Florida Injury Attorney Blog

In Palm Beach County, the parents of Stephanie Kuleba are suing Boca Raton plastic surgeon Dr. Steven Schuster, Delray Beach anesthesiologist Dr. Peter Warheit, and Warheit’s employer Dr. Scott Berger for medical malpractice resulting in her Florida wrongful death. Stephanie, then 18, died in 2008 after a surgical procedure to correct breast asymmetry and inverted nipples.

In their Palm Beach County wrongful death lawsuit, Thomas and Joanne Kuleba claim the defendants neglected to properly diagnose in a timely manner, and treat, their daughter’s malignant hyperthermia, which can be triggered by anesthesia. The Kulebas also say that the defendants did not administer enough Dantrolene and waited too long to contact 911.

According to the family’s Boca Raton, Florida medical malpractice lawyer, Stephanie’s death was preventable. He claims that 95% of people with malignant hyperthermia survive, and physician error is typically the cause of related fatalities. According to Dr. Frederick Lukash, a plastic surgeon who was asked by CBS’s The Early Show to discuss the condition soon after Stephanie’s death, malignant hyperthermia can be treated with Dantrolene if the drug is administered immediately after the symptoms show up.

Plastic Surgery Malpractice
Like all other physicians, plastic surgeons can be held liable for medical malpractice if negligence or carelessness results in injuries or deaths. Plastic surgery malpractice can lead to serious injuries that may even require that the patient undergo additional surgeries to correct. In some case, a botched plastic surgery can lead to permanent disfigurement, permanent damage, infections, scarring, organ damage, severe asymmetry, and even death.

Anesthesia errors can also result in injury or death. It is the anesthesiologist’s responsibility to monitor the patient’s vitals and make sure prior to giving someone anesthesia that he or she does not have a medical condition or is taking certain drugs that could result in an adverse reaction. Unfortunately, anesthesia mistakes occur more often than we would like to believe.

Even if a surgical procedure was performed for cosmetic purposes, a plastic surgeon owes patients the same duty of care that other doctors do. Failure to provide that care can be grounds for a Florida medical malpractice lawsuit.

Parents of West Boca teen who died during breast surgery sue doctors, Sun-Sentinel, September 23, 2009

Fla. Teen Dies During Breast Surgery, CBS, March 26, 2008

Related Web Resources:
American Society of Plastic Surgeons

Living with plastic surgery mistakes, ABC News, July 29, 2009

According to Lawyers USA, settlements have been reached between Davol Inc. and the plaintiffs of at least five Kugel hernia mesh lawsuits. The products liability complaints accuse the device manufacturer of making and selling defective hernia patches that caused serious internal injuries and high-risk complications. Davol Inc. is a C.R. Bard, Inc. subsidiary.

The plaintiffs of these Kugel hernia mesh lawsuits and at least 2,000 other defective medical device complaints are among the 750,000 people a year who undergo hernia operations.

The Kugel mesh patches are supposed to decrease the amount of pain a patient might experience after hernia surgery. The patch is placed via incision in the area of the hernia. The plastic ring is supposed to return to its original shape, which flattens the patch. The hernia can then regrow around it.

However, a plastic ring inside of the patch that was prone to breaking resulted in three Kugel hernia mesh recalls between 2005 and 2007. The recalls involved different patch sizes and models. Injuries reportedly resulting from the product defect included chronic intestinal fistula, bowel perforation, fistualization, bowel obstruction, and peritonitis. Some injury plaintiffs also had to undergo surgery to remove the Kugel hernia mesh patch. A Kugel hernia mesh injury victim might not even be aware that he or she was injured.

At first, Davol Inc. blamed the broken Kugel mesh hernia patch rings on the surgeons. Tests however revealed that the injuries almost always occurred in the area where the “memory-recoil ring,” which surrounds the patch, was welded. Injuries have also involved the medical device’s adhesive getting stuck to the abdominal wall.

The design defect resulted in the first hernia patch recall in 2005. The medical device manufacturer issued other two recalls in 2006 and 2007 after the Food and Drug Administration reported that over 80 injuries, a number of deaths, and other health issues could be linked to the hernia patch.

Kugel Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Settlements Reported, About Lawsuits, September 8, 2009

List of Device Recalls, FDA

Davol, Inc.

Continue reading " Personal Injury Settlements Reached in At Least Five Kugel Hernia Mesh Lawsuits " »

Bail has been set at $80,000 for the man accused of fatally striking Davie motorcyclist Eric Maron in Miramar. The deadly Broward County, Florida motorcycle crash occurred on Tuesday as driver Robert L. Jones was taking his 9-year-old stepdaughter to school around 7:20am.

Jones was allegedly drunk. Police say his blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit when the Miramar motorcycle accident happened at the intersection of Island Drive and Pembroke Road. The 31-year-old driver is accused of running over Maron and then leaving the crash site. Investigators discovered Maron’s body under Jones’s Toyota.

Among the charges Jones is facing is DUI manslaughter. An arrest reports claims that Jones struck the back of Maron's bike and then dragged the rider under the vehicle for some 180 feet before stopping.

The judge who set the bail noted that Jones took his stepdaughter and fled the crash site. Jones is also accused of concealing evidence when he tossed out a plastic cup that may have contained alcohol.

One witness to the Broward County motor vehicle accident said that as Jones was walking away, he told him that he was going to take the young girl to school and then come back.

Florida Motorcycle Accidents
Even though a motorcycle rider can do everything within his or her power to ride safely, he or she can sometimes end up at the mercy of a drunk driver, a distracted driver, or an inexperienced motorists. During these instances, the consequences can be fatal for the motorcyclist, who may get thrown off the bike, crushed by a vehicle, or land in oncoming traffic.

A rider who survives a serious Florida motorcycle accident may have to cope with a spinal cord injury, a traumatic brain injury, or other serious injuries. While prosecutors can pursue criminal charges against a negligent motorist, they cannot hold a driver financially liable for injuries and loss of life sustained during a Broward County motorcycle crash.

Bail set at $80,000 for Miramar man charged with DUI manslaughter, Orlando Sentinel, September 9, 2009

Man accused of DUI in Miramar crash that killed motorcyclist, South Florida, September 9, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

Motorcycle Safety Foundation

Continue reading " Man Accused of Fatally Striking Miramar, Florida Motorcyclist in Broward County Traffic Accident is Charged with DUI Manslaughter " »

Through the end of Labor Day weekend on September 7, police in Florida are taking aggressive measures to search for and arrest anyone found driving while impaired. The crackdown is part of a nationwide campaign called “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. People that are caught speeding or riding in a vehicle without using a seatbelt will also be apprehended.

In Florida, Labor Day weekend is considered one of the deadliest periods of the year for drivers. Last year, 36 people died in Florida traffic accidents during this long weekend and alcohol was a factor in 12 of those fatalities.

Also in 2008, there were over 22,000 alcohol-related Florida car accidents resulting in over 1,100 traffic deaths and over 15,700 injuries. The Florida county with the largest number of auto crashes involving alcohol was Miami-Dade County with 1,898 traffic accidents and 85 motor vehicle deaths involving alcohol.

Sobriety checkpoints have been set up in different locations throughout Florida and saturation patrols will be out in force.

Drunk driving continues to be one of the more common causes of South Florida traffic accidents and the rest of the United States. It doesn’t help that binge drinking continues to be a habit “on the rise” and not just among younger people.

A new study found in the American Journal of Psychiatry is reporting that in the 50-64 year-old age group, nearly 1 in 10 women and 1 in 4 men are “binge” drinkers. Binge drinking is a habit that makes a motorist more prone to cause a drunk driving accident if he or she decides to get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

The number of women arrested in the US for drunk driving has also increased. Nationally, about 2,000 traffic deaths a year involve a female drunk driver. 162,493 women were arrested for DUI in 2007, compared to the 126,000 female DUI drivers in 1998.

Drunk driving accidents often result in catastrophic injuries and deaths. A person injured in a South Florida car accident in Miami, Hollywood, Naples, Palm Beach, or Ft. Lauderdale because another driver was intoxicated may have grounds for filing a personal injury lawsuit.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Kicks Off Nationwide Enforcement Crackdown on Impaired Driving. Releases New Report Highlighting Increasing Number of Impaired Female Drivers, NHTSA, August 19, 2009

Binge drinking: It's not just for kids anymore, Los Angeles Times, August 17, 2009

Florida Law Enforcement to Launch Statewide Crackdown on Impaired and Unsafe Driving, Chipley Paper, August 21, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Florida DUI and Administrative Suspension Laws, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

2007 Drunk Driving Statistics, Alcohol Alert