Connor v. Halifax Hosp. Medical Center, 6:99-cv-1599-Orl-28JGG.
| Court | United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. United States District Court of Middle District of Florida |
| Citation | 135 F.Supp.2d 1198 |
| Docket Number | No. 6:99-cv-1599-Orl-28JGG.,6:99-cv-1599-Orl-28JGG. |
| Parties | William CONNOR, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Mable K. Connor, and Cynthia Coolbaugh, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Mary Ellen Comford, Plaintiffs, v. HALIFAX HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER, Hospice of Volusia/Flagler County, Halifax Medical Center Foundation, Inc., Halifax Health Care Systems, Inc., Steven J. Nelson, MA, MD, FCAP, Deborah Harley, Lisa Wycuff, Cecelia Stevens, Jane Doe(s) and John Doe(s), Jointly and Severally, Defendants. |
| Decision Date | 05 March 2001 |
v.
HALIFAX HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER, Hospice of Volusia/Flagler County, Halifax Medical Center Foundation, Inc., Halifax Health Care Systems, Inc., Steven J. Nelson, MA, MD, FCAP, Deborah Harley, Lisa Wycuff, Cecelia Stevens, Jane Doe(s) and John Doe(s), Jointly and Severally, Defendants.
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Geoffrey N. Fieger, Paul W. Broshay, Arnold J. Matusz, Fieger, Fieger & Schwartz, P.C., Southfield, MI, Donald Lewis O'Dell, Meier, Lengauer, Bonner, Orlando, FL, for William Connor, Cynthia Coolbaugh.
Steven E. Siff, Bryan T. West, McDermott, Will & Emery, Miami, FL, for Halifax Hospital Medical Center, Halifax Health Care Systems Inc., Halifax Hospital Taxing District, Halifax Community Health Care Systems, Inc.
David William Spicer, Bobo, Spicer, Ciotoli, Fulford, Bocchino, Debevoise & Leclainche, P.A., West Palm Beach, FL, John W. Bocchino, Gregorio A. Francis, Ian D. Forsythe, Armando T. Lauritano, Bobo, Spicer, Ciotoli, Bocchino Orlando, FL, Eugene L. Ciotoli, Anthony P. Corsini, Bobo, Spicer, Ciotoli, Fulford, North Palm Beach, FL, D. Andrew DeBevoise, Thomas W. Poulton, DeBevoise & Poulton, P.A. Winter Park, FL, for Hospice of Volusia/Flagler County, Deborah Harley, Lisa Wycuff, Cecelia Stevens.
Robert Lewis Trohn, Jonathan Barnet Trohn Gray, Harris, Robinson, Lane, Trohn, Lakeland, FL, for Steven J. Nelson.
Francis Edmund Pierce, III, David B. Falstad, Gurney & Handley, P.A., Orlando, FL, for Ronald Reeves, M.D.
ANTOON, District Judge.
This cause came on for consideration without oral argument on the Motion by Defendants Halifax Hospital Medical Center, Halifax Medical Center Foundation, Inc., Halifax Hospital Taxing District, Halifax Health Care Systems, Inc., Halifax Community Health Care Systems, Inc. to Dismiss Complaint, or in the Alternative to Strike (Doc. 5), to which Plaintiffs filed a Response (Doc. 11); Motion by Defendant Steven J. Nelson, M.D. to Dismiss the Complaint (Doc. 7), to which Plaintiffs filed a Response (Doc. 21); and Motion by Defendants Hospice of Volusia/Flagler Counties, Deborah Harley, Lisa Wycuff, and Cecelia Stevens to Dismiss Complaint, or for a More Definite Statement (Doc. 12), to which Plaintiffs filed a Response (Doc. 20). The United States Magistrate Judge submitted a Report and Recommendation (Doc. 63, filed January 18, 2001) as well as an amendment clarifying the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 72, February 9, 2001) which together recommend that all of the counts against all of the Defendant be dismissed except for Plaintiffs' fifth count pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Halifax Medical Center Foundation. Plaintiffs filed Objections to the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 68, filed February 1, 2001), to which the Halifax Defendants filed a Response (Doc. 76, filed February 20, 2001).
Upon consideration of the Report and Recommendation and the pleadings, it is ORDERED and ADJUDICATED as follows:
1. The United States Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation (Doc. 63, filed January 18, 2001) is ADOPTED.
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2. The Motion to Dismiss filed on behalf of the Halifax Medical Center Foundation, Inc. (Doc. 5) is DENIED.
3. The Motion to Dismiss filed on behalf of Defendants Halifax Hospital Medical Center, Halifax Hospital Taxing District, Halifax Health Care Systems, Inc., and Halifax Community Health Care Systems, Inc. (Doc. 5) is GRANTED, and the complaint as to these Defendants is DISMISSED without prejudice.
4. The Motion by Defendant Steven J. Nelson, M.D. to Dismiss the Complaint (Doc. 7) is GRANTED, and complaint as to this Defendant is DISMISSED without prejudice.
5. The Motion to Dismiss filed on behalf of Defendants Hospice of Volusia / Flagler Counties, Deborah Harley, Lisa Wycuff, and Cecelia Stevens (Doc. 12) is GRANTED, and the complaint is DISMISSED as to these Defendants without prejudice.
6. Plaintiffs claims brought pursuant to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act are DISMISSED as to each Defendant without prejudice.
7. Plaintiffs are granted leave to file an amended complaint on or before March 23, 2001.
TO THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
This cause came on for a hearing on November 8, 2000 on the following motions:
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MOTION: MOTION BY DEFENDANTS
HALIFAX HOSPITAL,
HALIFAX MEDICAL
CENTER, HALIFAX
HEALTH CARE, HALIFAX
HOSPITAL TAXING DISTRICT,
HALIFAX COMMUNITY
HEALTH CARE
SYSTEMS, INC. TO DISMISS
COMPLAINT, OR IN
THE ALTERNATIVE TO
STRIKE [Docket No. 5]
FILED: January 11, 2000
RECOMMENDATION: GRANTED in part and
DENIED in part.
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-------------------------------------------------
MOTION: MOTION BY DEFENDANT
STEVEN J. NELSON, M.D.
TO DISMISS THE COMPLAINT
[Docket No. 7]
FILED: January 13, 2000
RECOMMENDATION: GRANTED.
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-------------------------------------------------
MOTION: MOTION BY DEFENDANTS
HOSPICE OF
VOLUSIA/FLAGLER
COUNTIES, DEBORAH
HARLEY, LISA WYCUFF,
AND CECELIA STEVENS
TO THE DISMISS
COMPLAINT, OR FOR A
MORE DEFINITE
STATEMENT [Docket No.
12]
FILED: January 31, 2000
RECOMMENDATION: GRANTED.
-------------------------------------------------
I. BACKGROUND
A. Plaintiffs' Claims
On December 15, 1999, plaintiffs William Connor and Cynthia Coolbaugh [the "plaintiffs"], acting both individually and as representatives of the estates of decedents Mable K. Connor and Mary Ellen Comford, respectively [the "decedents"], filed a five-count complaint. The complaint alleges violation of the decedents' rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 1985, 1988, as well as various provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et. seq. ["RICO"] Docket No. 1.
The complaint alleges that each of the decedents died of a "massive overdose of Morphine" while in the care of the defendant Hospice of Volusia/Flagler County ["Hospice"] on March 18, 1998 and March 20, 1998. Docket No. 1 at ¶¶ 33, 39. Plaintiffs charge that these overdoses were
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not accidental. Rather, plaintiffs claims that "[t]he actual cause of death of MABLE K. CONNOR and MARY ELLEN COMFORD was homicide due to the lethal injection of Morphine." Docket No. 1 at ¶ 60. Plaintiffs further charge that the defendants "conspired amongst each other to participate, directly or indirectly, in the scheme or artifice to deprive the Plaintiffs' decedents of the intangible right of honest medical services and of Plaintiffs' decedents' lives." Docket No. 1. at ¶ 73. In short, the plaintiffs charge that Hospice and the other defendants intentionally murdered decedents Mable K. Connor and Mary Ellen Comford for money, in order to maximize their own financial recovery from insurance companies and governmental agencies and limit their own financial liability for caring for severely ill patients at a loss. Docket No. 1 at ¶ 123(c). The complaint identifies six entities and four individuals as conspirators to murder.
B. The Halifax Defendants
Halifax Medical Center Foundation, Inc. is a "governmental or municipal entity conducting business in the Counties of Volusia and/or Flagler, State of Florida." Docket No. 1 at ¶ 12. It owns defendants Halifax Hospital Medical Center and Halifax Health Care Systems, Inc. Docket No. 1 at ¶¶ 14, 15. It owns and operates defendant Hospice (where the plaintiffs claim that the decedents were murdered). Docket No. 1 at ¶ 16. The operations of each of these defendants is funded by taxes set and imposed on the citizens of Volusia and Flagler Counties by defendant Halifax Hospital Taxing District. Docket No. 1 at ¶ 17. Halifax Community Healthcare Systems, Inc. is a "governmental or municipal entity conducting business in the Counties of Volusia and/or Flagler, State of Florida." Docket No. 1 at ¶ 13. The complaint is silent as to this defendant's relationship to either defendant Hospice or to the other defendants with the word "Halifax" in their names. The defendants discussed in this paragraph (other than defendant Hospice) will be referred to as the "Halifax defendants." The complaint says nothing about the respective roles that each Halifax defendant allegedly played in the charged murder conspiracy.
C. The Hospice Defendants
Hospice employed defendants Lisa Wycuff and Cecilia Stevens as nurses at the time of the decedents' deaths. Docket No. 1 at ¶¶ 20, 21. Plaintiffs claim that Wycuff and Stevens administered lethal doses of Morphine to the decedents causing their deaths. Docket No. 1 at ¶ 24.1 Defendant Deborah Harley is the Executive Director of Hospice. Docket No. 1 at ¶ 19. Hospice, Wycuff, Stevens and Harley will be referred to as the "Hospice defendants."
D. Steven J. Nelson, M.D.
Former Volusia County Medical Examiner William Reeves conducted an initial investigation into the decedents' deaths. Defendant Steven J. Nelson, M.D. later headed a panel of experts convened to review Reeves' findings. Docket No. 1 at ¶ 46. According to plaintiffs, Dr. Nelson issued a fraudulent report finding "insufficient clinical and/or scientific data to justify and substantiate a determination of a homicidal manner of death for any of the 19 patients whose records were reviewed [including the two decedents]." Docket No. 1 at ¶ 47, 54 (internal citation omitted).
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E. Motions to Dismiss and Defenses
Each of the defendants has filed a motion to...
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...under Section 1983." Hufford v. Rodgers , 912 F.2d 1338, 1341, n 1 (11th Cir. 1990) ; see also Connor v. Halifax Hosp. Med. Ctr. , 135 F.Supp.2d 1198, 1223 (M.D. Fla. 2001) (rejecting a state agent's assertion of immunity under section 768.28(9)(a) in response to a Section 1983 claim). The ......
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...court, under Section 1983." Hufford v. Rodgers, 912 F.2d 1338, 1341, n 1 (11th Cir. 1990); see also Connor v. Halifax Hosp. Med. Ctr., 135 F. Supp. 2d 1198, 1223 (M.D. Fla. 2001) (rejecting a state agent's assertion of immunity under section 768.28(9)(a) in response to a Section 1983 claim)......
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Drury v. Volusia County, Case No. 6:10-cv-1176-Orl-28DAB
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