Gian-Cursio v. State
Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District
180 So.2d 396 (1965)
After being diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and refusing his New York physician's recommended hospitalization and medication when the condition reactivated, Roger Mozian instead sought treatment from chiropractor Gian-Cursio (defendant), who prescribed a vegetarian diet with fasting and no medication; Mozian was later treated by Gian-Cursio and fellow chiropractor Epstein (defendant) at Epstein's Florida facility, and roughly six months later was hospitalized for conventional tuberculosis treatment before dying days later. A jury found the defendants' treatment accelerated rather than slowed Mozian's disease, convicting them of manslaughter, and they appealed, arguing insufficient evidence and that their good-faith belief in the treatment's benefit should preclude criminal negligence.
Whether, in Florida, an individual medically treating a patient may be found guilty of criminal negligence regardless of whether the individual is a duly licensed physician, acted in good faith in treating the patient, and did so with the belief that the treatment would be beneficial.