Jacksonville Personal Injury Blog

Florida is in the midst of a health care crisis which needs to be addressed by the next session of our state legislature.

First there was the failing grade for access to Florida’s emergency rooms. Then there was a forecast of a doctor shortage with the word that the majority of the state’s doctors are over the age of 45.

The latest report came in December when the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a ten-year high for mass layoffs in health care in the state. Mass layoffs are defined as a staff reduction of at least 50 people. Florida only trails California and Indiana in layoffs with more projected for the next few months.

What’s interesting is that layoffs are happening at a time when medical care is one of the few growth industries. With a doctor shortage in the making added to reports that 13 percent of state doctors plan to reduce or leave medicine altogether in the next five years – who will take care of our population?

What might help immediately is a reduction in the high medical malpractice insurance our state doctors pay - reported to be the highest in the country. With doctors paying from $50,000 to $200,000 a year, some doctors are opting out of carrying any medical malpractice insurance at all.

When is the last time you asked your doctor if they have medical malpractice insurance. Some may fail to notify you of that fact.

Reportedly the trend of going without medical malpractice insurance is rising with one-quarter to one-third of South Florida and one-eights statewide opting out of malpractice insurance under a state law that provides that loophole.

Next time you visit a doctor ask and have them put their answer in writing. It would be wise to think twice about visiting any doctor who does not carry Florida medical malpractice insurance and wiser still to have our state legislature revisit the insurance giants medical malpractice premiums that are creating a costly situation no one can afford. #

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The National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a $7 million drunk driving campaign aimed at reducing the high numbers of accidents among drivers, ages 21 to 24, who have more fatal auto accidents involving alcohol than any other age group.

But don’t fool yourself – No age is spared during the holidays.

This Christmas and New Year’s holiday, expect the Florida Highway Patrol to have a zero tolerance policy toward any driving that puts other motorists in danger. The FHP will target motorists who drive aggressively or under the influence, speed, or violate the rules of the road.

Extra patrols will be out from December 24th though midnight January 4th. Even those assigned to a desk job will be out on the roads on patrol on high volume roadways.

And motorists can feel a little empowered this year when they do see someone driving erratically. Contact FHP to report an impaired, aggressive or dangerous driver by dialing *FHP (star-F-H-P) from a cell phone. You can remain anonymous. And if you have trouble on the road, you can call FHP using that number too.

Motorists are encouraged to go on-line and enter their emergency contact information, Just in case there is ever an emergency on the road and you cannot speak, everything will be right there for an officer to access. Go to www.flhsmv.gov to enter the information. That law came about after parents of a girl who had been killed in a motorcycle accident, could not locate her whereabouts or her body for more than 24 hours.

Remember - For a person weighing 140 pounds- the legal level registering as drunk is .08 blood-alcohol level- generally achieved by three drinks in an hour. That varies from person to person. So if you want to celebrate this New Year’s holiday- it might be advised to walk to a neighbor’s house and save yourself a lot of trouble.

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We might never have known that this happened except that some good Samaritan decided to do the right thing. He or she decided to send the medical records they found in the garbage to First Coast News, the NBC/ABC affiliate in Jacksonville.

The station reported that pages upon pages of un-shredded medical documents from pediatric and adolescent psychiatrist, Dr. Angali Pathak’s office were available for the world to see. In all the records of 37 patients ended up in the newsroom along with names, prescription information addresses, social security numbers, phone numbers, and birth dates.

The doctor’s office told First Coast News that sometimes the shredder gets clogged.

Obviously, federal privacy laws have been broken and it represents an abuse of privacy on the part of the doctor and staff members who are supposed to be professionals.

HIPAA which stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, requires that documents containing personal information be shredded. The requirements were set up to protect patients against any identity and information theft and their right to privacy.

Enacted in 1996, HIPAA was designed to protect consumers so they do not lose insurance coverage when they change jobs and to reduce health care costs through standardized electronic transmission of transactions.

A HIPAA violation can carry fines of up to $250,000 and jail time of up to 10 years.

It was a good thing that someone opted to embarrass the doctor’s office instead of cash in on some innocent victim’s misfortune. No doubt there was a run on shredders at the office stores across Jacksonville after this news hit the airwaves.

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AstraZeneca says the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants more information before it approves the schizophrenia drug Seroquel for expanded uses. The drug maker received a “complete response letter” from the FDA after it applied to be able to prescribe Seroquel for patients suffering from depression.

Seroquel XR, is currently approved in the U.S. only for the treatment of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Not that approval is always necessary before a drug is used.

In adolescents, the medication is given for depression, autism and hyperactivity, and in the elderly for dementia and insomnia. In fact, check a loved one’s prescriptions if they are in a nursing home, especially if they have Alzheimer’s disease. It is very likely they are given Seroquel.

Half of Seroquel’s sales in 2006 were reportedly for off-label use.

In September 2003, the FDA recommended that six atypical antipsychotics, including Seroquel, carry a diabetes warning because Seroquel patients were three times more likely to develop diabetes than those taking older drugs.

The most common side effects of Seroquel use include, but may not be limited to, drowsiness, weight gain, restlessness, dizziness, increased appetite, constipation and fatigue.

Seroquel is AstraZeneca's second-best seller behind heartburn drug Nexium, It raked in $4 billion in sales last year.

In October, Seroquel received FDA approval for its extended-release version to be used to treat bipolar disorder, making Seroquel XR (“XR” indicates extended release), the first medication cleared for depressive and manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder. It was approved as a once-daily treatment. The previous version was taken twice a day and not approved for mixed episodes.

Recreating the drug with an XR means that the patent is protected until 2017. The original formula was set to expire in 2011. Patients will be switched into the XR version.

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This is an incredible story and sounds like it could result in a lawsuit for violating the rights of the elderly.

A St. Augustine, Florida man says that on Christmas Eve, his 65-year-old wife was moved to an Illinois nursing care center in Elmwood, without his approval or knowledge. Viola Jane White, 65, has been a patient at Kindred Hospital in Green Cove Springs, west of Jacksonville. She needs dialysis and a ventilator to live. Christmas eve, William White got a call from the hospital that his wife had been flown to Illinois.

What angers him is that the hospital staff decided that they didn’t need her husband’s approval to go.

"They said she agreed to it. She can't even sign her name. She don't know what day it is," White said to First Coast News. White got a letter last September stating that his wife’s Medicaid and Medicare benefits would be exhausted by mid-November. In order to stay at Kindred Hospital, White would have to come up with $1,000 a day.

But a federal program to serve the elderly should not be dictated by state. White says he was told the only option for his wife was to move out-of-state so she could receive Medicaid and Medicare.

"I said I don't agree to send my wife 1,000 miles away. I'm 72 years old!" White said, adding that he doesn't know when he'll get to see her again.

Professional intervention is needed here. Patients and their families express their wishes in writing to a nursing home or care facility and to violate those wishes, whether they be end of life issues or basic rights to fair and decent treatment cannot and should not be violated without consequences.

If you or someone you know has been the victim of nursing home abuse in Florida, contact the experienced attorneys at Farah and Farah today for a free consultation of your case.

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For missing adults over the age of 60 who are suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s, there is a new program in Florida to find them quickly.

“Silver Alerts,” managed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, alerts the public quickly about mentally impaired elderly who wander off. Florida has more than its share of elderly Americans, so this new Florida program is good news for many care givers.

The missing person must be age 60 or older and have diminished intellectual faculties. Younger people may qualify if they have irreversible mental deterioration and law enforcement has determined the individual lacks the capacity to consent.

Silver Alerts also contact the media, just like an Amber Alert, with a description of the vehicle, a tag number, and a description of the person.

And the Florida program sends an automated phone call to every resident within a one mile radius of the missing person’s home. So far 19 people have been found since Florida adopted the system in November.

Charlie Brownlee, 76, was one of them.

The man wandered away from his sister’s Miami home one day last month. Brownlee got behind the wheel of a car, even though he suffers from dementia. Apparently no one remembered to give Charlie his medication that day.

When family alerted police they immediately issued a Silver Alert and found Charlie on his way back to his own home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, thinking it wasn’t far away.

In the case of Brownlee, about 5,000 automated calls were made. If a missing person is behind the wheel, the Florida Department of Transportation flashes a physical description of the person on road signs, the kind that normally alert drivers to traffic detours and conditions.

Florida, Georgia and about a dozen other states have adopted similar programs and legislation is pending in Congress to create a national program.

With Florida a mecca for more than four million Americans over the age of 60, and about a half-million probable Alzheimer’s cases, this is a very valuable service for our vulnerable population.

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Expect to see many pools and spas close down suddenly across the country. That’s because December 19th is the deadline that mandatory anti-drowning drain covers have to be installed. The improved safety system was passed by Congress last year and pool and spa owners had one year to comply.

The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act is aimed at keeping kids safer.

She was the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James A. Baker who was drowned at the bottom of a spa in 2002, held down by the suction of the drain despite the fact that adults were trying to free her.

Her mother, Nancy Baker, says at least the lives of other children can be saved. "This legislation helps give meaning to the tragic circumstances that took her life and the lives of many other children,” Baker said. “It is a tribute to these children and their grieving families that this bill will prevent injuries and death as a result of drowning. Graeme would be honored.”

The legislation bans the manufacture, sale or distribution of drain covers that don't meet anti-entrapment safety standards.

The new models of drains are hump-shaped. Pools with just one drain also are required to install a second drain system, or external shut-off.

Most adults don’t realize that the bottom of a pool and spa is a hidden hazard for children. At least one person dies each year because of the 400 to 500 pounds of forceful suction of a flat drain in a single-drain pool.

Continue reading " New Pool Drain Covers Hope To Prevent Swimming Pool Accidents " »

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Letting teenagers sleep in an hour and start their school day at 8:30 rather than 7:30 a.m. may reduce the odds for automobile accidents.

We know from the traffic we see in our offices at Farah and Farah, that teenagers are one population group that has a higher likelihood of being involved in traffic accidents than others, particularly first year drivers.

Parents may blame their teens for staying up late, but they may actually be biologically programmed to stay up an hour later than they did before puberty.

A University of Kentucky study finds that a shift in their biological clocks conflicts with the earlier hours of high school. Their study showed that as biology is pushing them to stay up later, school starts earlier.

“By the end of the week, [kids] are a wreck and our study shows they might actually be in one,” says Fred Danner, a psychologist who co-authored this study, to the Washington Post.

The study appears in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Researchers surveyed about 10,000 students from Kentucky on their sleep habits – first in 1998, and then again in 1999. By that time the start of school had been moved to 8:30 a.m.

What they found was that students who got a full eight hours of sleep a night had 16.5 percent fewer car crashes, down from 35.7 percent.

The National Sleep Foundation finds fatigued drivers are responsible for about 100,000 accidents a year and more than half of them are young people ages 16 to 25.

Experts say that sleep and learning are intimately related. Not having the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours a night impacts your ability to pay attention, to communicate and problem solve. It may also be a trigger for depression.

If it makes us more productive, keeps us safer and allows time at night to repair and restore – maybe adequate sleep isn’t a luxury at all.

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Farah and Farah Partner Has Got You Covered In The West

The Florida personal injury lawyers at the law firm of Farah and Farah has some exciting news to share with the residents of North Florida.

Because we are expanding our network around the country, we have the opportunity to partner with the law firm of Chris Davis in Seattle, an attorney who devotes 100 percent of his practice to personal injury.

This is important to those of us who call Florida home because many people might travel or work in the Seattle area and find they are involved in an accident.

What do you do if you aren’t close to home? Say you rent a car and are in an accident, or are hit by a bus in a pedestrian crosswalk. Maybe you need to see a doctor and are the victim of medical malpractice. What would you do and who would you call?

Continue reading " Florida Personal Injury Attorneys Expand to West Coast " »

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Jacksonville Link To Adam Walsh Killer

27 years is a long time to look for closure. It finally came today from the Hollywood, Florida police chief who announced that the 1981 murder of Adam Walsh had been solved, according to this news article.

Adam was never seen alive after his mother lost him in a mall Sears store. Reportedly the 6-year-old had gone to look at the video arcade just as a 17-year old guard told all of the kids to leave.

Adam’s head was found in a Florida canal two weeks later. His body was never found. His father, John Walsh went on to become the host of the Fox show, “Americas Most Wanted,” and an advocate for children’s rights and for curtailing the rights of perpetrators, especially pedophiles.

Continue reading " Adam Walsh Killer a Jacksonville, Florida Man " »

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Here is a distinction that does not make Florida proud.

The state ranked dead last in a national report on the ability for someone in a dire medical need to access emergency care. The study comes from the American College of Emergency Physicians. Florida placed dead last.

Most of us take it for granted that if we are in a medical emergency that we can burst through the doors of the ER and get immediate attention – just like in the movies or on television. That is not the time to find out that this study is true.

Part of the problems is that there are not enough emergency rooms in the state. While the rest of the nation has an average of 19 ERs for every million people, Florida has just seven. And they are crowded. With the numbers of uninsured getting care in an ER as well as the growing ranks of the unemployed, an ER is likely to be a very busy place when you are facing a heart attack or a traumatic injury.

The number of doctors who are willing to work in an ER is also a problem, particularly a specialist. Say you need a hand reattached – you may have to be sent somewhere else.

Many people accuse trial lawyers of driving doctors out of state because they are required to have relatively high medical malpractice insurance. The ER study urges the state to extend legal immunity to doctors who provide emergency care. That would damp the fear of malpractice, which physicians have cited as a reason for staying away from emergency medicine.

But the legislature has dismissed that proposal, arguing that it would mean doctors could not be held accountable for their actions.

Let’s look toward the lucrative industry of Big Insurance to see the origin of high-cost premiums that are making medicine a less desirable field.

Continue reading " Florida Ranks Last In ER Care " »

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A news4jax.com report recently had a story about a man who was sentenced for reckless driving and causing a young man to die in a Jacksonville auto accident. The judge has ordered Mario Tellez to two years behind bars. Because of the time he has already served, Tellez could be out again in nine months.

Tellez is in the U.S. illegally. He doesn’t have a license, but that didn’t stop him from getting behind the wheel of a car in August 2007. At the intersection of St. Johns Bluff and Central Parkway, he did not yield the right of way and hit another car causing it to flip over.

21-year old Brandon Michael was engaged to be married. He was planning to become a veterinarian. He was in the car that rolled and died of the injuries he suffered in the fatal Jacksonville car accident.

Is there any other evidence needed to show that our state’s point system and the discretion of a judge do sometimes not go far enough to keep our roads safe? Reckless driving, as defined by the legislature, means a serious bodily injury can result to another person and is a felony in the third degree. But when should this sort of behavior be taken more seriously such as vehicular homicide? If not when another person dies, then when?

Never assume other drivers on the road are as responsible as you are. They may have just received a slap on the wrist before being let out and behind the wheel again.

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If you had a loved one who was hit by a car in an auto accident and killed, wouldn’t you hope the driver would be arrested? Especially if it wasn’t the first time they hurt someone while behind the wheel?

An article on firstcoastnews.com details the story of Maria Fonsica was driving on August 12, when troopers say she veered off the road and onto the shoulder, hitting and killing Terrance Fowler. She was charged with careless driving, not a criminal violation.

Then 27 days later she was pulled over again. This time, Fonsica was issued three citations including speeding 71 miles an hour in a 45 mile per hour zone and cutting in and out of traffic.

And that’s not all - Fonsica has 16 citations in all that date back 20 years. She has been behind the wheel on countless occasions displaying driving habits such as running a stop sign, seatbelt violations and speeding.

Now she is set for sentencing in January. Her attorney says “She’s very distraught by the crash, very sorry it happened and very sympathetic to the family, and she certainly wants the family to understand that,” according to Paul Shorstein who spoke to First Coast News.

The judge in her sentencing will have the option to consider her driving record as a whole.

Florida law establishes a point system to determine if you are qualified to operate a motor vehicle. If she has accrued a number of infractions, she will accrue points that can be added up for driving recklessly, moving violations, exceeding the posted speed limit by 16 mph or more and ignoring traffic signals.

More than 12 points and Fonsica must have her license suspended.

Continue reading " Careless Driver Kills, 27 Days Later She’s Arrested Again " »

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The Florida Supreme Court ruled this week (Thursday December 11) that parents cannot waive the liability for their children when they participate in a sport. The 4-1 ruling clears the way for Florida wrongful death litigation against a motor sports track in Okeechobee County.

The issue began with the death of 14-year old Christopher Jones on May 10, 2003 at the Thunder Cross Motor Sports Park. Christopher took a jump and the ATV landed on top of him.

Chris was there with his father Bobby Jones, who was the custodial parent of Christopher because he was divorced from the boy’s mother Bette. Bobby Jones and his sons enjoyed racing all terrain vehicles (ATVs) and Christopher had been at the track before to race.

Before he could race, the park required Bobby Jones to sign a Waiver of Liability. One had been signed the day of the Florida ATV accident. The release included specific language that waived any claims based on the negligence of the track. It also says that the parents realized the dangerous nature of the activity and the risk of injury or death.

Christopher’s mother Bette later filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Florida claiming the park owners and manager were negligent. The suit was dismissed though because her ex-husband had sign the release form. The trial court decided essentially that a parent can waive the personal injury rights of his minor child.

But on appeal, the Fourth District Court of Appeal said there was nothing in state law that allowed a parent to waive all legal rights on behalf of their minor child.

That decision conflicted with a previous ruling that upheld the waivers. When there is a conflict in lower court rulings, that’s when the issue lands before the state Supreme Court to work out the differences.

So now, five years after his death, the parents of Christopher can pursue their lawsuit against the track in Okeechobee County. Bette says she wants other parents to be aware of the dangers of ATVs and that’s why she’s stuck with it so long.

The decision is an important one and has many different applications since participation in sports often requires waivers. A parent may be able to waive their own rights – but not that of their minor child. With this decision, the waivers are essentially worth the paper they’re written on.

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During the holiday season there are more teen drivers on the road and out of school which reminds us of a not so cheery subject.

Nearly 6, 000 young people die in auto accidents each year and it remains the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S. today.

Now Allstate Insurance has a word of caution for teen drivers in the Jacksonville area.

The roads in three metro areas in Florida are the tops nationwide for fatal auto crashes involving teens.

The Tampa Bay area, Jacksonville, and Orlando rank first, second and third in the study by Allstate that analyzed crash statistics and claims around the country over the past eight holiday seasons.

According to the Florida Department of Transportation, there were 983 traffic fatalities involving teens in 2006, and 1,000 in 2007.

There were 29 fatal traffic crashes in Jacksonville alone during the past holiday season. In more than half of cases, the teenager was a passenger in the vehicle and a captive audience.

Allstate’s report doesn’t say why this happens but it may be that these cities are particularly spread out and teens have to drive greater distances to get anywhere. There may also be more instances of holiday parties and drunk driving.

And let’s not leave out “road rage” which seems particularly high during the holiday season.

These numbers are unacceptable. Please don’t let your child become a statistic.

Continue reading " Jacksonville Second in Fatal Teen Crashes " »

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Florida used to rank 41st in states in terms of health, now that number has dropped. Florida was No. 45 in the latest America’s Health Ranking.

Statistics in Florida come from the Department of Health.

The drop is at least partially attributable to the higher rates of uninsured people in Florida, and high incidences of infectious disease.

On the flip side - positives are that our state has a low rate of air pollution and maybe because of the beaches, a lower rate of obesity than some states.

Also the number of folks who smoke has dropped by 8 percent.

Particularly upsetting is the number of children in Florida who live in poverty- that increased by 23 percent.

And if you are black, you are twice as likely to have a low birth rate baby, than if you are a non-Hispanic white.

States were ranked by 22 health measures from infant mortality, to heart disease deaths, immunizations, violent crime, among other criteria. Unfortunately access to health care also falls along racial lines with 43.8 percent of Hispanics lacking health insurance compared to almost 18 percent of non-Hispanic whites.

While the healthiest state was Vermont followed by Hawaii, the states ranking lowest in the survey are all in the south - Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The purpose of the report is to stimulate action by individual communities and public health professionals to improve the health of the population of the US.

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There are more than 7,000 businesses licensed to sell alcohol in Jacksonville’s Duval County. Florida wants to make sure that underage drinkers are not getting their hands on alcohol.

Friday night police did a random check of more than dozen establishments in the Jacksonville area.

Girls go in, dressed appropriately for their age, and then go into an establishment and try and buy alcohol. If the clerk doesn’t ask for an ID and sells them the alcohol, they are arrested by agents waiting in the wings.

On this Friday night, there were two arrests made. In most cases, the arrested clerks are not taken to jail, but are instead issued a 'Notice To Appear' before a judge at a later date, according to First Coast News.

Liquor stores generally do not face the same kind of liability for injury, property damage or death related to a teenage drunk driver as a bar.

Florida’s Dram Shop Law does allow the victims of drink driving accidents to sue bars, hotels or restaurants that sell alcohol to underage teens who are injured or injure others as a result.

If the bar either didn’t ask for an ID or ignored an obviously fake ID, they may share the liability if that teen gets into an accident and causes injury and death.

Continue reading " Alcohol Sales To Minors Busted In Florida " »

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It was a much anticipated trial.

A Florida wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widow of a Cooper City, Florida man, who smoked up to 40 cigarettes a day for 40 years, would be the first of 8,000 similar lawsuits to be heard in Florida against Big Tobacco.

Thousands of individual lawsuits were allowed to move forward after the Florida Supreme Court threw out the $145 billion Engle verdict in 2006, de-certifying the class.

But a racial slur in the Broward County courtroom led to a mistrial in the case Thursday, December 4. An expert witness was testifying on the second day of trial, explaining his research into a project about racism in the tobacco industry and used a racist term – the N-word. Two of the jurors and one alternate were African-American.

The judge felt the word was prejudicial, even though it was heard in the context of a research project. He had no choice but to declare a mistrial so jurors wouldn’t hear about racism in the tobacco industry.

Stuart Hess of Cooper City, Florida died of lung cancer at the age of 55 in 1997.

His widow, Elaine, says Stuart tried to quit smoking. He tried Nicorette gum and hypnosis. He tried to quit cold turkey. Nothing worked.

Whether or not Hess was actually addicted to cigarettes will be the key to the case that his widow likely will bring again against Benson & Hedges (owned by Philip Morris), the cigarettes Hess preferred to smoke.

The tobacco company says he was not addicted and could have stopped smoking at any time, according to the Miami Herald.

No word yet on whether lawyers will re-try the case, but if they do, they must first prove he was addicted to cigarettes and that they caused his lung cancer. If they fail, the case goes away.

Continue reading " A Much Anticipated Florida Tobacco (Mis) Trial " »

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Posted In: Wrongful Death

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