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MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

ST. LUCIE CIRCUIT COURT

A jury awarded nearly $650,000 to a woman who sued Tradition Medical Center and an emergency-room doctor at the Port St. Lucie hospital, claiming she was discharged prematurely.

Mirtha Bernadin, who was about 50 at the time of the June 2016 incident, was walking to her car in the hospital's parking lot after she was treated for anemia and fell down. Her counsel argued Bernadin fainted because of her anemia and her condition was still unstable when she was released. Counsel noted she was readmitted 22 minutes after falling.

The hospital settled before trial, and the jury found negligence by the doctor. The award amounted to $649,870.

Case: Bernadin v. Martin Memorial Medical Center

Case No.: 2017CA000796

Plaintiffs attorneys: Gloretta H. Hall, Gloretta H. Hall P.A., Stuart, and Jeffrey R. Rollins, Jeffrey R. Rollins P.A., Fort Pierce

Defense attorneys: Eugene L. Ciotoli, Bobo and Jessica Latour, Bobo, Ciotoli, White & Russell, Palm Beach Gardens