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.

More than 90 percent of U.S. nursing homes were cited for violating federal standards of care in each of the past three years, according to a government report. Medicare is trying to increase the quality of nursing home care by posting on its Web site the names of facilities that perform poorly in state inspections. The government also plans to implement a star rating system similar to hotel rankings.

Florida had a rating system for years and it did little to improve the quality of nursing home care. Today, protections enacted by the Florida Legislature are making it significantly harder to hold nursing homes responsible when they abuse or neglect a resident. Before these changes in the law, instances of nursing home abuse decreased dramatically. Now, we are seeing a rise in nursing home abuse. We know from years of experience that our seniors are at risk if there is no financial penalty for nursing home abuse.

Today’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports about homeowners who are choosing to “go bare” when it comes to windstorm coverage after seeing their property insurance double, or in some cases triple, after the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. The added prospect of having to shell out money for repairs after paying insurance premiums for years only adds insult to injury.

This new option is only for people who own their homes and don’t have a mortgage. I don’t recommend it. In 2004, when Hurricane Ivan hit, I met with many people in the panhandle and Central Florida who were devastated because they did not have adequate homeowners insurance to cover their property losses. I will never forget the look of despair and fear on their faces.

Insurance companies do not always do the right thing. If you are the victim of the insurance company’s delay tactics and frivolous denials, you may have to hire an attorney to protect your rights against an insurance company and allow a group of six jurors to settle the dispute at trial.

The Florida Highway Patrol has determined that a tractor-trailer driver was on his cell phone when he crashed into the back of a school bus in Marion County, Florida. This certainly explains how such a catastrophic accident could have happened.

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.

The National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running has declared this week “National Stop on Red Week,” dedicated to educating Americans about the dangers of running red lights. The organization reports that 96 percent of Americans are afraid of being hit by a red light runner, yet nearly 20 percent admit to running a red light in the last ten intersections. The leading excuse was not frustration or road rage; but “being in a hurry.”

In Orlando last year, 525 car accidents were linked to red-light running. The city is installing 10 red light cameras at seven intersections around the city and come Sept. 1 will begin fining red light runners $125 for the first two offenses, then $250 for subsequent ones.

Drivers who run red lights cause car accidents that result in preventable death and injury to others. I commend the National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running for its efforts to prevent these types of car accidents.