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LAARWT
KEEPING IT SAFE
By Attorney Jack Gordon
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 67
Rabbi Joshua Lobel has been selected
to lead Temple B’nai Israel in Clearwater.
He most recently served in Missouri
City, Texas. Rabbi Lobel is married to
Dr. Elizabeth Lobel and they have
three sons.
Yann Weymouth, design director
for the architecture team of the James
Museum of Western & Wildlife Art in
St. Petersburg, is proud that the Florida/
Caribbean chapter of the American
Institute of Architects has given an Award
of Excellence to this museum project,
which has created 81,000 square feet of
space and features a two-story sandstone
lobby with a waterfall.
Greg Sembler has been selected as
CEO of the Sembler Co. that is based in
St. Petersburg and has developed more
than 350 shopping centers throughout the
southeastern United States and Puerto
Rico. He is a graduate of the University
of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of
Finance and Commerce and has been
with the company since 1983.
Chris Sprowls of Palm Harbor has
been selected as the next speaker of the
Florida House by his fellow Republicans
and will preside over the 2021 and 2022
legislative sessions. A former prosecutor,
he is known for his hard work and
congeniality. He is a hard-working
lawmaker whose many talents led to
this leadership appointment.
Iam a lawyer who maintains board
certifications in both medical
malpractice law and trial law, so I
spend a substantial amount of time
reviewing patient files and hospital
charts to determine whether there is any
evidence of medical negligence within
these materials. At ManeyGordon Trial
Lawyers, we have a team of 10 attorneys
to review these records and look for
evidence that a health care provider (such
as a doctor, nurse or nurse practitioner)
has failed to provide the patient with
care that meets the accepted standards
of practice.
When such evidence does exist, it tends
to be found in the details. And there are
certain areas of medicine that demonstrate
a greater statistical likelihood of error.
In a recent Medscape Doctor Report, the top
five medical specialties that involved the
highest number of alleged errors were
surgery, OB-GYN and women’s health,
otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat
specialists), urology and orthopedics.
Since 1988, the Florida Department
of Health has been required to review
all Florida medical malpractice lawsuits
filed against doctors in the state. This is
part of the department’s responsibility
to identify problem doctors and take
disciplinary action when necessary.
The legislative goal was to protect Florida
patients by intervening before repeated
allegations accumulated. Unfortunately,
that has not manifested in the way
the Legislature would have liked, as
the health department rarely stays
involved in reviewing conduct after an
administrative complaint file is closed.
Instead, patients must rely upon the civil
legal system and their legal rights to bring
claims for damages, to hold negligent
physicians fully accountable, and to
make medical care safer for all patients
here in Florida. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Jeffrey “Jack” Gordon,
a board certified civil trial lawyer in Tampa,
can be contacted at (813) 221-1366, or at
FightNegligence.com.
ADVERTORIAL
Sallie Parks
congratulated
Pinellas
Community
Foundation
Executive
Director
Duggan
Cooley
during the
organization’s
annual open
house in
Clearwater
for the
success
he’s had in
growing the
foundation.
GRAM
Piers Davies and
Liz Dimmitt, whose
brother’s death led
to the creation of
Love IV Lawrence,
a suicide-prevention
donor advised fund
at the Community
Foundation of
Tampa Bay that
works to connect
folks with resources
in the mental
health community,
attended the first
“Reeling in Stigma”
event to benefit
the fund. GRAM