Who didn’t see this one coming? The family of an employee trampled to death by bargain-hunting holiday shoppers at a New Jersey Walmart has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, saying the store’s ads offering deep discounts created an unsafe environment. Anybody who’s seen the video footage of the store’s frantic customers knew this was going to happen, and no one knew the risk better than Walmart.

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.

Motorcycle accidents involving riders who don’t wear helmets are resulting in big bills in Central Florida hospitals, according to an Orlando TV station which reported the cost to treat injured riders in 2007 was $40 million. One-third of Florida motorcycle riders don’t have insurance. Many others only carry the minimum requirement of $10,000, even though the average hospital cost for a motorcycle injury is $43,000. When motorcycle riders are involved in an accident and don’t have enough insurance, taxpayers pick up the bill for their medical care.

Health care advocates support a change in the law that would require non-helmeted motorcycle riders to carry more insurance. I believe that motorcyclists should carry as much insurance as they can afford whether they wear a helmet or not. Our personal injury law firm has seen too many motorcycle accidents in Orlando where people suffer from very serious injuries due to someone else’s negligence. These serious injuries often occur even when the motorcyclist is wearing a helmet.

Unfortunately, in the Central Florida area, many drivers do not have liability insurance coverage. As a result, you must look to your own insurance company to pay for your medical bills and other damages recoverable under Florida law. You can only rely on your insurance company to compensate you if you purchased underinsured motorist insurance coverage.

The Florida Bar spent nearly half its annual budget — about $10 million – investigating grievances against about 7,800 attorneys from September 2007 to August 2008, according to the Orlando Sentinel. A large majority of the complaints (about 80 percent) were dismissed because the Bar determined there was no ethics violation or not enough evidence.

Our Orlando personal injury firm goes to great lengths to protect the interests of our clients who have already suffered from the negligence of others. The same professional integrity is true of the many law firms who refer personal injury cases to us.

There is a delicate balance between protecting the interests of clients and ensuring due process for lawyers accused of wrongdoing. The Florida Bar achieves this balance better than almost any other organization of its kind and is recognized nationally for its disciplinary program and client compensation fund.

The Florida Board of Medicine disciplined five Orlando area doctors this month for making serious medical errors. The doctors’ mistakes included operating on the wrong disc in a patient’s back, operating on the wrong testicle of a patient and implanting the wrong kind of lens during a cataract procedure. The doctors were order to pay fines up to $10,000, perform up to 100 hours of community service and take continuing education classes on topics such as risk management.

Unfortunately, tort reform favors the odds that most doctors will never be disciplined for their medical mistakes. Too often, the victims of medical negligence cannot hire lawyers to represent them in damage claims. And even though the Florida Board of Medicine meets regularly to take disciplinary action against doctors, it is ill-quipped to investigate the thousands of physician errors that occur each year, especially against well financed and insurance paid lawyers who can easily delay and defeat the process of state investigation.

Health care giant Johnson & Johnson has spent a reported $68.7 million to settle hundreds of lawsuits filed by women who suffered personal injury after using the company’s Ortho Evra birth-control patch. Twenty wrongful deaths are blamed on the birth-control patch which is alleged to cause medical problems involving deep-vein thrombosis, blood clots and pulmonary embolisms.

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.

Federal prosecutors have released details about a Tampa-based health care company that defrauded Florida health agencies out of more than $20 million. A WellCare analyst pled guilty to defrauding Florida’s Medicaid program by falsifying documents to inflate bills for behavioral health care services. Authorities say he did not act alone, but involved other WellCare employees to further the conspiracy.

This type of health care fraud is consistent with a general pattern of misconduct by many nursing home chains to take advantage of our most vulnerable citizens as well as the taxpayers. Sadly, incidents of fraud and exploitation by these facilities are on the rise thanks to their successful lobbying efforts to limit oversight and accountability.