A Hillsborough County jury has awarded $70.8 million to a woman who suffered permanent injuries after deciding providers at a Tampa General Hospital free-standing emergency department failed to diagnose and treat her condition.
After the two-week trial, which concluded Sept. 25, the jury found nurse practitioner Heather Anderson, a contracted employee, was negligent in the care of plaintiff Chiaka Stewart and was acting as an agent of TGH, according to the verdict form.
Anderson was employed by InPhyNet Contracting Services, a subsidiary of TeamHealth, a national company that partners with TGH to provide medical professionals.
TGH, InPhyNet and Anderson were co-defendants in the case.
In June 2021, Stewart, then 38, was transported by ambulance to TGH’s Brandon Healthplex with a severe headache she described as "the worst she had ever had," according to court documents.
Despite risk factors for blood clots, Anderson did not order a CT scan or consult a neurologist, according to court documents.
Instead, Stewart underwent bloodwork, received a COVID-19 test and was administered a “headache cocktail” before her discharge about four hours later.
Stewart’s condition worsened over the next 30 hours, with "right sided headache and left sided weakness and numbness," court documents said.
She suffered a stroke and was taken to TGH’s main campus on Davis Islands, where imaging revealed blood clots in her brain. Blood thinners were administered, but the delay left her permanently disabled, according to her attorneys.
Stewart filed suit after the stroke left her blind, with left-side paralysis, a stutter and cognitive impairment, her attorneys said.
Stewart’s attorneys, from the firm Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, argued in court that had a CT scan been performed in the Brandon ER, the clots would have been identified and treated, preventing the stroke.
The jury awarded one of the largest Florida medical malpractice verdicts in recent years, including $51 million for pain and suffering. Awards of that size typically reflect catastrophic injury or death, with clear liability and extensive long-term care needs.
The eventual amount Stewart will receive is not clear. In Florida, pain-and-suffering awards are generally uncapped, though certain groups, such as Medicaid recipients, may face limits under state law.
TeamHealth said it planned to appeal.
“Our hearts go out to the patient and family affected in this case," a TeamHealth company spokesman said in an email to WUSF. "At the same time, TeamHealth stands behind our clinicians, who deliver compassionate care guided by our mission, vision, and values. We are committed to supporting both patients and the professionals who care for them. We intend to appeal this decision but cannot comment further, as this is ongoing litigation.”
According to court documents, the emergency room physician during the Brandon visit, Dr. Danius Drukteinis, was also a co-defendant. According to attorneys, he reached a settlement before the trial began.
