Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Blog

Amendment 7 of the Florida Constitution was held to be pre-empted by the federal Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIA) in Southern Baptist Hospital of Florida, Inc. v. Charles, 178 So. 3d 102 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015). This case started out as a medical malpractice...

Imagine a world with truly autonomous cars? Wouldn’t it be nice to never have to stop at a traffic light? It’s a nice thought but the changes needed to make that a reality are far greater than simple advances in technology. Even if technology advances to a point where all...

Ford has issued a nationwide recall for vehicles listed below. 2013-15 C-MAX – Michigan Assembly Plant, April 19, 2012 to Jan. 31, 2015 2013-15 Escape – Louisville Assembly Plant, Oct. 19, 2011 to Jan. 31, 2015 2012-15 Focus – Michigan Assembly Plant, Aug. 1, 2010 to Jan. 31,...

In the case of Morejon v. Mariners Hospital, Inc., 41 FLW D1359 (Fla. 3rd DCA 6-8-2016)(Case Number 3D15-1711), the court held that section 395.1041, Florida Statutes (the so-called “anti-dumping statute” only requires that a hospital provide treatment regardless of the...

Florida law enforcement officials have begun the “Stay Right at Night” campaign to remind drivers of the need to pay attention at divided highway on-ramps and off-ramps such as interstate highways. This is where a significant number of fatal or serious car accidents occur...

A former member of a local band, Dallas Taylor, suffered what has been described as a horrific injury as a result of an all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) accident. The accident occurred last Tuesday (August 2nd) when Tayor was riding an ATV without a helmet and hit a sign. Taylor’s...

Toyota Motor Corporation has recalled over 337,000 vehicles due to loose nuts on the rear suspensions of certain vehicles. The vehicles impacted are listed below: Lexus HS250h 2010 Toyota RAV4 2006-2011 Toyota claims that rust can build up on the suspension arm threat if the nuts...

Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center had the second highest number of emergency room visits in the nation for 2015 according to Becker’s Hospital Review. Lakeland Regional was second only to Florida Hospital. The top 50 hospitals in the country were ranked for...

Steve Kenan died in 2013 after an interventional cardiac catheterization. The interesting facts of this case are that the doctor who performed the procedure was paid $300,000 annually to do procedures at the hospital (St. Anthony’s Hospital/St. Petersburg and owned by BayCare)...

In the case of Dockswell v. Bethesda Memorial Hospital, Inc., 177 So. 3d 270 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015), the patient sued the hospital because a piece of post-surgical drainage tubing broke off inside him and was not discovered for several months. The claimant alleged, in addition to...

In the case of Cantore v. West Boca Medical Center, Inc., Case Number SC15-1926, the Florida Supreme Court released a corrected opinion on April 26, 2018 providing clarity on when the “reckless disregard” standard applies in medical malpractice cases involving the...

The National Safety Council (NSC) reports that a total of 19,100 deaths occurred on U.S. highways in the first six months of 2016 representing an overall increase of 18% from 2015. Nationwide, the estimated annual mileage death rate was 1.3 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles...

Florida ranks fifth among states in the total amount paid for medical malpractice claims in 2012. The total payouts for the top five states are listed below: New York $763,088,250 Pennsylvania $316,167,500 California $222,926,200 New Jersey $206,668,250 Florida $203,671,100 Most...

Peloton announced that it is beta testing semi-autonomous tractor-trailer technology. This technology allows a caravan of semi-trucks to travel in close proximity to one another and to function like a single vehicle as it moves down the highway. For instance, when the lead vehicle...

In the case of Welford v. Liberty Insurance Corporation, No.: 3:15-cv-333/RV-CJK, 2016 WL 3360431 (N.D. Fla. June 2, 2016), the court considered the issue of whether an insurance company has an obligation to initiate settlement discussions or negotiations. In this case, a driver hit...

In Sorenson v. Professional Compounding Pharmacists of Western Pennsylvania, Inc., 41 FLW D1119 (Fla. 2D DCA 5-11-2016)(Case Number 2D15-441), the patient died after taking a prescribed concentration of hydromorphone that was fatal. Prior to his death, Sorenson was an Ohio resident...

National and insurance industry surveys often rank Florida as having a lot of bad drivers based upon statistics of the number of accidents involving fatalities and property damage. Some surveys use individuals’ responses to questions about driving habits while others use...

In the case of Chiarino v. United States, 2016 WL 3083379 (Southern District of Florida 5-31-2016)(Case No.15-cv-80465-MIDDLEBROOKS), the patient was awarded $500,000 for pain and suffering in compensation for the time between the patient’s cancer should have been diagnosed...

In 2015, a total of 35,092 people lost their lives in traffic accidents. On August 29, 2016, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration made a press release calling for action to decrease the number of deaths on U.S. Highways. In...

A Sikorski S-61 helicopter crashed in Brevard County, Florida near Freeburg Avenue SW in the area of Sapodilla Road SW and Wingham Drive SW in Palm Bay. A Sikorsky S-61 is a old military style aircraft that is no longer in service. Witnesses say that the helicopter was flying low...