Our firm represented the man’s widow to recover damages resulting from the wrongful death of her husband. In December 2008, a Polk County jury awarded her $3 million. This case sends an important message that the consequences of drunk driving can be devastating both personally and financially.

This is a sad example of big business putting profits ahead of individuals by cutting corners on training and adequate security. At DWKM&R, we pride ourselves on having the ability and resources to stick up for individuals like the late Mr. Damour against big businesses.

Our Orlando attorneys are troubled by Johnson & Johnson’s lack of warning about the risks associated with this birth-control product. A shocking 4,000 women have filed lawsuits in state and federal courts as a result of Johnson & Johnson’s negligence, according to Bloomberg News. The settlements include $1.25 million for the death of a 14-year-old girl who had two blood clots in her lungs after using the patch. Other wrongful deaths involving Johnson & Johnson’s birth-control patch include an 18-year-old college student, a high school junior who developed a blood clot in her lung after wearing the patch for six months, and a 41-year-old mother of two who used the patch for less than a year when she suffered a pulmonary embolism and died.

The truck driver was so distracted by his cell phone that he left the roadway entirely and collided with the school bus that was stopped on the side of the road. The truck driver’s negligence caused the death of a 13-year-old girl and left four other students in critical condition. Car accidents and fatal car crashes involving drivers using cell phones are on the rise in Florida and around the country.

Medical errors cost Americans nearly $9 billion from 2004 to 2006 and resulted in 238,337 potentially preventable deaths among hospitalized patients, according to HealthGrades’ analysis of Medicare records. “There can be enormous quality differences from one hospital to another, and one doctor to another, and this guide will point readers to the best care, wherever they live,” according to author Dr. Samantha Collier who also is HealthGrades’ chief medical officer.

Dr. Collier offers several ways to avoid becoming the victim of medical errors while hospitalized. Know your daily treatment plan and be prepared when the doctor arrives, ask nurses or doctors to address you by name to prevent them from giving you someone else’s medication, and have a family member or friend act as your advocate to help direct your care and keep track of your treatment plan.

This is not a new problem for the medical community, which has been slow to take action. What is most disturbing is that efforts to address this issue (as well as others related to medical errors) only became a priority after the federal government ruled that Medicare will no longer reimburse for care that results from hospital or physician errors. It took a threat to the bottom line before these providers did the right thing and took actions that should have happened long before now.

In response to this increasing practice, U.S. Senators Mel Martinez and Herb Kohl introduced federal legislation earlier this month that would protect dispute resolution options for nursing home residents. “When a family makes the difficult decision to help a loved one enter a nursing home, among the primary considerations is quality care,” said Senator Martinez. “Forcing a family to choose between quality care and forgoing their rights within the judicial system is unfair.”

It is unfortunate when nursing homes create systems – such as mandatory arbitration agreements, carrying minimal insurance and setting up corporate shells to avoid liability – that make it difficult for patients to hold these institutions responsible for negligent conduct. No wonder statistics reveal that nursing home lawsuits are on the decline while poor treatment of the elderly is on the rise. Lawsuits can be a powerful deterrent for nursing homes engaging in negligent treatment of the elderly, and Senators Martinez and Kohl are on the right track to ensure a system of accountability that protects the rights of nursing home residents.

Many of these physicians are switching to office surgeries to avoid complying with hospital surgical suite regulations that require doctors to meet minimum credentialing for performing surgery. For instance, many doctors who perform tummy tucks, liposuction and other cosmetic surgical procedures are not board certified plastic surgeons; a requirement for performing such procedures in a hospital.

If you (or someone you know) are thinking of having a surgical procedure performed in a doctor’s office, make sure you verify the physician’s credentials, know how the anesthesia will be administered and make certain an action plan exists in the event that something goes wrong.

This is a classic example of the auto industry covering up a known defect in the hopes that it would not be discovered. Unfortunately, this unreported defect took the life of a young man and left loving parents mourning the death of their son.

Government agencies do not have the money or manpower needed to effectively police the U.S. auto industry. As a result, dangerous vehicles are allowed to enter the marketplace. In this case, the vehicle had done poorly on crash tests yet was allowed to go on the market. Then, Mitsubishi replaced the model halfway through the year without communicating the defect to the thousands of people who owned the earlier model. Product liability cases such as this are the only way to force the auto industry to change.