third district court of appeal.docVIP

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida, January Term, A.D. 2008 Opinion filed April 30, 2008. ________________ No. 3D07-212 Lower Tribunal No. 02-11583 ________________ Olsten Health Services, Inc., d/b/a Gentiva Health Services, et al., Appellants/Cross-Appellees, vs. Edmond Cody, Appellee/Cross-Appellant. An Appeal and Cross-Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Scott J. Silverman, Judge. Carlton Fields and Matthew J. Conigliaro and Christopher J. Kaiser (St. Petersburg), for appellants/cross-appellees. Ginsberg Schwartz and Arnold R. Ginsberg; Manuel R. Morales, Jr., for appellee/cross-appellant. Before WELLS, ROTHENBERG, and SALTER, JJ. ON MOTION FOR REHEARING ROTHENBERG, Judge. We grant appellant’s motion for rehearing, withdraw the opinion issued on March 5, 2008, and substitute the following opinion in its stead. Olsten Health Services, Inc. d/b/a Gentiva Health Services (“Gentiva”) and its insurer, National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., appeal the amended final judgment entered in favor of the plaintiff, Edmond Cody (“Cody”), following a jury trial. Cody cross-appeals from the same amended final judgment. We affirm. Cody sued Gentiva, a home healthcare service company, for professional negligence alleging, in part, that its employees breached the standard of professional care by failing to “appropriately diagnose and treat and/or to prevent the formation or aggravation of decubitus ulcers on the Plaintiff resulting in severe and significant injuries to the Plaintiff.” The case proceeded to trial, and the jury returned a verdict finding negligence on the part of both Gentiva and Cody, which was the legal cause of his loss, injury, or damage. The jury awarded a total of $3,050,000 in economic damages and zero dollars in non-economic damages to Cody, apportioning seventy percent of the liability to Gentiva and thirty percent of the liability to Cody. Prior to trial, Cody settled with other entities for a