LUTZ, Fla. – On July 21, Baycare Medical Group and four affiliated physicians were sued in the death of former attorney Mitchell C. Robiner.
Robiner was associated with Brooks and Brooks Law Firm located in Tampa. He was 51 when he passed away on June 24, 2020.
The lawsuits co-defendants include Internists Dr. Rob Koch, D.O., Dr. Lindsey Sperry, D.O., Dr. James T. Farrell, D.O., and Dr. Christian Bailey, M.D., a gastroenterologist.
On June 8, 2020, Robiner went to the emergency room of St. Joseph’s Hospital North in Lutz. He complained of abdominal pain.
According to the lawsuit filed by his widow, Jane Robiner, “A CT scan performed that night identified two small distal common bile duct calcified stones and a small calcification likely within the main pancreatic duct. There was no evidence of pancreatitis. Mr. Robiner was referred for a magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP). On June 9, 2020, Mr. Robiner was unable to undergo the MRCP due to claustrophobia. At that time he was referred for an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) to be conducted on June 10, 2020.”
On June 10 after undergoing imaging, Robiner returned to his hospital room in stable condition. But by evening, he was suffering extreme abdominal pain accompanied by vomiting and dry heaving.
Co-defendants Dr. Koch and Dr. Sperry ordered narcotics for Robiner’s pain, but they did not alleviate any of his symptoms. Into the morning of June 11, neither physician came to see or examine Robiner who had requested their visits.
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The lawsuit states these physicians “knew or should have known” that Robiner was most likely suffering from pancreatitis. But neither ordered hydration which is the immediate response to the pancreatic condition. As a result, Robiner received substantially less hydration than he allegedly should have received within 24 hours.
The lawsuit’s four co-defending physicians are all accused of either not entering appropriate orders or improperly entering orders for Robiner’s plight.
The suit sums up the outcome: “By June 12, 2020, Mr. Robiner’s pancreatitis had worsened due to improper care. Two “rapid responses” had to be called due to Mr. Robiner’s deteriorating condition, including pleural effusion and difficulty breathing. Mr. Robiner required oxygen, suffered respiratory distress, was intubated and transferred to the intensive care unit on June 13, 2020. Mr. Robiner never recovered. He suffered from sepsis, multi-organ failure, and eventually died (in the hospital) on June 24, 2020.”
Counts of Professional Negligence and Vicarious Liability were listed in the lawsuit. Weston F. Smith of Weston Smith Law, St. Petersburg is the Plaintiff’s attorney.
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