Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital has prevailed in appealing a lower court ruling, effectively ending a negligence lawsuit arising from the March 2022 shooting death of a 29-year-old Sebastian man in the hospital’s emergency department.
Judges with Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed with the hospital that it was a medical negligence case, not simple negligence, and under Florida law, the victim’s family lacked standing to sue for medical negligence.
The wrongful death case had been brought by Arlene Anderson, the grandmother of Zachary Anderson, a computer programmer who died after deputies shot him while he was being treated for a mental health breakdown.
The hospital had asked the appeal court to review Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Cox’s refusal to dismiss the case. Lawyers for the hospital had argued that Zachary Anderson was killed during the course of his medical treatment, meaning the incident qualified as medical negligence, not simple negligence as Anderson’s lawyers had argued.
“The hospital is a medical provider and was acting in that capacity while actively treating decedent for his mental illness and physical injuries,” wrote Chief Judge Mark W. Klingensmith and Judge Cory J. Ciklin of the Fourth District Court of Appeal.
Florida Statute 768.21(8) limits those who can sue for medical negligence to the victim, the victim’s spouse or children under age 25. Zachary Anderson was unmarried with no children, and his grandmother Arlene Anderson, though she raised him from a young boy, does not qualify.
“We believe the (appeals) court got it wrong,” said Joni Mosely, Anderson’s attorney. “We think the court ignored some important case law and relied on whether (Zachary) was receiving treatment at the time, and we don’t think that applies in a simple negligence case.”
Mosely said she will ask the appeal court for a rehearing, but noted that rehearings are rarely granted.
“I would just urge the Legislature to do something about this,” Mosely said. “You’ve got loved ones of deceased people who are in an impossible position and cannot receive compensation for the loss of loved ones.”
Zachary Anderson was taken to Cleveland Clinic’s emergency room on March 25, 2022, by his aunt, Ellen Fulks, who raised her nephew with Arlene Anderson as the biological mother and father were long out of the picture. Both women describe Zachary Anderson as highly intelligent and loving, and in the midst of a brilliant career.
But on that day, he was despondent and had several self-inflicted lacerations on his legs. With the help of an online nurse, Fulks was able to have Anderson hospitalized under the Florida Mental Health Act – commonly called the Baker Act – which allows a person to be held, involuntarily, for 72 hours while being assessed at a mental health facility.
According to court documents, the hospital tried to transfer Anderson in the afternoon to the Neuro Psychiatric Addiction Clinic in Port St. Lucie but the ambulance was turned away before he could be seen as that facility does not accept Baker Act patients. He then returned to the Cleveland Clinic emergency department, but there were no rooms available and he was left alone sitting on a gurney in a hallway.
At around 10:30 p.m., according to hospital security video, Anderson got up from the gurney, grabbed a pair of scissors from the pocket of an emergency room nurse and started running down the hallway toward the exit. Four sheriff’s deputies, who were in the emergency room for another case, saw Anderson as he turned a corner and yelled at him to stop.
Deputies and witnesses said Anderson turned toward the deputies and lunged at them with the scissors raised above his head. Two deputies opened fire. Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene.
Arlene Anderson filed a suit for simple negligence against the hospital on March 25, 2024.
Attorneys for Cleveland Clinic argued that the case should be for medical negligence and that Anderson’s lawyers failed to comply with “mandatory pre-suit procedures” as outlined in Chapter 766 of Florida’s statutes. Among the requirements are a mandatory investigation by a medical review committee and a mediation and settlement conference.
Mosley argued that Chapter 766 procedures did not apply, saying “the case is not about the medical standard of care” but rather “the duty of basic safety that premises owners owe to their invitees.”
Judge Cox agreed and denied the hospital’s request for full dismissal on Sept. 3. Lawyers for the hospital appealed to the Fourth DCA on Oct. 2, and the appeals court quashed Cox’s ruling on Feb. 19.
Cleveland Clinic has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation, and had no comment on the outcome. Since the March 2022 incident the hospital has installed security upgrades as part of a $20 million renovation to the emergency department, to better protect mental health patients being treated or awaiting Baker Act commitment.
