Wrongful Death Suit Against Fla. Medics Settled
Dec. 20--WEST PALM BEACH -- Fiddie Mae Hollis' family says Palm Beach County paramedics should have taken her to the hospital the first time her family called 911. She'd been diagnosed with pneumonia, was having trouble breathing and had a 102-degree fever.
Instead, paramedics left her at home. They were called out the following day, and this time they did take Fiddie Mae. But they were too late. She died.
Now Palm Beach County has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a wrongful death claim by the woman's mother, Ethel Faye Hollis, who had asked for nearly $2 million.
The county medical examiner ruled Hollis died of influenza pneumonia. Its report said the single, 35-year-old mother of five, ages 16 to 23, weighed 345 pounds and smoked.
Hollis' lawyer, Nancy La Vista, said last week that the family accepted the settlement not because they feared Hollis' weight and smoking worked against them. Instead, she said, a trial would take up to two years, not counting appeals, and the family would have to get the Florida Legislature to waive the state cap on judgments against local governments if it won a judgment of more than $300,000.
"This family's looking at a minimum of six years to, maybe, get paid," La Vista said.
"Settlement of the claim is in the County's best interest," says a memo for the County Commission's meeting on Tuesday, at which it approved the settlement as part of its "consent agenda."
"Many factors go into a decision to settle...litigation expenses, uncertainty as to what a jury will find, and the incident's facts and circumstances...which were set forth in the agenda item's background and justification," County Attorney Denise Nieman said Wednesday in an e-mail.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John L. Phillips approved the settlement Dec. 10, pending the county commission's vote. In it, the county doesn't admit liability.
According to county documents, Hollis, a Pahokee native and a taxi driver for Palm Beach Metro, had started feeling unwell the day after Christmas in 2013.
On Dec. 28, 2013, she went to Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee, complaining of breathing problems. She was sent home but went the next day to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach. She was sent home with medicine, but continue to have breathing problems.
Around 8 p.m. on New Year's Eve, Fire-Rescue paramedics were called to Hollis' home in the 2400 block of Robin Road, a block from the northwest corner of Palm Beach International Airport.
According to the staff memo recommending the settlement, "Several family members urged Fire Rescue to transport Ms. Hollis to the hospital."
Paramedics checked her out but did not transport her. Reports do not say why.
Palm Beach COunty Fire-Rescue spokesman Capt. Albert Borroto said he cannot comment on individual service calls because of the "HIPAA" privacy laws.
Hours later, at 7 a.m. on New Year's Day 2014, Hollis' boyfriend checked on the woman, who'd been sleeping in a chair, and he found her suffering breathing problems. He alerted her daughter to call 911; when he came back, Hollis had stopped breathing..
By the time paramedics arrived, she had no pulse. They took her to Palms West, where she was pronounced dead around 8 a.m.
Hollis' daughter, Tangeria McKinney, reached last week, declined to comment.
Copyright 2015 - The Palm Beach Post, Fla.
