Jacksonville Personal Injury Blog

Lawsuits involving defective Avaulta vaginal mesh made by the C.R. Bard Company are getting one step closer to being heard. A judge presiding over the cases will hold a hearing this week to determine if eight cases will be ready for trial soon. These will be so-called bellwether cases with selected plaintiffs who represent some of the common problems women have suffered as a result of mesh used to treat pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

Complications include: debilitating abdominal pain, mesh migration and shrinkage, perforation of organs, and repeat infections. Bard makes Avaulta, as well as PelviLace, PelviSoft, Uretex, Align, and Pelvicol.

Multidistrict litigation (MDL) consolidates hundreds of cases filed in courts around the country and puts them before one judge, who then becomes familiarized with the issues facing all of the plaintiffs. Multidistrict litigation saves plaintiffs the costs of individual trials in that it allows for a coordinated discovery process where the plaintiffs can share what is uncovered from the other side. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will hear arguments from both sides on January 26, including whether or not injuries in three different MDLs concerning Bard and other makers of mesh should be consolidated before Judge Goodwin in the U.S. District Court for the southern district of West Virginia.

Bard is just one of nine manufacturers of synthetic transvaginal mesh which has caused thousands of women to experience serious complications and even death. The plaintiffs contend the mesh makers knew, or should have known, that transvaginal mesh was defective in its design and that the mesh should never have been put on the market. The FDA issued a July, 2011 report that found a five-fold increase in complications and deaths associated with synthetic mesh.

With about 300,000 synthetic mesh products implanted in women in 2010, and no accurate numbers on the complication rate, the transvaginal mesh lawyers in Florida of Farah & Farah are talking to women from Florida and South Georgia who may be suffering in silence with the effects of this synthetic plastic mesh product. There is a statute of limitations within which to act, so call us at 1(800) 533-3555 and we can begin a complimentary and confidential consultation on your injuries.

The burned wreckage of this overturned vehicle makes it difficult to tell what model car it was. Two people died and two others were seriously injured in Ponte Vedra Beach early Saturday morning, January 21, when the 2005 Chevy Impala they were in crashed and overturned, causing the car to catch on fire. The single-vehicle crash occurred around 2:50 a.m. on A1A at Broken Pottery Drive. News4Jax.com reports the Impala was heading north when, for some reason, it ran off the left side of the road, then ran back across the road and went off the east shoulder where the Impala hit a tree, rolled over, and landed on its roof where it caught fire. The 23-year-old driver and his front seat passenger, a 24-year-old male, both from Jacksonville, were trapped in the burning vehicle and both died at the scene. The two back seat passengers, a 22-year-old female from Hortense, Georgia, and a 24-year-old from Jacksonville, escaped but were seriously injured. One woman was airlifted to Shands Medical Center in Jacksonville and the other went to Baptist Beaches Medical Center.

Comments to the Channel 4 site said two girls from nearby Ponte Vedra High School helped rescue the two young women from the burning vehicle.

A1A south of Mickler Road was closed for several hours after the crash. Our condolences go out to the two young men killed. Let’s pray the two women survive their injuries.

If I was a family member, I would want to understand what amount of fault the driver shared in this tragic accident. His estate could be held responsible for compensation to the family members of the two young women for their pain and suffering, as well as medical expenses and the cost of rehabilitation. The Florida car accident attorneys of Farah & Farah will always offer a complimentary consultation to discuss your options to seek justice for the injured.

Source: http://www.actionnewsjax.com/content/topstories/story/Two-killed-two-injured-in-fiery-crash/lwkPfLC3q02uS11Pjk4CiQ.cspx?rss=1; http://www.news4jax.com/news/Fiery-crash-kills-2-on-A1A-in-South-Ponte-Vedra/-/475880/8480576/-/10rs5f8/-/index.html

During the recent holiday season, the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) conducted a “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign to cut down on the number of alcohol-related traffic crashes.

The FHP has now released the initial results of that campaign. During the time period of December 16 through January 2, the FHP arrested about 500 for driving while intoxicated. At the same time, the FHP issued 36,000 citations across the state of Florida. Citations for drivers in specific cities have not yet been tabulated and released.

Fortunately, these campaigns seem to be working, as the number of citations were fewer than in 2010, however, the number of DUI arrests was up over the same holiday period.

The campaign runs nationally every year from December 16 through January 2. It's organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Drunk Driving

Drunk drivers are involved in at least one-third of traffic crashes and roadway fatalities. Nationwide, at least 10,000 people were killed in fatal auto accidents involving drunk drivers in 2009.

The legal level of intoxication is 0.08 blood alcohol content (BAC). Anyone who has a BAC that number of higher is guilty of a drunk driving infraction. The penalties can range from jail time to the suspension of a license and fines. Eventually, a driver will lose his or her license to operate a motor vehicle. Unfortunately that doesn’t stop some people from driving.

Farah & Farah’s Jacksonville drunk driving victim lawyers recommend a zero tolerance policy toward drinking and driving for all Florida residents. If you are injured in a car crash that involves a drunk driver, Farah & Farah recommends making the phone call that will put an advocate by your side while you spend time recovering. The number for a cost-free consultation with our law team is (800) 533-3555.

Source: http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/FHP_Release_DUI_Stats_137217668.html

We don’t normally think of golf carts as dangerous vehicles, but a 75-year-old woman lost her life Sunday afternoon, January 7, when she lost control of the vehicle. The woman was on the Suntree Golf Course around 3:20 p.m., according to a report by the Orlando Sentinel quoting the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).

The woman was making a right turn on Palm Brook Drive, but the golf cart instead ran into a fence, throwing the elderly woman to the ground. She was airlifted to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne where she later died. Her friends tell Central Florida News 13 they are dumbfounded by this tragic accident that took the life of a “sweet lady” who was a stickler for the rules of the game of golf.

Golf Cart Safety

Golf carts do not have seatbelts, and an FHP spokesperson says they encounter a number of golf cart-related crashes every year resulting in personal property damage and injury, but few involve serious injury or death.

The family may want to be assured there were no defective components of this golf cart that may have caused it to go out of control. An experienced Florida product liability law firm would investigate whether or not the brakes and steering on the golf cart were in working order. Was the roadway free of debris and the sidewalk even and free of cracks? An investigation would also include any eye-witness accounts of what actually happened since this is such an unusual turn of events.

Our law firm expresses its sincere condolences over the loss of this woman to her friends and family members.

The Brevard County personal injury lawyers of Farah & Farah will always offer a complimentary consultation after any personal injury accident. Call our number at 1(800) 533-3555 to start the conversation.

Source: http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20120109/BREAKINGNEWS/120109016/Suntree-woman-75-dies-from-golf-cart-wreck-injuries; http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-01-09/news/os-golf-cart-elderly-woman-killed-20120109_1_golf-cart-accident-florida-highway-patrol-suntree

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has made no secret of his plan. He wants to reform the state’s personal injury protection, or PIP, insurance which requires every driver in Florida to have $10,000 in auto insurance to cover medical bills in case they are injured in a car crash. PIP goes back to 1972 and was intended to get a person medical benefits following an auto accident no matter who was at fault. But this is 2012 and some have seen PIP as a way to earn a fast $10,000 by staging accidents and fraudulently claiming injuries and lost wages.

Florida auto accident attorneys understand the reality that PIP still provides a safety net to keep some people afloat following an auto accident while traditional insurance may not.

Gov. Scott has been joined in his mission to overturn PIP by state Sen. Joe Negron who on Monday, January 9, filed a bill- SB 1860. The bill targets fraud which the Associated Press reports costs Floridians $1 billion every year. Some insured drivers who live in high fraud areas are paying several hundred dollars more in insurance premiums due to PIP fraud, according to the report.

SB 1860 would give hospitals the first chance at taking care of a PIP accident victim instead of clinics that are sometimes involved in the fraud. Some pain clinics with questionable practices would face losing their license. A recent Miami-Dade County investigation found regulatory violations in the majority of the 49 pain clinics visited. Among them, some clinics bill for medical services but have never seen a patient.

Stay tuned for changes to PIP during the 60-day legislative session.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/09/2581177/sen-negron-files-bill-targeting.html

Because of a growing demand from consumers who don’t want antibiotics used on meat-producing livestock before slaughter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday, January 4, issued an order requiring farmers to stop using the antibiotic group cephalosporins. Unless meat is raised organically, just before animals are slaughtered, cows, turkeys, pigs, and chickens are injected with the antibiotic, purportedly to reduce the number of infections animals share in confined modern farming (also known as ‘factory farming’).

This is the same class of drugs that humans rely on to treat pneumonia, bacterial infections, salmonella infections, and other life-threatening diseases, reports the St. Augustine Record. Using the same drug in a food source renders them useless, and humans really need them to fight disease since the bacteria in the body has evolved to develop resistance to the antibiotic. Antibiotic resistant strains of superbugs have evolved in recent years, so supporters say it’s about time to stop using antibiotics in food sources.

The FDA says farm operators will still be able to use approved cephapirin products on animals to control disease and in so-called “minor species” of animals. Cephapirin is the first-generation of the cephalosporin antibiotic. Critics of the FDA say the announced ban does not go far enough because it still allows antibiotic use in meat-producing animals.

Since there are no new antibiotics on the horizon to fight bacterial infections, most medical professionals, as well as the FDA, consider it paramount to keep our modern-day antibiotics effective.

Cephalosporins are a broad spectrum antibiotics and a drug of last resort when other antibiotics have lost their effectiveness. Drugs for animals used for human consumption were supposed to be limited in 2008, but the Bush administration reversed the decision after heavy lobbying from drug companies and trade groups. Under the Obama administration, the FDA said it planned to take action, but had done nothing until Wednesday.

Source: http://ap.staugustine.com/pstories/health/20120104/937067127.shtml; http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm054434.htm

A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on the cause of a medical helicopter crash near Green Cove Springs has been released. The Bell 206B went down in the early morning hours of December 26, killing a doctor from the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, a medical technician, and the pilot. The three took off from Jacksonville and were on their way to Gainesville to retrieve a heart for a waiting transplant patient in Jacksonville.

The NTSB reports the flight took off at 5:37 a.m. from the Mayo Clinic Heliport in Jacksonville and crashed 16 minutes later. Its altitude varied from 200 to 700 feet. Seconds before the Florida fatal aviation accident, the Bell helicopter struck a tree at about 30 feet off the ground, though it’s not clear yet why this experienced helicopter pilot didn’t avert the collision. He had been at 300 feet above sea level in what is described as foggy conditions.

News4jax.com reports the flight plan was not filed and minutes before the crash the pilot called the air traffic control tower in Jacksonville to ask about a restricted airspace. There was no emergency call of any kind. The heart was never retrieved and its intended recipient went back on the transplant waiting list.

The Florida wrongful death attorneys at Farah & Farah extend their sincere condolences to the friends and family of everyone involved as well as the family members of the transplant patient waiting for the procured organ. This is a tremendous loss for everyone involved and the entire healthcare community of Jacksonville. The NTSB may take up to a year to determine what actually happened.

Source: http://www.news4jax.com/news/NTSB-Helicopter-struck-several-trees-in-crash/-/475880/7641050/-/13trds5z/-/index.html; http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2012-01-04/story/report-helicopter-hit-trees-30-feet-clay-crash

A recent article on car sharing by AOL News warned that letting others take your car as a source of revenue could end up costing you more than you make. It’s not uncommon.

Some drivers let others drive their car or car share. The University of California Berkeley finds about 8,000 vehicles are used this way by a half-million people who partake in 27 programs across the U.S.

The programs are largely found in urban centers where Jolly Wheels, Getaround, and Relay Rides are based and help people connect to others who may want to rent their car for a short while.

The problem - your own auto insurance may not cover someone else using your car. The article said the insurance industry wants to discourage using your car for income because of the additional risk of an auto accident injury by renting your car to strangers who may not have good driving habits. They also may not know the roads or be out in inclement weather.

However, there are additional insurance policies to consider to be covered in a peer-to-peer car lending situation.

A $1 million personal umbrella policy will offer coverage when your standard auto liability coverage is exhausted. The cost is about $150 to $300 a year for the additional coverage. The umbrella liability is especially important if you have assets you want to shield, which can easily be exhausted following a devastating auto accident with injuries or death. This is true whether or not you share your vehicle with others.

The Clearwater auto accident lawyers at Farah & Farah recommend the million dollar umbrella policy under any circumstances because an unexpected auto accident can change your life forever. If you or a loved one is injured in a car collision, call us at (800) 533-3555 so we can help you decide the best course of action for your future.

Source: http://autos.aol.com/article/car-sharing-insurance/

This article in the SunSentinel.com reports that many baby boomers will include some sort of work as part of their retirement. Baby boomers are described as the post World War II babies who are now ages 47 to 65. This story reports many are getting future career counseling through the Community Foundation of Broward which helps boomers find jobs or volunteer opportunities with a small stipend. Retirees in 2011 could make up to $14,160 a year and still receive Social Security benefits which the article says is driving many to take on part time work. Any earnings above that mark sees $1 deducted from every $2 earned. The retirement age is currently 66, but for some, depending on their birth year, will rise to age 67. The Social Security Administration says retirees earning up to $37,680 a year would have $1 deducted for every $3 earned above the maximum.

Among workers ages 55 and over, just over 40 percent are still on the job, which is the highest rate in 20 years, according to nonprofit group the Employee Benefit Research Institute. And the same group reports because of the harsh recession, 20 percent of older Americans plan to never stop working.

With about one quarter of baby boomers reporting in 2010 that they have no retirement savings, it is especially important that they understand what happens if they are injured on the job. The employer must provide medical treatment if an on-the-job injury occurs which should cover doctor’s visits, prescription drugs, medical tests, hospitalization, and physical therapy. If you are injured on the job, do not delay in reporting the injury to your employer. If you feel the insurance company is not fully compensating you, the workers’ compensation attorneys in Jacksonville of Farah & Farah are just a phone call away at 1(800) 533-3555.

Source: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-12-29/business/fl-baby-boomers-retirement-20111229_1_baby-boomers-retirement-age-employee-benefit-research-institute; http://www.ebri.org/

Beachgoers in Volusia County were able to breathe a little easier after Thursday, December 29, when the county rolled out its new compact utility vehicles that will be used to patrol the beach. The utility task vehicles, or UTVs, are replacing the large pickup trucks used to patrol Daytona Beach which have injured a number of beachgoers. Last July, a sunbather was run over by a part-time lifeguard in a pickup truck who said he couldn’t see her because of the blind spot of the high truck. The woman, who was visiting South Daytona Beach from the mid-west, suffered head injuries, broken ribs, facial paralysis, a collapsed lung, and is still dealing with pain and memory loss.

The new UTVs are larger than an all-terrain vehicle but smaller than a pickup, and should offer lifeguards a 360-degree view of the beach and visitors. Like an all-terrain vehicle, they have open sides so people can approach the lifeguards, yet are big enough to accommodate emergency equipment and a surfboard. They are designed with a rubberized bumper to minimize any injury to visitors. Eventually, the county hopes to have 10 vehicles at a cost of $15,000 each. Pickup trucks will still be used but on a much more limited basis.

Personal Injury Lawsuit for Negligence

The injured woman’s family has filed a personal injury lawsuit against the county for negligence and is challenging sovereign immunity which usually blocks lawsuits against government entities. She was the third sunbather to be run over by the beach patrol in a year. The part-time lifeguard was issued a citation for careless driving. If you have been injured in any type of accident, the Volusia County personal injury lawyers of Farah & Farah can help you obtain compensation for your injuries. For a complimentary consultation with our law team, call (800) 533-3555.

Source: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-12-29/news/os-daytona-beach-vehicles-20111229_1_part-time-lifeguard-vehicle-strikes-utvs

AARP Magazine tells the tale of a 68-year-old woman who went to the hospital with neck and shoulder pain. Described as about an eight on a 10 point scale for pain, the woman was given three pain medications, then later that day a 50-microgram Duragesic fentanyl patch, followed the next day with a higher 75-microgram patch, then the next day with a 100-microgram fentanyl patch as well as Neurontin. She stopped breathing on the third day and died a few days later.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that from 1999 to 2007, opioid painkillers such as hydrocodone, methadone, the fentanyl patch, and oxycodone caused fatalities to triple, leading to more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine. In this patient’s case, the first and second patch’s narcotic had not yet broken down in the 72-hour window it takes to do so when she was given the third patch. The article points out that increasingly, the goal for hospitals is to keep patients pain-free, which has led to overprescribing.

Because of fentanyl patch side effects, the product has received a black-box warning, the strongest given by the FDA, and has been recalled a number of times for product defects. It is best tolerated by those patients who take daily opioids for chronic pain.

The Jacksonville medical malpractice lawyers at Farah & Farah understand that if you are prescribed pain medication, ask if it is short or long-acting, and only take medication as prescribed. Ask about any potential for drug interactions.

In this case, the woman’s husband filed and settled a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctors who overprescribed narcotics for his wife which ended her life.

Source: http://www.aarp.org/health/drugs-supplements/info-11-2011/painkillers-dangerous-effects.html

A Mexican worker who came to the U.S. for a better life had his life cut short Christmas Day, December 25, because of a hit-and-run driver. WTSP-TV in Tampa reports that the field worker, who picked strawberries in Dover earlier that day, was riding his bicycle on Dover Sydney Road when a car hit him. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the car stopped briefly, but then left the scene. The 20-year-old victim died at the scene. He had a baby on the way, and the television station reports friends and family say he worked hard so he could purchase phone cards and stay in touch with his family back in Mexico. He was in this country legally working for Florida Pacific Farms and had been doing so for three winters. Our condolences go out to his family and friends, and the co-workers who are said to be mourning his death.

The stretch of road where the bicyclist was killed has no paved shoulder on which to ride a bicycle and is narrow. The young man was hit and killed at 6:00 p.m. when it would have been getting dark, but Channel 10 reports there were witnesses who identified a green sedan as the vehicle involved. That car would have extensive damage to the windshield.

Florida Hit-and Run

Under Florida law 316.027, any driver involved in a crash that results in injury of any type is required to immediately stop the vehicle at the scene, or as close by as possible, and must remain on the scene to give information and render aid to the victim. That can include carrying the person to a doctor or hospital for medical treatment if requested by the injured person. (316.062). A violator is guilty of a felony of the first degree punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

You can help. The hit and run accident lawyers in Florida of the Farah & Farah law firm is a member of Hit-and-Run Reward, a national program financed exclusively by American personal injury attorneys. If you know anything about this hit-and-run driver, you will be eligible for a reward of $1,000 for anyone you turn in who is later convicted of the hit-and-run. The number for Hit-and-Run Reward (www.hitandrunreward.com) is 1-800-644-8678. Please do the right thing and get this dangerous driver off the road.

Search: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/article/228225/8/Detectives-search-for-hit-and-run-driver;http://public.findlaw.com/traffic-ticket-violation-law/traffic-ticket-a-z/hit-and-run-laws.html; http://archive.flsenate.gov/statutes/index.cfm?App_Mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0316/Sec027.htm&StatuteYear=2009