "Buzzie" Reutimann sues race promoter for medical costs after promoter "represented falsely that it had insurance to pay for medical bills and disability covering all drivers."

Woman files suit after accident: Gertrude Mickler is suing Asphalt Pavers Inc. for negligence, claiming the company failed to follow proper safety guidelines while resurfacing a stretch of U.S. 301 north of Dade City. The suit, filed in circuit court, also names Trans-Phos Inc., the company that owned the rock truck, which the suit claims was going too fast in a construction zone.

Couple sues hospital over nervous system damage:  Gladys Wofford checked into Humana Hospital-Northside with a fractured hip. When she checked out, about five months later, she was an invalid who couldn't eat or breathe without machines.  Now, Mrs. Wofford, 71, and her husband, William, have filed a lawsuit against the hospital and two doctors, alleging negligence and malpractice.

Judge in malpractice lawsuit reverses his reversal:  Mary Louise Kinsley accused Dr. Paul R. Winters of failing to treat her in 1991 for symptoms indicating the onset of a stroke that would leave her partly paralyzed.

Judge Tepper sues Eye Doctor:  Laser surgery went awry, and repeat operations failed to fix the problems, the suit says. She wants a jury trial.

Doctor, lawyer debate the controversy over medical malpractice insurance...The president of the Florida Medical Association and a trial attorney only agreed on one thing Friday — that they don't like the Senate's package aiming to curb the soaring cost of malpractice insurance.

Mr. Dekle's Rose Garden:  After Mother Nature made a mess, they made beauty...Several years ago, after a spate of fall hurricanes toppled a massive oak tree in their front yard, Pat and Jan Dekle made a decision: Expand their professionally tended rose garden and get serious about growing roses themselves.
The Times - City Times, May 5, 2006