Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

As a defective medical device lawyer, I recently noted an American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology study finding an increased risk of complications with woman who were operated on using synthetic vaginal mesh to treat vaginal prolapse.

Vaginal prolapse is a condition where the uterus, rectum, bladder, urethra, small bowel, or the vagina itself falls out of their normal positions. The mesh is used to to provide support to the bladder or uterus for sexually active women following a hysterectomy or complicated child birth. The surgical procedure is called a Sacral Colpopexy.

Two years ago, in October 2008, the FDA issued a warning to doctors finding serious complications associated with the use of synthetic mesh. However, like most defective medical devices, it remains on the market.

Our Florida vaginal mesh complication lawyers advise you to reconsider the use of synthetic vaginal mesh if you are considering having surgery to correct vaginal prolapse. If you have undergone a sacral colpopexy surgery where synthetic vaginal mesh was used, please be especially vigilant for adverse affects such as erosion, infection and complications associated with the bowel or bladder. If you suffer from any adverse affects seek immediate medical attention and contact our defective mesh attorneys for a free initial consultation regarding your legal rights.

As an experienced cruise ship passenger injury attorney we are contacted from injured passengers and their local attorneys from around the world. Many are surprised to learn that regardless of where the ship embarks or departs, most cruise lines have buried in the tiny print of their tickets legal language that requires that any cruise ship injury claim be filed in Miami at the United States Federal Court, Southern District also known as Federal Court.

Many people are injured disembarking their cruise ships either on the tender or on excursions. Florida law is clear that cruise ships have a non-delegable duty to provide safe transportation between the ship and shore. Cruise lines try to defend these injuries by claiming that they are not responsible for negligence caused by the tenders because they do not own or control them.

Currently our cruise ship injury lawyers are representing in Federal Court, a Texas woman who was severely injured when her leg was caught between a tender and the dock in the Cayman Islands port of George Town. She was a passenger on Carnival Cruise Lines Conquest. After her fall she was taken to George Town Hospital where a crush fracture was diagnosed. The case is currently set for jury trial for June 2011.

Dear Worried Mom: As a Florida child injury attorney I am often consulted regarding potential claims of children injured on field trips, jets skis and after school sports. In almost all cases, the parents were required to sign some form of release promising to forgo any potential claims against the activity's organizer.

What is a parent to do? We recommend that you investigate any potential extra-curricular activity in which your child participates and do not be embarrassed.

Verify driver's licenses and credentials.
Verify training in first-aid.
Always make sure that they have your current contact information.
If your child has any allergies or medical needs, advise them in advance.

Florida's Supreme Court's recent rulings on pre-injury releases signed by parents is inconsistent and depends upon the activity. If the activity is commercial, such as a go-kart or a safari, the release can be set aside. However, if the activity is educational such as after school cheer-leading or a field trip to the Science Museum the release will be upheld.

Accordingly, our Florida child injury law firm recommends that you carefully consider the release before you sign it. If you do not understand it, have it reviewed by a competent attorney and always obtain a copy of whatever you sign.

Florida victims of medical malpractice and their attorneys have a recognized constitutional First Amendment right of free speech and expression. Currently, our Miami medical malpractice law office represents Mario Viera, an infant circumcised at South Miami Hospital without his parents' consent. The case garnered international media attention and the family hopes that it will lead to the enactment of a law regulating how circumcisions are performed not only in Florida but the rest of the country.

South Miami Hospital, the facility where the unwanted circumcision was performed, apparently does not appreciate or want to recognize Ms. Delgado's (Mario's mother) First Amendment right to free speech and has now asked the Court to impose a gag order to silence not only the mother but her lawyers as well.

The U.S. Constitution provides and protects the most basic rights that our country is founded upon. Our First Amendment right to free speech, while often controversial, is essential to our system of jurisprudence and provides the freedoms that make our country unique in the world.

As Florida patient rights lawyers we believe that victims of medical mistakes have the right to speak about their cases, the media has the right to report about them and the public has the right to know about them. The public's interest is especially important and served by the free dissemination of information about events having legal consequences. However, the right to free speech must not interfere with the rights of defendant doctors and hospitals to fair trials, especially where a jury is involved.

The greater harm lies in regards to the many medical malpractice claims that resolve long before trial. Typically, defendant hospitals and doctors require that their settlements be kept confidential. The confidentiality clause does little to help promote safer medical practices, to allow patients to make more informed decisions or to provide an opportunity to learn from others' mistakes

Our Florida construction site injury lawyers are determined to hold negligent employers, contractors and sub-contractors responsible for the injuries of Florida's working men and women.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created in 1970 by Congress to ensure safe and healthy working conditions. OSHA proudly reported a decline in the number or workplace fatalities in 2009 compared to 2008. However, this does not take into account the number of American workers who have been laid off due to the slow-down in manufacturing and construction.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: in 2009 4340 Americans including 243 Floridians lost their lives at work last year. 150 Americans died at construction sites.
The statistics on work-place injuries are much less accurate. For example, our Miami injury law firm is currently representing a worker who was severely injured in a crane accident in Miami and OHSA does not require employers to report injuries unless they involve 3 or more employees or a workplace fatality. Therefore, many serious injuries are never investigated by OHSA. We urge anyone who is seriously injured while at work to immediately report the incident to both their employer and to OSHA.

Continue reading "What Does OSHA Do For Florida's Injured?" »

As a dangerous prescription drug attorney, I strongly warn anyone currently taking the prescription drug Meridia to immediately consult with your prescribing physician in light of the FDA's request to remove the diet drug from the market.

Meridia is manufactured by Abbott and marketed as a diet drug. The principle ingredient in Meridia is Sibutramine Hydrochlorida and came on to the market in 1997. The FDA has found in increased risk for heart attack and stroke when compared to other drugs on the market.

As usual the FDA seems to be in no hurry to protect US drug consumers. It reached its decision regarding Meridia in mid-September, but waited nearly a month to disclose its findings. The FDA also seems to be less concerned than European regulators who removed Meridia from the market ten months ago.

If you have taken Meridia, contact our Meridia injury lawyers for a consultation regarding your legal rights.

Our Florida injury law firm receives many calls each week from people injured while at work. Florida's workers compensation immunity is yet another law that reflects our State's unbridled passion to protect the interests of business and insurance and not workers and consumers.

Florida Statutes Section 440 generally prevents an employee from suing his/her employer for an injury sustained at work, even if the injury is due to the employers own negligence. This is commonly referred to as "workers compensation immunity." Florida worker's compensation law also has very strict reporting requirements and limitations as to what compensation injured workers are legally entitled to receive.

There are exceptions to this rule depending on the employer's conduct and when an the injury or death is caused by an employee of a different company. This typically occurs at industrial complexes and construction sites. Currently our office is representing Jose Miranda, a construction site worker who was injured at a Miami construction site by a crane.

As a Miami injury lawyer, I believe that if you are injured at work you should immediately obtain medical care and obtain a consultation with an experienced lawyer about your legal rights.

As a Florida medical mistake lawyer, I have seen a lot of cases where doctors and hospitals have committed errors. It is said, "to err is human" and I agree. However, what is unforgivable and inhumane is when Florida health care providers purposely conceal their mistakes causing further injury to the patient physically and potentially destroying any legal remedies the patient may have had in the process.

Florida Statutes Section 95.11 govern the limitation of time that injured patients can initiate claims against health care providers. It dictates, in the most complex language, that essentially injured patients have two years from the date of the alleged injury to initiate a claim. If, however, the injury is intentionally concealed by the doctor, the dead line extends an additional two years from when the injury is discovered--limited to no more than seven years from the date of the mistake.

This means, Florida doctors can escape liability from malpractice if somehow they can hide their mistake from the patient for seven years. Astonishing. To literally add insult to injury, where would one hope to find this bizarre and unjust rule? Certainly not in the medical malpractice section of the Florida Statutes, but rather tucked neatly between statutes of limitations for bond enforcements and prisoner's rights.

Our Miami medical malpractice lawyers always recommend that those suspecting a doctor or hospital has committed an error to seek both immediate medical and legal assistance.

Practicing personal injury law in South Florida can be exciting; but trying to explain to my own kids what I do for a living is sometimes impossible. When my daughter's fourth grade teacher asked me to read a children's book about lawyers to her class, I could not find one. So I wrote one my own.

The book, "Sara Rose, Kid Lawyer," is an illustrated children's book designed to help empower kids, and especially young girls, to consider becoming lawyers. In this book, Sara Rose is a tenacious 4th Grader who ends up using her skills at arguing to represent her class in front of the School Board.

I anticipate that this is the first of a series of children's books. I hope you will consider purchasing a copy for your child or for a child you think would make a great lawyer. A portion of the proceeds go to Lawyers to the Rescue, a not for profit initiative created by lawyers to help those in need. You can buy one by contacting our Florida injury law firm at 305-441-0440 , or on Amazon.

As a Florida children's injury lawyer I am happy to see that Florida's law has particular rules governing the settlement of an injured child's personal injury, property damage or wrongful death claim.

Florida Statute Section 744.3025 allows the judge to appoint someone to review the claim and damages to make sure that the settlement is in the best interest of the child when the claim exceeds $15,000.00. This is called a Guardian ad Litem. The duty of the Guardian ad Litem is to protect the child's interest in the case. In cases where the damages exceed $50,000.00 the Court has to appoint a Guardian ad Litem.

Once and if the settlement is approved the proceeds are placed into a restricted fund that requires court approval before money can be disbursed. Usually the money is released to the injured child when they turn 18 years of age.

Our Miami personal injury law firm often represents children who have been injured in car accidents, theme parks and from defective products. We support this law as it helps create a safety net for injured children to ensure that parents and lawyers act in the child's best interest.

As Florida injury lawyers we know that most of our State's laws are written to protect the rich and powerful. None is more potent than Florida Statute §768.79, known as the Proposal for Settlement. Essentially, it scares injured Florida Plaintiffs into accepting a Defendant's (usually an insurance company, hospital or doctor) offer within 30 days with the fear that if the case goes to trial and the judgment is at least 25% less than the offer, the defendant shall be entitled to recover its costs and attorney's fees. In other words, even if the injured Florida Plaintiff wins his case he may still owe the defendant money.

Of course, there is a similar rule available to the Plaintiff, but in the typical Florida injury, medical malpractice or wrongful death case, it is the Plaintiff or the surviving family that has much more to lose than the defense; and the defense knows this.

Our Miami PI attorneys always advise our clients from the onset of their cases about the probability of the defense using this weapon and counsel them about the risks of not only losing, but winning as well.