Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

I have always been moved at the beauty of the Hanukkah Menorah. Candles lit every night for eight nights to celebrate freedom. As a kid in Wichita, Kansas I would take my Menorah to school and show my school mates how we would light the candles each night and spin the dreidel. For many of my friends it was the first time that they had ever seen a Menorah.

As a father, lawyer and Coral Gables resident I am proud to co-host the Official City of Coral Gables Menorah Lighting with Rabbi Avrom Stolik and we invite you and your family to experience the wonder of this event.

This year, CBS News's Gio Benitez will have the honor to light the first candle.

Please join us as we will have free activities for children, music and Grandma Stolik's World Famous Hanukkah Latkes.

Join us on Ponce Circle in Coral Gables on December 5, 2010 at 5:00 PM. The event is free and open to the public. You do not have to be Jewish or live in Coral Gables.

Unwrapped new toys will be collected to be donated to patients at Holtz Children's Hospital. For more information contact Rabbi Avrom Stolik.

Lawyers to the Rescue a not for profit humanitarian initiative to provide legal and financial assistance to those in need around the world, sponsored a reading of "Sara Rose, Kid Lawyer" at Miami Children's Hospital as its official Thanksgiving event.

Miami personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer Spencer Aronfeld was joined by his children Sara Rose and Nory for the reading. The book, Sara Rose, Kid Lawyer is a fully illustrated children's book written by Spencer Aronfeld and inspired by his daughter Sara Rose. The story is about a tenacious little girl who likes to argue and wants to become a lawyer. Aronfeld wrote the story to inspire and educate children about becoming lawyers. All of the profits from the book go to support Lawyers to the Rescue.

Every child in attendance at the reading received a signed copy of the book compliments of Lawyers to the Rescue and others who generously purchased copies for the event.

Lawyers to the Rescue intends to deliver additional books for Christmas. Those wishing to attend the reading or to donate books should contact Dina Aronfeld.

As a Miami personal injury and car accident attorney for nearly twenty years, I have watched the reputation of lawyers go from punch line to prison. I am also a father of two elementary school kids and I want them to understand what lawyers really do and to be proud of me.

So I wrote Sara Rose, Kid Lawyer a story inspired by my daughter Sara Rose, intended to educate, inspire and empower children to seek out a career as lawyers. It is the story of a tenacious ten-year old girl who likes to argue. The book is fully illustrated and a portion of the proceeds of each book goes to Lawyers to the Rescue.

I am honored that the Dade County Bar and Lawyers to the Rescue is sponsoring the Official Book Launch of Sara Rose, Kid Lawyer on December 18, 2010.

For Thanksgiving, Lawyers to the Rescue is donating and delivering a copy of Sara Rose, Kid Lawyer to every admitted child at Miami Childrens Hospital. If you are interested in purchasing a copy for yourself or for a child please contact Dina Aronfeld.

One of the highlights of my career as a Florida ER mistake lawyer was attending the Broadway musical Hair with the late Johnny Cochran shortly before he died from a brain tumor. He felt his tumor came from excessive use of cellphones; but that seemed incredible at the time.

The recently published Disconnect by epidemiologist Devra Davis has me reconsidering the relationship between cellphone use and brain cancer. Davis notes the increase in brain tumors in 20-29 year olds and she relates low energy radio frequency radiation from cell phones to brain cell damage. The amount a particular cellphone secretes is called Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). The FCC list the SAR of most cellphones here.

Apparently Apple and Blackberry are concerned too. Buried deep in the fine print, both warn users about putting the phone too close to your head. As a Miami product liability lawyer and avid Blackberry user, I urge everyone to take a moment to look at the Davis research.

As a Fosamax injury law firm, we are watching a New York jury trial against Merck, the drug's manufacturer very closely. Fosamax is a drug taken by millions of American women who suffer from osteoporosis and was approved by the FDA in 1990.

On October 12, 2010, the FDA issued a safety update for Fosamax, Fosamax Plus D, Actonel, Acontel with Calcium, Voniva, Ateliva and Reclast, finding patients who takethe drugs have an increased risk of developing broken legs and other bones

In the New York case, Merck is utilizing the classic finger-pointing defense by blaming the steroid and arthritis drugs that the claimant took. So far the score is 1-1: Merck landed a defense verdict against a claimant but lost to a plaintiff who was awarded $8 million by a jury. The judge later reduced that plaintiff's verdict to $1.5 million.

As a Fosamax claims lawyer, I recommend people taking Fosamax, or any other drug containing bisphosphonate, to immediately see their doctors, especially if they are feeling any pain or discomfort in their hip or thigh. They should also report any side effects to the FDA's Medwatch program or call 1-888-463-6332. If you have taken Fosamax, or the other named medications, you should also consult with an experience drug injury lawyer regarding your legal rights.

Representing Mario Viera, a child who was circumcised against his parents' will by a South Florida hospital, has forced me to research and study about circumcisions in modern medicine. Since this case started I have been contacted by many who criticize routine infant circumcision and deem it unnecessary and barbaric.

Recently, I was informed that human foreskins are rich in "fibroblasts" or stem cells that secrete collagen and are used in anti-wrinkle creams and inject-able serums. I do not know what became of Baby Mario's foreskin after it was amputated, but intend to find out.

As a Florida medical malpractice lawyer, I feel that if patient tissue or cells are to be used or sold that patient has a right to know and approve of it. Mario's consent form states that the hospital has the right to appropriately dispose of any specimen or other bodily materials removed during the course of the child's treatment. I wonder what that means.

Some physicians believe that the increased risks of circumcisions include:

More than two years after the FDA first received complaints about the defective hip implants made by Johnson and Johnson's DePuy Orthopeadics they have finally been recalled. As a Florida defective hip implant lawyer, I am astonished that it took so long.

This is nothing new for Johnson and Johnson, the proud makers of the recalled Liquid Children's Tylenol, Acuvue contact lenses and an illegally marketed and unapproved medical device called the Corail Hip System.

The recalled hip implants are the ASR XL Acetabular System (hip socket replacement) and the ASR Hip Resurfacing Systyem (placement of a metal cap on the ball of the femur).

Our Miami Hip Implant Lawyers advise our clients who are considering a hip replacement surgery to seriously consider options other than the DePuy products. Those patients who have undergone hip replacement surgery using a DePuy replacement product should immediately contact their surgeon for an evaluation.