Date: 10-23-2009

Case Style: Cristina Chalita-Cisneros, individually and as administrator of the Estate of Christian Chalita v. IMG Academies, Dr. Joseph Soler, Carol Tomlinson

Case Number: 41 2005 CM 000038

Judge: Janette Dunnigan

Court: Circuit Court, Manatee County, Florida

Plaintiff's Attorney: Bennie Lazzara and Isaac Ruiz-Carus, Wilkes & McHugh, P.A., Tampa, Florida

Defendant's Attorney: Troy Crotts, Bush Ross, P.A., Tampa, Florida for IMG Academies

Description: The family and estate of Christian Chalita sued IMG Academies, Dr. Joseph Soler and Carol Tomlinson on negligence and medical malpractice theories for the wrongful death of Christian, age 16. Dr. Soler and Nurse Tomlinson examined Christian at the beginning of the school year at IMG Academies in 2003 and 2004 but failed to detect that he had an irregularly shaped heart that resulted in a heart attack that killed him when he was walking on a treadmill. She claimed that Soler and Tomlinson acted below the standard of care in the physical examinations that they performed on her son to assure that he was physically fit enough to participate in the School's basketball program and that the School was negligence in failing to have a heart defibrillator or oxygen in the training lab where her son collapsed.

The defenses other than contributory fault on the part of Plaintiff are not available.

Outcome: Plaintiff's verdict for $1.5 million with a finding that IMG, Soler and Tomlinson were each ruled 18 percent responsible for Chalita’s death, making them a combined 54 percent negligent.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: