As a Miami lawyer who helps people who have fallen in Florida businesses for over twenty years I have seen many different injuries ranging from sore backs to broken legs and arms. I believe that the most important issue is obtaining immediate and appropriate medical care. Many stores are trained not to call for fire rescue for injured customers as it might indicate that a more serious injury has been sustained.
In Florida injury claims against grocery stores, plaintiffs are questioned and criticized by the fact that fire rescue did not come or that immediate medical care was not sought. I am not suggesting that you have an ambulance come if you are not injured, but if you are unsure of the extent of your injury or cannot decide, I always recommend that you have an ambulance come.
Injured people are sometimes concerned about the cost of fire rescue or having an ambulance transport you to a hospital. The thought of sitting in an emergency room waiting hours to see a doctor is also unpleasant.
In the end, we believe that the health and well being of our clients is most important.
I recommend being absolutely candid about your injuries, medication and previous medical history with fire rescue and at the emergency room. Failure to provide complete and accurate information will subject the injured customer to criticism once the claim is made.
Virtually every Florida grocery store, convenience store or shopping mall owner or operator has installed multiple digital surveillance cameras. A copy of the surveillance video of the accident is crucial information for successfully proving a Fort Lauderdale slip and fall claim and should always be requested immediately after the incident
Our Miami fall down accident lawyers are devoted to holding businesses, grocery stores, shopping malls and car dealers accountable for keeping their premises safe and clean.
As a Florida lawyer who sues universities for not having proper security and a former resident of the University of Miami's Mahoney Residential College dormitory I was alarmed to read about the recent arrest of Jiahao Yuan, the Chinese exchange student was found "inappropriately touching" two sleeping co-eds.
What disturbed me the most, as a Miami lawyer who represents victims of sexual assault was not the fact that it took the University of Miami Campus Police nearly six hours to apprehend Mr. Yuan; but that the girls were apparently sleeping with their dorm-room doors unlocked. I personally lived in Mahoney some twenty five years ago, and it does not seem as though security at the University of Miami has improved much from my days as an undergrad in the 1980's.
The Coral Gables campus, like many colleges and universities across the country, is virtually a city within a city. Some estimate that there is a rape on an American college campus every 21 hours. In 47% of college rape, the victim receives physical injury.
1. Dorm rooms should be equipped with the same self-locking key card doors that are found in both hotels and on cruise ships.
2. Doors should be equipped with a peephole.
3. Card keys should be re-calibrated every semester to avoid duplications.
4. Elevators should be equipped with a card key limiting access to certain floors.
5. Floors should be equipped with sensor lights are triggered by movement.
6. Digital recording surveillance cameras should be installed on each dorm floor with someone watching from both a front desk and a central security command center.
7. Foot patrols by trained security personnel should inspect floors on both a scheduled and random basis.
Most college campus violence occurs during the weekends when there are less students, faculty and administration on campus. Until universities and colleges take the appropriate actions to protect their students from both intruders from within and outside campus, our students will be at risk.
Thankfully, the twp University of Miami girls who were assaulted were not more seriously injured. However, this should be a warning sign to students and their parents across the United States, that college campuses are little cities within a city.
I am a Miami lawyer who sues doctors and hospitals on behalf of injured Florida's injured patients and their families for over twenty years. I have sadly watched the legal rights of injured patients get whittled away since I started practicing law in 1991. But nothing compares to the machete that Florida's Governor Rick Scott has wielded in the short time since his election. Take his latest weapon: Florida's brand new Statute §766.1065 "Authorization for release of protected health information" in claims for personal injury or wrongful death.
Florida does not permit injured patients or their families to simply sue negligent doctors. Instead, the law requires families and their lawyers to engage in a burdensome, expensive, tricky and time consuming ordeal known as "Presuit." It forces the injured to obtain medical records, expert opinions and comply with a complex and downright tricky legal maze before a law suit can even be filed. Generally, Presuit has to start within two years of the incident, giving doctors and hospitals the advantage of having a shorter statute of limitations than every other defendant in the State of Florida simply because they are "healthcare providers." In the end, Florida's malpractice law simply eliminates all but the most catastrophic medical mistakes from even getting filed as law suits. In the end, injuries that do not cause permanent and significant changes in the quality of a patient's life nearly always go uncompensated.
Florida's Statute §766.1065 simply raises the bar by requiring that the Presuit procedure also include an authorization for the release of a patient's protected health information that is "potentially relevant" to the claim. In fact, if the authorization is not provided in the specific format required by the statute the entire Presuit will be deemed void.
Furthermore, Section 766.1065(2) states that if the patient or their family decides to revoke the authorization it will void the Presuit notice and potentially destroy a claim if the Statute of Limitations has passed.
This new "authorization" allows the defendant doctors or hospitals and their lawyers and insurance companies to obtain an injured Florida patient's medical records and verbally interact with the patient's other doctors. It requires the injured patient to provide a list of the names and addresses of all healthcare providers for two years before the incident even occurred. That means that if an anesthesiologist performs a femoral block on the wrong leg, the injured patient will have to give that anesthesiologist, his lawyers, and medical malpractice insurance company the names and addresses of the doctors she has seen two years before the malpractice even occurred. Then the defendant doctor and his team can obtain her records and even speak with her doctors regarding treatments or procedures that have absolutely nothing to do with her claim.
As a Key West PI attorney I fear this will have a chilling effect on patient care. I am concerned that if a defendant doctor and his lawyers are permitted to speak with unrelated healthcare providers and tell them that their patient is engaged in a Florida medical injury claim, some doctors will start treating their patients more defensively or discharge them completely for fear of being dragged into litigation.
Section C of the required authorization allows patients to certify doctors they believe are not relevant to the claim for the injuries but still requires the patient to list the providers' names, dates of treatment, examination and evaluation.
An other potential harm of this statute is that it will force patients who have received treatment for issues that are private and not relevant to the alleged Florida medical mistake to disclose personal medical information. The effect of this statute may coerce Florida's injured patients and or surviving family to simply abandon legitimate claims. For example, it a patient has been treated for a Sexually Transmitted Disease, Addiction or Depression, she will be forced by this statute and its required authorization to disclose this information to sue a Fort Lauderdale doctor who did a botched plastic surgery.
To avoid major traffic jams cities are seeing more traffic roadwork done at night. The combination of road repair work done during heavy traffic and the increase in night work results in significant safety considerations for Florida's highway and construction workers and drivers.
Florida Statute Section 316.079 requires drivers to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian construction worker or flag person who is engaged in maintenance or construction work. In addition, drivers are responsible to yield the right-of-way to escort vehicles or a flag person.
Many roadside workers believe that simply wearing any safety vest and helmet provide enough visibility to avoid an accident. What many do not know is that safety vests come in many styles and classes. According to the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Worker Visibility Final Rule, "All workers within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway who are exposed either to traffic (vehicles using the highway for purposes of travel) or to construction equipment within the work area shall wear high-visibility safety apparel."
As a Broward lawyer who represent injured roadside construction workers I recommend that only Class III visibility vests be worn. These vest offer the greatest visibility and make the wearer stand out against a variety of different backgrounds. Class III visibility vests allow workers to be easily seen through a full range of body motions at a minimum of 1,280 feet by using special reflective material that increases visibility beyond what is provided by Performance Class 2 apparel. For instance, Class III garments help drivers differentiate a worker from a static traffic control device like a barricade or delineator.
Our Pembroke Pines car crash lawyers are dedicated to keeping Florida's roads safe for both drivers and for the many who work to keep them maintained and clean. We strongly urge the use of Class III safety garments. They can make the difference between life and death for a worker, especially in highly congested areas, nighty work, during bad weather or in complex work zones with multiple lane shifts. We believe that employers have the responsibility to provide appropriate safety equipment for their workers and should be held responsible if they are injured due to a lack of driver visibility.
As a Fort Lauderdale lawyer who sues doctors and hospitals, I find Florida Governor Rick Scott's obsession and interpretation of the United States Constitution's Second Amendment frightening. Since becoming Florida's Governor, Rick Scott has done little to make Florida's patients safer.
When he signed the Firearm Owners' Privacy Act into law he sought to prohibit doctors from asking if their patients had access to guns. Governor Scott claims that the law is needed to protect patients from being "harassed" by nosy doctors wanting to know and note if there are any weapons in the house. The law goes on to provide a means to discipline doctors if they violate the law or affect the patient's insurance premiums.
Of course the National Rifle Association is fully supporting Governor Scott on this issue. The most significant critics of this law is the Florida Chapter of the American
Academy of Pediatrics. The AAP claims, when a gun is kept in a home it is 43 times more likely to kill someone known to the family than to kill someone in self-defense.
The risk of suicide is 5 times more likely when a gun is kept in the home.
It is impossible for our Florida personal injury law firm to imagine a scenario where a dispute would arise between the NRA and our governor against a group of pediatricians--but that is precisely what is happening. United States District Court Judge Marcia Cooke ruled that Governor Scott's law was invalid stating that Doctor's have a First Amendment right to inquire about fire arms. Governor Scott is appealing the ruling.
Sadly, our Miami attorneys who represent families of suicide victims have seen first hand the devastation that can happen when untreated or misdiagnosed patients have access to a gun. We agree with Judge Cooke's ruling and urge Governor Scott to reconsider his views on this issue. We believe that patients and their families should be provided with the best and safest medical care. Governor Scott has no business interfering with the doctor-patient relationship, especially when the safety of patients and their families is in question. There simply is no reasonable explanation to pass a law that prevents doctors from simply ask if a gun is in the house.
As a Florida lawyer who sues doctors I was very pleased to see a California jury return a "guilty" verdict against Dr. Conrad Murray for involuntary manslaughter. It is our hope that Dr. Murray never practices medicine again. More importantly, our Miami hospital injury law firm, hopes that this verdict sends a chilling message to doctors across the country who put their own profits ahead of the safety and well being of their patients.
Many might think that what happened on June 25, 2009, in the Holmby Hills, California mansion where Michael Jackson died was unusual. In this case, jurors heard days of testimony about Propofol, the drug that killed Jackson, and listened to the typical defense which is to blame the patient for their own harm. More specifically, Dr. Murray's lawyers argued that the singer injected the fatal dose himself.
The Judge was very clear in his view of the evidence when he issued this statement: "This is a crime where the end result (was) the death of a human being, Dr. Murray's reckless conduct in this case poses a demonstrable risk to the safety of the public. "
He then ordered Murray taken into immediate custody and held without bail.
Of course, Dr. Murray's lawyer was quick to tell the world that they intend to appeal the verdict. It is their right.
Our South Florida patient injury law office investigates cases every day that involve doctors who make mistakes but refuse to accept responsibility. This especially holds true in cases of malpractice that occur outside of hospitals. In Florida, ambulatory surgical centers are utilized with frightening frequency. Ill equipped, under staffed and lacking the supervision and regulation of hospitals, they offer patients an economic alternative to having procedures performed in a hospital.
As a Florida lawyers who sues hospitals, I strongly recommend that if you are considering undergoing an elective procedure and the physician suggests that it be done in a Florida ambulatory surgical center, request that it be done in a traditional hospital operating room instead. In the event there is a intraoperative complication you will be far safer if you are in a hospital rather than near a hospital. The time it takes to call an ambulance and transport a patient to an emergency room can mean the difference between life and death.
I am a North Miami Beach car accident lawyer and I was surprised and a little offended at a recent New York Times article that claimed that women were more likely to get injured in a car wreck than male drivers.
The analysis consisted of a retrospective cohort with national crash data between 1998 and 2008 to determine the role of driver gender as a predictor of injury outcome when involved in a crash.
The study authored by Dr. Dipan Bose, focused on the the statistical odds, comparing the injuries that a seat-belted female driver sustained compared to a male driver in a comparable crash. The result were that women have a 47% higher likelihood of sustaining a severe injury than male drivers. We believe this is as result of multiple issues more likely attributable to vehicle regulations and safety designs rather than hormones or chromosomes.
For instance, the study found that women are on average 5 ½ inches shorter and 35 pounds lighter than males. In addition, more women drive passenger cars than men. In addition, female drivers are more prone to cervical injuries due to differences in neck strength and musculature in relationship to the positioning of head rests.
Our Coral Springs car safety accident lawyers believe that most cars have been defectively designed products if intended to be purchased and used only by men. This study clearly shows that women desperately need safety features that take their physical differences into account. We recommend that all drivers and passengers use seat belts and properly adjust head restraints for maximum safety.
Our Homestead car crash lawyers are sadly familiar with the consequences of mixing alcohol, drugs or chemicals with driving. We are committed to help stop drunk driving forever and protect families from experiencing the devastation and loss associated with intoxicated motorist.
Our South Miami car accident lawyers recommend that if you see or suspect someone is driving under the influence to stay as far away as possible. Do not try to stop or follow the car. Contact 911 and report the vehicle and if possible the tag number. It is best to leave safety to the professionals and not attempt to disable a suspected drunk driver's vehicle.
Florida's DUI statute includes alcohol, chemical and controlled substances. It is an offense to drive in Florida if there are impaired normal faculties, or a blood alcohol or breath alcohol level above .08. The penalties in Florida for DUI range from $500 to imprisonment depending on the number of prior convictions as well as whether or not there is injury to person, property or death.
Since 2002 Florida's Statute §316.193 requires that ignition interlock be installed on certain persons convicted of a DUI and are eligible for reinstatement of either a permanent or restricted license.
