Florida Injury Attorney Blog

Eight months after a Boynton Beach man was killed in a Boca Raton motorcycle accident, the man accused of striking the Harley-Davidson that 56-year-old Steven Fischer was riding has been arrested and charged with DUI manslaughter over his death.

Frank Barrucco, 26, allegedly was high on pain pills and pot when his 2005 Hyundai Sonata struck Fischer’s bike, ejecting him. Blood tests show that Barruco had THC and over four times the prescribed doses of alprazolam and oxyocodone in his system. He said he took the medication for his back injury.

Per witnesses, Barrucco attempted to leave the crash site until they went after him. Deputies at the scene said that his eyes appeared bloodshot and he couldn’t speak straight.

Drugged Driving
Driving while under the influence of drugs is impaired driving. Like drunk driving, drugged driving affect’s one’s reaction time, motor skills, and judgment. Unfortunately, per a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) roadside survey in 2007, over 16% of drivers operating vehicles at night and on weekends tested positive for prescription, illegal, and over-the counter meds. A 2009 NHTSA studied found that among drivers that died in motor vehicle crashes, 18% tested positive for at least one drug—that’s a 15% rise from 2005.

Other reasons why drugged driving is dangerous:
• Impairs perception
• Affects balance
• Alters cognition
• Serves as a distraction
• Impedes coordination
• Impairs other faculties

Illegal drugs obviously shouldn’t be consumed at any time—whether while driving or otherwise. What many people fail to realize is that some prescription drugs can have such a strong effect that taking just the prescribed dose can prove powerful enough to cause a driver to become dangerous. Many prescription drugs even warn that users not drive or operate machinery for a specific duration of time after having taken the meds. Obviously, taking too much of any medication while operating a motor vehicle can also prove deadly.

Our Boca Raton motorcycle accident lawyers represent victims and their families. We are familiar with the serious injuries that can result when a motorcyclist is injured in a Palm Beach County auto crash. Lack of sufficient protection can prove catastrophic for a rider that is thrown from his/her bike and onto the road or into oncoming traffic. We know how hard it can be to recoup from such a devastating accident. It is our job to help our clients with the legalities of their Boca Raton personal injury case while they tend to the business of healing and getting back to their lives. Obviously, in some instances, injuries are serious enough to prevent this type of physical recovery—yet another reason to explore your legal options for obtaining damages from any liable parties.

West Boca driver accused of DUI manslaughter in fatal crash with Boynton motorcyclist, Sun-Sentinel, October 24, 2011

What Is Drugged Driving?, National Institute on Drug Abuse

Motorcycles, NHTSA

More Blog Posts:
South Florida Motorcycle Accident on I-595 Injures Four, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, May 3, 2010

NHTSA Says 523 Florida Motorcycle Riders Killed in 2008, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, December 1, 2009

Florida Man Killed in Fort Lauderdale Motorcycle Accident on I-95 was Run Over by Three Motor Vehicles, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, May 5, 2009

Continue reading " Driver Charged in Boca Raton Motorcycle Accident Death " »

Considering that this week is National Teen Driver Safety Week, it is good time to remember that traffic accidents are the number one cause of US teenager deaths. As a matter of fact, teens are involved in three times as many deadly car collisions as adults.

Our Hollywood, Florida car accident lawyers have seen the havoc that can occur when a teenager is seriously injured or killed in a crash. It is our job to help minors and their families recover compensation from all liable parties. While Florida’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage may cover part of the expenses sustained from being injured in an accident, sometimes, this just isn’t enough—especially when serious injuries or deaths are involved.

That said, teen drivers have also been known to cause serious Florida traffic crashes, resulting in injury to themselves and others. One reason for this is that young people tend to get easily distracted, which doesn’t help when coupled with their lack of experience on the road. The variety of mobile technology now available to everyone these days doesn’t help. Already, it can be hard to pull kids away from cell phones when they aren’t driving.

Now, however, according to a study by Students Against Destructive Decisions and Liberty Mutual Insurance, even though teens are becoming more aware of how dangerous texting while driving can be, more than half of the 2,294 high school students surveyed said that they sometimes still text while operate a vehicle, while 28% say that often text while driving.

Granted, Florida has no law making texting or talking on a cell phone while driving illegal. That still, however, doesn’t mean that it makes either activity less dangerous. Other distracting tech-related activities that a number of the teens that responded to the survey say they engage in while operating a motor vehicle:

• Access the Internet on a cell phone
• Change songs on an MP3 player or iPod
• Update their MySpace and Facebook accounts
• Use an iPad or another technology tablet
• Shoot videos with their cell phones
• Take photos with their cell phone

It is no secret that distracted driving can kill people. Adults too can cause serious injury when they use their cell phone to do any of the activities mentioned above.

Even though the offending driver likely intended to cause no harm, the tragic consequences that can occur are real. You may be able to file a Ft. Lauderdale car accident claim against a distracted driver that caused your loved one’s death or your injuries. In some cases, the distracted driver was operating the other vehicle. In other accidents, the driver who was distracted was the motorist in your vehicle.

Liberty Mutual and SADD Study Finds Texting While Driving By Teens Not Affected By Their Awareness of the Dangers; Text Conversations With Mom and Dad on the Rise, Marketwatch, October 19, 2011

National Teen Driver Safety Week

Distracted Driving, NHTSA

Teen drivers, CDC

More Blog Posts:
Drunk Driving May Have Been a Factor in Palm Beach Garden Car Crash That Killed One Teen & Sent Four People to the Hospital, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, September 30, 2011

South Florida Pickup Truck Crash Kills 2 Broward County Teens, Injures Four Others, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, April 20, 2011

Number of Broward County and Palm Beach County Traffic Deaths Drop in 2009, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, July 15, 2010

Continue reading " Teen Drivers Continue to Text Despite Knowing the Dangers, Reports Liberty Mutual and SADD Study " »

Did you know that when you inhale secondhand smoke you absorb nicotine and other toxic chemicals in your system the effect on your body is not much different from what it would be if were the one smoking? Also known as passive smoke and environmental tobacco smoke, secondhand smoke is classified by the US government as a “known human carcinogen” that can cause cancer. What you may not know is that if you or someone you love fell ill because of secondhand smoke, you may have grounds for a Miami, Florida tobacco lawsuit.

According to the American Cancer Society, each year secondhand smoke affects nonsmokers by:
• Causing 46,000 heart disease-related deaths and 3,400 lung cancer fatalities
• Reducing lung function and causing other breathing problems, including chest discomfort, mucus, and coughing
• Worsening asthma episodes for children
• Causing more than 750,000 middle ear infections in kids
• Upping the risk that a pregnant woman will give deliver a low-birth weight infant or suffer a miscarriage or stillbirth.

Meantime, a report from the Surgeon General in 2006 concluded that secondhand smoke:
• Causes the premature deaths of nonsmokers of all ages
• Increases the chances a child will develop sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Secondhand smoke exposure can be found anywhere that someone is smoking. This can include the workplace, shopping centers, schools, daycare centers, restaurants, and on public transportation. Fortunately, Florida bans smoking in all enclosed work areas and spaces open to the public (stand alone bars are exempt). That said, secondhand smoke continues to be a problem, creating illness and havoc for victims.

If you believe that your illness or your child’s affliction was caused by secondhand smoke, you should speak with a Fort Lauderdale tobacco lawyer right away. You may not realize this but even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause instant harm to one’s health.

For example, a few years ago, the family of a girl who developed asthma sued the apartment complex where they lived because secondhand smoke wasn’t prohibited in outdoor common areas. In the 90’s, flight attendants that filed a class action lawsuit against the tobacco industry because they had been repeatedly exposed to secondhand smoke while on the job received a $49 million settlement. A worker that gets sick or suffers health complications from exposure to secondhand smoke while doing his or her job may have also grounds for a Florida workers’ compensation case.

According to the University of Minnesota’s Division of Periodontology web page:

• Secondhand smoke is the number three cause of early death and disability.
• Secondhand smoke ranks after smoking and alcoholism.

Also, If you or someone you love developed cancer or some other illness that you believe was caused by smoking cigarettes, you may have grounds for a Florida tobacco lawsuit against the cigarette maker.

Judge approves settlement of secondhand smoke lawsuit

Secondhand smoke lawsuit reinstated, Inside SoCal, January 13, 2009

Related Web Resources:
American Cancer Society

Secondhand Smoke Facts, University of Minnesota

Smoking and Tobacco Use, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

More Blog Posts:
$2.4M Palm Beach County Wrongful Death Verdict Awarded to 87-Year-Old Lake Worth Widow, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, April 13, 2011

$3.375 Million Florida Wrongful Death Verdict Awarded in Tobacco Lawsuit Against Philip Morris USA and RJ Reynolds, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, March 1, 2011

Palm Beach Tobacco Litigation: Smokers’s Widow Gets $2.2M Award and $270K in Punitive Damages from Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, September 1, 2010

Continue reading " Florida Tobacco Lawsuits: Secondhand Smoke Can Be Deadly " »

Undergoing any kind of surgery can be stressful, scary, and painful. There is also the risk of complications that can arise during a surgical procedure that can lead to serious injuries and even death. With so much at stake, surgeons really must be careful to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

Unfortunately, surgical mistakes do happen, which can prove detrimental to the patient. Wrong site surgery is one of them. This usually involves the wrong part of the body being operated on or a surgery performed on the wrong patient. It is important to know that wrong site surgery can be grounds for a Miami medical malpractice lawsuit.

Examples of wrong site surgery:
• Operating on the wrong side of the body, such as the wrong breast, kidney, eyes, or ovaries
• Operating on the correct side of the body, but on the wrong body part, such as the wrong eye muscle in the correct eye, the wrong part of the spine, the wrong toe on the correct foot

Wrong site surgery can also refer to performing the correct procedure on the wrong patient or the wrong procedure on the correct person.

As you can see by the examples above, such mistakes can prove detrimental. For example, if the patient has to have a kidney that has cancer removed and the healthy kidney is taken out instead, where does that leave the patient? Or, a person who is blind in one eye and has the eye that can see accidentally removed will lose their sight completely.

Last year, a jury awarded a teenager’s family $20 million for medical malpractice because a surgical team made the mistake of cutting out matter from the wrong side of his brain. The plaintiffs said that the surgical error left 15-year-old with continuing seizures, while adversely affecting his mental state, intelligence, and emotional abilities.

Common causes of wrong site surgery:
• Poor preoperational preparation
• Not following operative guidelines
• Poor communication among surgical team
• Confusion about what procedure is being performed and on what body part
• Recklessness on the surgeon’s part
• Patients with similar names
• Confusing terms, such as whether “correct” means “right”
• Patient wristband mix-ups
• Not marking the correct site for operation so that wrong site surgery mistakes can’t happen
• Failure to conduct necessary preoperational checks right before the procedure

There is no reason why a wrong site surgery should occur if medical staff follow proper protocols and exercise the proper care necessary to perform the surgical procedure. In addition to a negligent doctor, anesthesiologist, nurse, or another medical professional that was careless, you may be able to pursue damages from the medical center or hospital where the surgical mistake occurred.

$9M Palm Beach Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Seeks Damages from Obstetrician and Ultrasound Clinics, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, September 1, 2011

Florida Laparoscopic Malpractice: When Small Incisions Lead to Large Injuries, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, July 28, 2011

$4.7M Broward County Medical Malpractice Verdict Awarded to Woman Who Suffered Anesthesia Complications During Surgery, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, June 22, 2011

Continue reading " Miami Medical Malpractice: Wrong Site Surgeries Can Lead to Catastrophic Consequences " »