$116M is awarded in stroke suit

By TIMES STAFF WRITER
Published September 30, 2006

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TAMPA - A jury on Friday awarded a $116-million medical malpractice verdict to the family of a Tampa man who attorneys argued became a paraplegic after an unlicensed hospital worker misdiagnosed a stroke as sinusitis.

On Aug. 9, 2000, Allan Navarro, now 50, of Tampa went to University Community Hospital Carrollwood campus with nausea, double vision, headaches and an unsteady gate. He was sent home with the diagnosis of sinusitis, attorney Steve Yerrid said, and went on to suffer severe brain swelling. Twenty hours after his initial diagnosis, Navarro was back in the emergency room, getting treated for a stroke.

Yerrid said the decision was the largest jury award in a medical malpractice suit in Florida history. Punitive damages are expected to be considered on Tuesday.

Navarro, a former pro basketball player from the Philippines, came to the United States in the 1990s. His wife Marilyn, 52, and son, Scottie, 10, are named as claimants in the jury verdict, Yerrid said.

UCH officials could not be reached for comment late Friday.