Doctor Tara Dennis Allegedly Violated Standard Of Care During Troubled Birth, Would Later Be Jailed On Drug Charges.
West Boca Medical Accused Of Negligence Leading To Brain Damage, Disfigurement, Permanent Disability.
BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2021 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — West Boca Medical Center is accused of negligently permitting a doctor — who would later be arrested — to perform a delivery that grossly violated the standard of care. The mother and child were critically injured during childbirth, according to the suit. West Boca Medical Center is owned by Tenet Healthcare [NYSE: THC].
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The suit, filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court in August of 2020, continues to move forward as attorneys just filed a request to add another doctor as a defendant. We are not naming the doctor until a judge rules on the matter. The filing already names West Boca Medical Center, Tara Dennis, D.O., The Minimally Invasive Center For Women and Florida Physicians Protective Partnership as defendants.
BocaNewsNow.com has redacted the plaintiff’s names from the suit which alleges Tara Dennis:
“Failed in the duty to timely and properly manage, supervise and monitor the labor of [Plaintiff]; failed to obtain proper consultation and / or seek qualified medical assistance in the management of [Plaintiff’s] labor and delivery; failed to do all things necessary to ensure a safe delivery of [child], negligently performed a traumatic delivery of the Plaintiff; failed to respond to the non-reassuring fetal heart tracings; failed to perform adequate labor assessment; failed to perform a timely cesarean section delivery of [child]; and otherwise was negligent in the care and treatment of [Plaintiff].”
Attorneys wrote in the suit: “As a direct and proximate result of the negligence of TARA N. DENNIS, DO, [child], a minor, suffered bodily injury, including damage to his brain, endured great pain and suffering, mental pain, anguish and distress, loss of the enjoyment of life, deformity, disfigurement, scarring, has incurred and will incur in the future substantial costs for medical, hospital, nursing, therapy and other medically related charges and bills for the treatment, care and maintenance of his medical condition, he has been disabled, suffered the loss of his earning capacity, his injuries are permanent in nature and he will continue to suffer such losses and impairments for his entire life.”
BocaNewsNow.com reported on the arrest of Tara Dennis on July 13th, 2019. The delivery occurred just two months earlier. The charges: drug possession — controlled substance without a prescription,” “forgery, make or alter a prescription” and “fraud — impersonate, use or possesses the identification of another person without consent.”
Dennis plead guilty to fraud and possession of controlled substance charges. She was placed on probation. The State of Florida later suspended her medical license. Records indicate it remains suspended.
The suit alleges that West Boca Medical Center was negligent and provided an unacceptable standard of care. From the suit:
“The Defendant, WEST BOCA MEDICAL CENTER, INC. d / b / a WEST BOCA MEDICAL CENTER, fell below the standard of care outlined in rendering hospital, medical and nursing care, services and attention to [Plaintiff] and her unborn baby, on or about May 6, 2019 , and was guilty of hospital negligence in that its staff, physicians, students, nurses, residents, interns, technicians, aides, employees and / or agents, including, but not limited to, TARA N. DENNIS, DO, all acting within the course and scope of their employment and / or agency with WEST BOCA MEDICAL CENTER, INC. d / b / a WEST BOCA MEDICAL CENTER, deviated from the accepted standards of care with reference to the hospital, medical and nursing care, and attention provided to [Plaintiff] and her unborn baby, and more particularly described below.”
“Defendant failed to respond to the non-reassuring fetal heart; failed to perform adequate labor assessment; failed to develop a detailed plan of care for the management of [Plaintiff] and / or failed to properly attend to the patient in light of the patient’s and fetal condition; failed to timely and adequately manage the labor and / or monitor the wellbeing of Plaintiff (and child) during labor; failed to timely obtain a physician to perform the indicated and necessary physical examination on [Plaintiff] when conditions required such an examination; and failed to provide adequate and qualified medical personnel for the care and treatment of [Plaintiff] and her unborn baby, during the labor and delivery.”
“(West Boca Medical Center) negligently retained TARA N. DENNIS, D.O., to render care and treatment for patients at the medical center when it knew or should have known that she was unable to do so in a reasonably safe manner; failed to timely obtain proper consultation and / or seek qualified medical the management of [Plaintiff] labor; negligently allowing the delivery to become an emergency without having the adequate OT team ready; negligently and carelessly performed a traumatic vacuum delivery of Plaintiff; failing in the duty to timely and properly manage, supervise and monitor the labor of [Plaintiff].”
Attorneys also wrote: “As a result of the failure to control and manage the labor and delivery of [Plaintiff] (mother) required an emergency surgery, massive transfusions and underwent a supracervical hysterectomy; and as a direct and proximate result of the negligence of Defendant, WEST BOCA MEDICAL CENTER, INC. d / b / a WEST BOCA MEDICAL CENTER, the minor, suffered bodily injury, including damage to his brain, endured great pain and suffering, mental pain, anguish and distress, loss of the enjoyment of life, deformity, disfigurement, scarring, has incurred and will incur in the future substantial costs for medical, hospital, nursing, therapy and other edically related charges and bill for the treatment, care and maintenance of his medical ondition, he has been disabled, suffered the loss of his earning capacity, his injuries are permanent ature and he will continue to suffer such losses and impairments for his entire life.”
West Boca Medical Center is defending the lawsuit. We have previously reported on other pediatric issues at West Boca Medical, as well as a lawsuit involving the hospital’s security guards who allegedly prevented a woman from entering the hospital. She later fell and broke her leg on hospital grounds, according to the suit.
