Florida Injury Attorney Blog

The family of Robert Champion is planning on suing Florida A&M University for his wrongful death. Champion, a drum major, died on November 19 following a suspected hazing incident.

Christopher was discovered on a bus a day after FAMU’s football team lost a game. Police believe that hazing was an incident and the family’s wrongful death lawyer says that the injuries sustained by the 26-year-old are in line with ones someone might suffer from such activities.

Following Christopher’s death, the school’s band director was fired and performances for the university’s marching band and music department were cancelled. Florida Governor Rick Scott says the state plans to get involved in the investigation.

For now, there is no official cause for Christopher’s death. Initial autopsy results came back inconclusive.

Unfortunately, hazing involving marching bands—especially at black colleges—is not uncommon. In 2001, another FAMU student, Marcus Parker, sustained kidney damage after he was beaten with a paddle. There have also been other allegations involving the university’s marching band and music department over the years, including the use of hazing to initiate new members. Hazing is considered a third-degree felony in Florida.

Schools and universities are responsible for properly supervising students and student groups and creating a safe environment so that serious injuries or deaths don’t occur. When failure to fulfill this duty allows for a student to get hurt or die, the school and others who were negligent can be held liable.

One wrongful death case making national headlines is a federal lawsuit filed by the Boca father of Bradley Ginsburg. The 18-year-old, who was a freshman and economics major at Cornell University, committed suicide off a high bridge over Fall Creek in February. Two students followed suit in the weeks after his death.

Now, Bradley’s dad Howard Ginsburg, who is also a Cornell alumni member, is suing the school for $180 million. He believes that his son wouldn’t have been able to jump if safety measures and barriers had been erected on the bridge. Between 1990 and 2010, there were 27 suicides and two failed jumps from several bridges, including those that are owned by Cornell.

Elementary and high schools can also be held accountable for negligence resulting in injuries or death. In South Florida, the family of a high school student who was fatally stabbed in 2009 has reached a $1.8 million Coral Gables wrongful death settlement with the Miami-Dade School Board. Juan Carlos Rivera’s family claimed that inadequate security, lax supervision, and other negligent acts allowed the altercation between Rivera and a fellow student to escalate until it turned fatal.

In an unrelated case, Randi Vanderheyden recently sued Broward County School District for Coral Springs injuries to a minor after her 12-year-old daughter Breann tried to kill herself. Vanderheyden blames the school for not creating a safe environment, which allowed the girl to be repeatedly bullied. The family is seeking damages for emotional trauma, mental anguish, and medical expenses.

Family to sue FAMU following drum major's death, 11 Alive, November 26, 2011

Boca dad files $180 million suit against Cornell for son's death, Palm Beach Post, November 26, 2011

Miami-Dade Schools To Pay $1.875 Million In Gables High Stabbing, CBS Miami, November 18, 2011

Mom Sues Over School Bullying, South Florida Times, November 16, 2011

More Blog Posts:
University of Central Florida Freshman May Have Been Drinking At Fraternity Party Prior to Her Death, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, August 26, 2011

Florida Wrongful Death Lawsuit Blames Volusia County for Truck Accident on Beach that Killed 4-Year-Old, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, August 11, 2011

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

A private nursing patient is suing A.S.A. Home Care, Inc. for Miami nursing negligence. A private nursing patient is suing A.S.A. Home Care, Inc. for Miami nursing negligence. The patient, who is a paraplegic, claims that a male home health care nurse assaulted him.

The plaintiff, known as John Doe, says he rebuffed the nurse’s sexual advances right away. Yet, per the Miami personal injury complaint, the nurse persisted, showing the patient porn and giving him a sex toy.

The plaintiff says the nurse would take longer than the other nurses to replace his bandages when treating a wound on his back close to his buttock. Although he couldn’t feel or see what was happening, the plaintiff said he felt unusual sensations in the genital area. John Doe also says that the nurse sodomized him in 2008.

Per the Miami nursing negligence lawsuit, when confronted the nurse begged the patient not to report what happened. The plaintiff is accusing ASA of failing to properly supervise or investigate complaints made about the nurse and not providing a patient with a secure and safe environment. The plaintiff is claiming severe physical, mental, and emotional injuries, humiliation, and shame. He is seeking over $5M in Miami, Florida personal injury damages.

Sexual Assault of Nursing Home Patients
Unfortunately, nursing home patients, both those receiving private care and assisted living facility care, are vulnerable to abuse and neglect from caregivers. It is the job of assisted living facilities and home care companies to carefully screen the people that they hire to minimize the chance of Miami nursing abuse occurring.

Nursing patients require specialized care because they need help. This places them in a very vulnerable position when their well-being is being entrusted to others. While many nurses are dedicated to doing a good job, there are those that have been known to exploit their position to inflict intentional harm on patients. Sexual assault, rape, molestation, physical assault, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, and harassment are some intentional acts of violence that an abusive nurse might inflict upon a patient.

Because of their disabilities and injuries, many nursing patients are too sick, frail, or unable to report the incidents of abuse or neglect. Some may be too frightened to speak out.

If you suspect Miami nursing home abuse or neglect, you should remove your loved one from the dangerous situation immediately and report the incident to the authorities. If the person is a hired home nurse, you should keep him/her away from the patient.

The victim may be entitled to Miami nursing home negligence damages for the harm he/she suffered. In Florida, plaintiffs have four years from the date of injury to file their Miami personal injury complaint. Also, the statute of limitations for Miami medical malpractice against medical professionals is within two years of the date of injury or two years from when the injury was/should have been discovered—unless fraud or misrepresentation or concealment involved—in which case this time frame may be extended.

Lawsuit Claims Nurse Assaulted Paraplegic Man, NBC Miami, September 22, 2011

Nursing Home Guide, My Florida.com

Nursing Home Watch List, AHCA

More Blog Posts:
St. Lucie County Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claims Florida Nursing Home Negligence Contributed to Woman’s Fatal Drowning, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, August 4, 2010

Broward County Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Home Care Provider Alleging Elder Financial Fraud and the Murder of 89-Year-Old Woman, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, July 1, 2011

Florida Nursing Home Resident Charged With Molesting Female Patient, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, May 12, 2009

Kellee J. Lee-Howard’s family is suing surgeon Alberto Sant Antonio for Broward County plastic surgery malpractice. They are alleging Florida wrongful death.

Lee-Howard died on February 14, 2010 one day after undergoing liposuction surgery. In their Broward County, Florida surgical malpractice complaint, her family is claiming that Sant Antonio improperly gave her the lidocaine and this caused her death.

This summer, Sant Antonio was barred from performing further surgeries after another patient died during liposuction. Maria Shortall stopped breathing right after fat was sucked from her middle area and injected into her backside. Fat pieces entered into her bloodstream, preventing blood from going into her lungs, and that is when her heart stopped.

Shortall’s family is also blaming Sant Antonio. They claim that the Alyne Medical Rejuvenation Institute, where she underwent the procedure, did not have all of the equipment that the state requires and there was no one present trained to handle the emergency medical situation that arose. The state found that the liposuction procedure was too complicated to be performed at the Weston clinic.

Sant Antonio is not board certified to perform plastic surgeries. He also lacks the qualifications to administer anesthesia or deal with the side effects.

Unfortunately, there is a growing number of physicians who are performing procedures that are beyond their qualifications or scope of training. One reason for this is that state laws regarding office-based surgeries are usually not strict. For example, in the area of plastic surgery, there are some doctors that perform cosmetic procedures after observing other doctors for a couple of days. USA Today even reports that there are dentists performing breast implants, gynecologists doing tummy tuck procedures, and radiologists performing liposuction. The media publication notes that there are even doctors, such as family practitioner Anil Gandhi, who teach themselves how to do plastic surgery. Gandhi, who can no longer do less “superficial” procedures, now performs breast augmentation surgery. He also trains other doctors that aren’t plastic surgeons on performing cosmetic procedures.

That said, there are qualified, trained plastic surgeons that have been known to make serious medical mistakes resulting in serious injuries or deaths. Medical professionals owe patients a duty of care to provide a certain level of service that minimizes the chances of errors.

Examples of plastic surgery injuries that can result in Weston medical malpractice:
• Dry eyes
• Disfigurement
• Infection
• Blood clots
• Traumatic brain injury
• Cardiac arrest
• Anesthesia complications
• Inserting the wrong implant size in a patient
• Over-correction
• Resurfacing complications
• Seroma
• Necrosis
• Scarring
• Rippling
• Encapsulation
• Asymmetry
• Breast implant defects
• Loss of nipple cover
• Changes to nipple sensation
• Removal of too much skin
• Abdominal perforations
• Emotional injuries
• Organ penetration
• Skin discoloration
• Death

Lack of training can be deadly in cosmetic surgery, USA Today, September 15, 2011

Fat tissue from plastic surgery killed Davie woman, autopsy shows, Sun-Sentinel, September 16, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Miami Medical Malpractice: Wrong Site Surgeries Can Lead to Catastrophic Consequences, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, October 6, 2011

$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

The family of Eyder Ayala is considering filing suing the Fontainebleau Hotel for her Miami-Dade County wrongful death. The 68-year-old grandmother died last month in a Coral Gables car accident.

The driver of the 2011 Audi Q5 that struck her, 19-year-old Ivanna Villanueva, was operating her vehicle at about 80 miles an hour at the time. The University of Miami student has been charged with DUI manslaughter over the deadly crash. Prosecutors say that her BAC was three times the legal limit at .231%. The criminal charge comes with a maximum 15-year prison sentence if she is convicted. Villanueva is now under house arrest.

Ayala’s family has already filed a Coral Gables wrongful death case against Villanueva for her “wanton disregard for life. Also named as a defendant is the teenager’s dad, Luis Villanueva, who the plaintiffs want to hold accountable for her actions.

Villanueva used a fake ID to enter a nightclub, which is located at the Fontainebleau Hotel. At age 19, she should not have been in the club or served alcohol but receipts were found showing that she bought two shots of tequila $42. The Coral Gables car accident lawyer representing Ayala’s loved ones say that the family might sue Fontainebleau Hotel, the club, and any other places that served or sold Villanueva alcohol.

Florida’s Liquor Liability Laws
Under the state’s Dram Shop Act, serving, selling, or giving alcohol to anyone under 21 can make you accountable if this results in injury of death. Also, although Florida Statutes, Section 768.125 says that bars and establishments are not liable for injury or death caused by a person of lawful drinking age that was served alcohol, if the beverage was offered with the knowledge that the person being served is habitually addicted to alcohol use, then liability is also possible.

There are reasons why minors are not allowed to drink alcohol. Restaurants, clubs, and bars must abide by the laws that make it illegal to serve alcohol to people under 21. It is no big surprise when minors procure fake ID’s to enter these facilities and there should be procedures and checks in place to prevent this from happening.

Drunk driving is a tragedy for everyone involvement—the victim, their loved ones, and the drunken driver, who likely never intended to hurt anyone and whose life will also never be the same.

If you’ve lost someone you love in a Coral Gables motor vehicle crash, you undoubtedly have lots of questions and will want to explore your legal options. The sooner you talk with a Miami-Dade personal injury lawyer the better.

Coral Gables Teen Was Drinking at Fontainebleau Club Hours Before Fatal Crash: Lawyer, NBC Miami, October 5, 2011

University of Miami student charged with DUI manslaughter, Miami-Dade, October 25, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Driver Charged in Boca Raton Motorcycle Accident Death, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, October 27, 2011

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

Jury Awards $2.25M Palm Beach County Wrongful Death Verdict in Fatal 2008 Boynton Beach Car Accident, Florida Injury Attorney Blog, March 16, 2011