West Boca Medical Center Sued After Man’s Death, Amputations

Monday, 27 July 2026, 11:30Monday, 27 July 2026, 11:31
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E.R. DOC ALLEGEDLY MISDIAGNOSED CARDIAC ISSUE AS PNEUMONIA. GAVE ANTIBIOTICS.

BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A wrongful death lawsuit just filed and obtained by BocaNewsNow.com accuses West Boca Medical Center and one of its emergency room doctors of missing a life-threatening heart condition, a mistake the family says ultimately cost a Palm Beach County man his legs and then his life. The suit names West Boca Medical Center, Inc., emergency physician Vladimir Kotelnik, M.D., and Paragon Contracting Services, LLC, the staffing company that placed Dr. Kotelnik in the hospital’s ER.

According to the complaint, 55-year-old Shaun McCullers went to the West Boca emergency room on May 26, 2025, after three weeks of worsening shortness of breath. McCullers, a smoker with a history of severe high cholesterol, told staff his home nebulizer treatments were barely helping. The lawsuit claims Dr. Kotelnik diagnosed him with pneumonia and sent him home with antibiotics, without ordering an echocardiogram, calling in a cardiology consult, or admitting him for heart monitoring — steps the family’s attorneys argue were required given his symptoms and risk factors.

McCuller did not get better. He was hospitalized about a month later when doctors discovered his heart was functioning at just 20% capacity and found severe blockages in multiple coronary arteries. He underwent open-heart bypass surgery on July 2. By August 20, complications from cardiogenic shock had cut off blood flow to his legs, and he underwent bilateral below-the-knee amputations. McCullers died on September 13, 2025.

The lawsuit is brought by Michael V. Baxter as personal representative of McCullers’s estate. It claims the hospital and Paragon are vicariously liable for Dr. Kotelnik’s care, since he was acting as an employee or agent of both companies when he treated McCullers. The entire complaint is published below.

McCullers is survived by his wife, Denise, and several children and other family members, all named in the suit as seeking damages for loss of companionship, support and mental anguish. The case, filed by attorney Deborah J. Gander of Freedland Harwin Valori Gander & Spillis, seeks a jury trial and compensatory damages, along with the estate’s funeral and medical costs. West Boca Medical Center has not yet responded to the suit through a filing processed by the Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts.