Van Swearingen v. Florida Health & Rehab. Services

(Fla. Div. Admin. Hrgs. 1991)

We represented a client with Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare debilitating genetic disorder which manifests in an uncontrollable and continual desire to eat. The client’s condition had deteriorated to a crisis, life-threatening situation. We filed an administrative proceeding to require the Florida Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services (HRS) to place him in an appropriate group home, as he had been on a waiting list for about seven years. HRS offered a settlement placement on the day we deposed the District XI Developmental Services Program Administrator. Our expert found the offered placement to be physically and programmatically highly inappropriate, so no settlement was reached. On the eve of trial, an agreement was reached for HRS to open a new group home specifically for persons with Prader-Willi Syndrome operated by United Cerebral Palsy. Our co-counsel was the Advocacy Center for Persons With Disabilities (now Disability Rights Florida).