Florida Injury Attorney Blog

In Florida, wrestling and Reality TV star Hulk Hogan and his family have been named in a car accident injury lawsuit by the family of John Graziano, a friend of Hogan’s son Nick Bollea.

Graziano sustained serious head and brain injuries in the August 26 crash. He remains in the hospital.

Graziano had been riding a car driven by Nick, who was racing his friend, Daniel Jacobs, in Clearwater, Florida. According to prosecutors, Nick had been driving his car about 40 miles above the legal speed limit. His car spun out of control and hit a palm tree.

Earlier this month, the Clearwater Police Department released photos from the catastrophic motor vehicle collision.

The lawsuit, filed in Pinellas County, names Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, his wife Linda Bollea, Nick Bollea, and Daniel Jacobs as plaintiffs.

According to the lawsuit, Hogan is responsible for the catastrophic auto collision because he had signed a consent form so his son could get his driver’s license and allowed his son to drive even though he knew that Nick enjoyed speed driving and racing. Hogan also owns the car that Nick had been driving during the crash.

Linda is being held legally liable for allegedly being aware of Nick’s reckless habits and “encouraging his dangerous behavior.”

Nick is named as a defendant because he drank alcohol before driving even though he is under 21 years of age and for speeding and racing his car on the night of the accident. Jacob’s is named in the lawsuit for participating in the speed racing that lead to the catastrophic car crash.

Graziano could require millions of dollars in medical care for the remainder of his life. He is reportedly in a semi-conscious state. Graziano’s parents, Edward and Debra Graziano, want to place any money they receive from the lawsuit in a trust for him.

Nick has been charged with reckless driving.

In South Florida, if you have been injured in a car collision because another driver was negligent, do not hesitate to contact our Florida personal injury law firm right away for your free consultation with one of our car accident lawyers.

Hulk Hogan sued by family of Florida crash victim, Reuters, March 24, 2008

Photos Released Showing Severity Of Bollea Crash, 2.tbo.com, March 12, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Hulk Hogan's Son Nick Arrested in Connection With Car Crash That Injured Friend, Foxnews.com, November 7, 2008

Traumatic Brain Injuries, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Continue reading " Hulk Hogan Is Sued In Florida Personal Injury Lawsuit By Family Of Man Seriously Hurt in Car Crash With Wrestler’s Son " »

The Florida Highway Patrol has identified Kenneth Jenkins as the driver whose wrong-way driving on Interstate 95 lead to a car crash that killed three people on Sunday in Delray.

According to investigators, Jenkins, a 25-year-old North Lauderdale resident, was driving his Pontiac headed southbound in the northbound lanes when he crashed head-on into a Mercedes. Riding in the Mercedes were Boris Rapoport, his mother Renee, Robert Rutman, and Angelica Pagliuca.

Pagliuca was seriously injured and her condition has improved to fair since then. Rapoport, his mother, and Rutman were killed in the fatal car crash.

Jenkins is reportedly in fair condition at Delray Medical Center. Conflicting witness reports had initially made it difficult to identify which car was driving in the wrong direction. Florida Police are waiting to see whether alcohol or drugs were involved. They have yet to press criminal charges against Jenkins.

Two other accidents related to the wrong-way driving collision also occurred on Sunday. Lake Worth resident LaShawn Antoinette Brown sustained minor injuries while trying to avoid the deadly crash. In the process, she hit one of the cars involved, as well as a white Honda Accord.

Delray Beach police Sgt. Toby Rubin broke his ankle when he was hit by another car that was trying to avoid the Pontiac, driven by Jenkins. Rubin had been following the Pontiac from the freeway shoulder and tried to warn other drivers.

Wrong-Way Driving
Driving the wrong way on a road or freeway can be very dangerous and can lead to serious injuries or death for the driver and other motorists and pedestrians. According to information from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 350 people die every year in the United States because of wrong-way driving.

When a driver is careless, reckless, or makes a mistake by driving the wrong- way on a road and others are injured or killed as a result, the driver may be held liable by the injured parties through personal injury and wrongful death claims and lawsuits.

Our Florida injury law firm has helped the victims of car accident, truck crash, motorcycle collision, and injured pedestrians recover injury compensation for the harm they have suffered.

Wrong-way driver identified in I-95 crash in Delray, Sun-Sentinel.com, March 19, 2008

FHP faults Pontiac driver in wrong-way crash, Palm Beach Post, March 19, 2008

Wrong-Way Driving on Freeways: Problems, Issues, and Countermeasures

Related Web Resources:

Top 10 Basic Driving Mistakes

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

Continue reading " Florida Highway Patrol Name Wrong-Way Driver in Deadly Delray Car Collision " »

The family of William T. Fain, 80, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Westside Regional Medical Center. Fain was admitted to the hospital’s ER on Super Bowl Sunday in 2006 after having a seizure. Hospital doctors told nurses to take him to the intensive care unit and to make sure that he didn’t fall off the bed. The nurses were ordered to lower the bed, install bedrails, and frequently check on him.

The agency nurse monitoring Fain did not follow these orders. Soon after kissing family members goodbye for the night, Fain was found on the floor after falling off the bed. He sustained brain damage from hitting his head and died two weeks after the fall.

The family alleges that the fact that agency nurses are unfamiliar with or do not follow hospital procedures is an issue at Westside Regional. The hospital has responded to this accusation by stating its confidence in the care that the nurses at the hospital provides. Nightingale Nurses is the staffing agency that provided the agency nurse to the hospital.

Agency nurses are being used more often to staff hospitals because of the shortage of full-time nurses. In two hospital surveys conducted in 2007, results showed that 10% of nursing posts are vacant. This does not take into account the fact that many hospitals reportedly wish that they could hire more nurses than the number of posts that their budgets allow.

About 1 out of every 8 nurses working in Florida is a fill-in nurse. The Florida Hospital Association has acknowledged the downside of employing someone who is only a temporary worker and not a permanent part of an organization. It also, however, noted that hiring a temporary nurse is better than being understaffed. The use of agency nurses is reportedly an even more common practice at hospices and in the home health service.

Problems that can arise with fill-in nurses include:

• They may be unfamiliar with the facility, its policies and procedures.
• Because they don't always work with a patient regularly, they may not notice when there has been a change in the patient's condition.

Groups who represent Florida nurses are supporting bills that would obligate Florida hospitals to report staffing levels, including nurse-to-patient ratios. They are hoping that such a mandate would improve work conditions for nurses and provide better care for patients.

Our Florida personal injury law firm handles wrongful death cases as well as claims and lawsuits involving medical malpractice.

Lawsuit over man's death puts use of agency nurses in spotlight, Sun-Sentinel, March 10, 2008

Measure would require hospitals to divulge nurse staffing levels, Naplesnews.com, March 9, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Westside Regional Medical Center

Nightingale Nurses

Continue reading " Florida Wrongful Death Lawsuit Focuses on Use of “Fill-In” Nurses in Hospitals " »

The family of 20-year-old Rachel Finzi has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Florida psychologist Adam Feder, who has been criminally charged with her manslaughter death and of trafficking in controlled substances.

Finzi was a patient of Feder, 40, for two years. He also was sexually involved with Finzi, who he started treating when she was 18. The wrongful death lawsuit, filed today in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, accuses Feder and Compass Health Systems (CHS), the company that employed Feder, of being responsible for her death.

Finzi’s family brought her to CHS for treatment because she was suffering from psychological problems and depression. Feder was her psychologist and he gave her illegal prescription drugs and marijuana. Prosecutors say that Feder used other doctors’ prescription pads to write the prescriptions and obtain them illegally. As a psychologist, Finzi is not allowed to prescribe medication.

Finzi was found dead at his apartment from an OxyContin overdose in 2006. Finzi’s family says that CHS acted negligently by hiring Feder.

Medical professionals are required by law to provide their patients with the proper and ethical medical care. When failure to do so results in the serious injury or death of a person, that medical provider can be held liable via a medical malpractice or wrongful death lawsuit.

In South Florida, our wrongful death law firm has successfully handled all kinds of death and injury cases, including claims and lawsuits involving medical malpractice. We would like to offer you a free consultation to discuss your case.

Finzi’s family is seeking financial compensation for their daughter’s medical costs and their pain and suffering caused by her death.

Victim's Family Files Lawsuit against Florida Psychologist Arrested for Patient's OxyContin Death, EMediaWire.com, March 3, 2008

Psychologist charged in girlfriend's OD death, Miami Herald, February 26, 2008

Related Web Resources:

OxyContin, DEA

OxyContin Side Effects, RxList

Continue reading " Family of 20-Year-Old Girl Sues Florida Psychologist for Her Wrongful Death by Prescription Overdose " »