THE DOCTOR
Celestino "Tino" Palomino, 50
Tino Palomino, a kidney specialist, is board certified in internal medicine. He's practiced for 17 years in Bradenton with nary a lawsuit nor a complaint, he says. For the first three weeks in January, he was out of work because his medical malpractice carrier dropped coverage and he couldn't find a replacement. Most of his Manatee County colleagues fared the same, which meant their hundreds of patients in need of dialysis and other care went to the sole insured nephrologist in Bradenton. Palomino eventually found coverage at nearly double the price -- to $15,000 -- but says the real issue is availability. Only a half-dozen carriers, down from three dozen a few years ago, are active in Florida. "There are just not enough companies to choose from," he says.
Background: Cuban-born, former chief of staff of Southbay Hospital and former chief of staff and chairman of the intensive care unit committee at Manatee Memorial.
Loves medicine: "There is nothing I'd rather do than what I'm doing right now."
Offspring: Four daughters, none of whom wants a career in medicine.
Would tell the Legislature: "There has to be a cap on noneconomic damages."
For victims: "Clearly, bad things happen. There has to be a way to compensate them. (But) something has to be done on the 90% of cases that have no merit to begin with."
No apologies: "I am very grateful to be a part of such a noble profession, but at the same time I am not going to apologize for what little I have as I am made to feel like I should on a daily basis, since it has taken a lot of work and time away from my family to acquire it."
THE SURVIVOR
Charles Pandrea (widower), 72
Charles Pandrea was introduced to Janet in 1953 in front of the Loews Theater in Canton, Ohio. "I knew from then on she was my soul mate," he says. They married, had four kids and moved to Florida, where he worked for BellSouth. They saw their children become adults and delighted in their grandchildren.
In January 2002, unable to shake a chest cold, Janet had a chest X-ray. It revealed a small mass. A needle biopsy indicated non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which is lethal in half the cases. "She was very confident that she was going to beat it -- you'd have to know her," Pandrea says. She suffered harsh reactions to chemo and was hospitalized twice. The second time, she suffered for 17 days, losing her ability to speak and breathe on her own. She died April 2 at age 65 with her husband of 46 years and her four children around her. A private autopsy said a chemo-related drug reaction led to her death. The autopsy also stated she didn't have lymphoma at all but a thymoma, a benign mass, Pandrea says, that should have been removed surgically.
"I am destroyed," says Pandrea, who can't talk long about Janet without being overcome. He still expects to hear her return from shopping and call to him and their son for help with the groceries. "She would say, 'yoo-hoo, my boys,' and then we'd go help her." He rushes a handkerchief to his eyes. "Oh God."
To the courthouse:
Pandrea is suing. With Janet a stay-at-home mother, there are only "pain and suffering," or noneconomic, damages. The doctors and hospitals named in the suit declined comment or didn't respond to interview requests.
Would tell the Legislature: "They shouldn't just ... put an arbitrary cap because every case is different. Judge each problem individually."
For doctors suffering with med-mal availability and price: "They say the insurance rates are going up due to lawsuits and these large awards. If they get the bad doctors out of there, that will bring these lawsuits down."