Florida Injury Attorney Blog

In South Florida, the family of Courtney Rohn, a 32-year-old mother who died from sepsis last January, is suing El Toro Taco in Homestead for her death. Their Florida wrongful death lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, claims that Rohn, who had eaten taken food from the restaurant, sustained the bacterial infection because she was the victim of food poisoning.

Her stepfather and mother, Walter and Margaret Armstrong, are accusing the restaurant of negligence, strict liability, and violating the Florida Food Safety Act. Per their Miami-Dade wrongful death complaint, on January 4, 2009, Rohn ordered food for herself and her son. She then woke up the next day experiencing severe symptoms of food poisoning. She went to the Homestead Hospital emergency room where she went into cardiac arrest and died three hours later.

Rohn experienced sepsis, which is a kind of body inflammation that can occur when there is an infection. It can also lead to organ failure and organ damage. In about 20-35% of cases, sepsis can be fatal.

After she died, Florida inspectors issued 53 safety and sanitation violation citations to El Toro Taco. 35 of the violations, they noted, could result in illness, food contamination, or environmental damage. The Miami-Dade lawsuit against the restaurant accuses the facility of neglecting to operate and maintain the restaurant in a reasonable and safe manner, failing to comply with the appropriate health codes, as well not offering food considered fit for people to eat. The lawsuit notes that employees were inadequately trained to properly and safely handle, prepare, and serve food and the premise was not free of rodent or insect infestation.

Amy Hernandez, who is one of the restaurant owners, said that they don’t think that Rohn died from food poisoning.

Restaurants can be held liable for Florida personal injury or wrongful death if a restaurant patron gets sick from eating the food served on the premise. Restaurant employees must be trained to handle, store, and serve food in a manner that won’t compromise anyone’s health. This includes maintaining a sanitary environment and making sure that food isn’t spoiled and is cooked properly.

Food Poisoning Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed in Florida, About Lawsuits, August 20, 2009

Lawsuit: Woman died after eating tainted takeout food in Homestead, Miami Herald, August 15, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Sepsis, MedlinePlus

Sepsis (Blood Infection), eMedicineHealth

Florida Food Safety Act

On December 1, US District Judge Rodney W. Sipple has scheduled a “Science Day” so that plaintiffs and NuvaRing device maker Organon Pharmaceuticals Inc. can present their perspectives about the alleged side effects that may occur when a woman uses the contraceptive ring.

Already, women who say they were injured or the family members of those who have died from using NuvaRing have filed more than 100 defective medical device lawsuits alleging personal injury or wrongful death. Plaintiffs have said that the contraception caused blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, or death. The plaintiffs contend that the medical device manufacture did not properly research the birth control ring or provide enough warning that use of NuvaRing could lead to blood clot injuries.

In a recent NuvaRing lawsuit, a 32-year-old woman died in December 2007 after she had a seizure. Her cause of death was pulmonary thromboemboli because of deep vein thrombosis. She had started using NuvaRing in May of that year.

Other dangerous side effects linked to NuvaRing:

• Irregular bleeding
• Increased risk of gallbladder disease or breast cancer
• Abdominal pain
• Chest pain
• Lower leg pain
• Swollen ankles
• Vomiting
• Vision problems
• Can cause complications if person is already suffering from diabetes, heart condition, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol

Some 1.5 million women around the world use NuvaRing. The ring-shaped contraception, which is inserted in the vagina releases estrogen and etonogestrel, which are both hormones, into the bloodstream. The birth control ring, when used correctly, is supposed to be 98-99% successful at preventing pregnancy.

Our defective medical device lawyers and South Florida personal injury attorneys represent women who sustained blood clots or suffered other serious health complications because of NuvaRing.

If you were injured or got sick because you were using NuvaRing for contraception, you may be entitled to personal injury compensation.

NuvaRing Side Effects and Science Information to be Presented to MDL Court, About Lawsuits, August 21, 2009

Related Web Resources:
NuvaRing

Is NuvaRing Dangerous?, Mother Jones, May/June 2009

The parents of one of the teenagers killed when the Jeep Grand Cherokee they were riding struck a John Deere loader in a construction zone say they plan to sue the contractor who was doing road work that evening for their son’s Florida wrongful death. 16-year-old Connor Graver was one of the three victims killed in the deadly Martin County, Florida car crash, which occurred at around 2am on August 4.

The other two victims are 18-year-olds Nicholas Coady, who was driving the sport utility vehicle, and Christopher Briglio. The front-end loader driver did not sustain any injuries from the car-tractor crash, which occurred on Cove Road close to Stuart.

The Florida wrongful death lawyer who is representing Graver’s parents say that that the contractor should have closed the lane where construction work was taking place, as well as placed a flagman or flashing lights in the area to let motorists know that it was important they slow down and exercise caution.

Construction Zone Deaths
While the number of construction deaths went down by 17% in 2007 compared to 2006, there were still 835 highway construction zone deaths that occurred in 2007—that’s 2.3 fatalities/day. Four out of every five construction zone deaths are motorists.

The government entity, construction company, or contractor involved in a construction zone project must make sure that the zone is marked and easily visible so that drivers know that because construction work is taking place they need to slow down and possibly maneuver around the job site. Setting up orange cones, signs indicating reduced speed limits, or other warning signs and/or appointing a worker to redirect traffic are just a few ways to decrease the chances of a Florida car accident happening in a construction zone. Construction workers, truck drivers, and others employed to work at the site should also exercise caution so they don’t accidentally cause a motor vehicle crash.

Although there are construction zone accidents that do occur because a driver failed to heed the safety barriers and warning signs, work zone accidents can also occur because the construction company or one of its workers was negligent or reckless. In these types of instances, it may be necessary to file a Florida wrongful death complaint or a personal injury lawsuit if someone got hurt or died as a result.

Families, friends mourn three teenagers killed in Stuart accident, TC Palm, August 7, 2009

Lawsuit Anticipated in Deadly Crash, CBS 12, August 7, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Driver Education: Construction Zone Safety, National Safety Commission, July 10, 2009

Florida Department of Transportation

Florida lawmakers want to ban texting while driving. Although a Florida bill has failed twice before the state’s legislature, representatives are hoping that a third try will turn the bill into state law. The safety risks associated with driving are no longer a surprise. We regularly read in the news about traffic accidents that occur throughout the US because drivers were texting while driving.

Just last Wednesday, three people got hurt when a tow truck struck the car they were riding in. The impact of the truck collision caused the car to land in a resident’s private pool. Police say that the truck driver was texting and talking on the cell phone when the truck accident happened.

Wednesday’s truck crash occurred during the same week that the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute revealed that truck drivers that text while driving increase their chances of being involved in a truck accident by 23 times. The study found that using one’s hands to feel around the truck cab for an electronic device is the second most dangerous trucker distraction, and dialing a cell phone landed at number three on the list.

What's primarily so dangerous about these three activities is that truckers have to take their eyes off the road to do them. Not looking at the road for more than 2 seconds while driving is considered dangerous—and the VTTI study found that truck drivers have been known to spend about 4.5 seconds glancing at their electronic devices.

203 truck drivers who operated 55 trucks participated in the study. The truckers drove about 3 million miles. Cameras were installed in trucks, and video footage was shot depicting the final seconds before truck accidents and near collisions.

On July 29, US lawmakers put forward a bill calling for all states to ban all drivers from texting while driving or faced reduced funding for transportation projects from the federal government. In addition to currently not having a statewide ban on texting while driving, Florida is one of the US states that does not have any laws restricting cell phone use while driving.

Texting and talking on a cell phone while driving are both extremely dangerous forms of distracted driving that are known to cause catastrophic injuries to victims. If you were injured in a Florida truck crash in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, or any other South Florida city because a driver was distracted, drunk, driving under the influence of drugs, or negligent in any other way, contact our Miami personal injury lawyers today.

Texting Top Driver Distraction, New Va. Tech Study Finds, Transport Topics, August 3, 2009

Cops: Texting tow truck driver lands in pool, ABC Local, July 30, 2009

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association

Florida Cell-Phone Laws Update 2009, DrivingLaws.org