Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Miami - A shooting in the parking lot of a Miami apartment complex left three people wounded and a teenage girl dead Sunday evening. Police originally referred to this tragic incident as a "drive-by shooting," however, sources close to the investigation revealed that the assailants exited their car and began shooting. The fifteen year old girl is believed to have been an innocent by-stander.

Miami-Dade Police Department's homicide investigators were initially told that four men riding in a gray Nissan Maxima or Altima fired the fatal shots.

Police said The shooting occurred just after 6:45 p.m. when Nissan arrived at the Annie Coleman apartment complex located at 2135 NW 52nd Street. According to detectives, the car pulled into the courtyard and several shots were fired from what is believed to be an AK -47 assault rifle, leaving a young girl dead and three others wounded.

The identity of the girl who died at the scene is not yet known. The others who were wounded in the shooting were transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

Witnesses said the girl was shot in the head while playing outside with friends.

The shootings come about a year after an incident a short distance away on Jan. 24, 2009, in which a gunman armed with an AK-47 assault rifle shot into a crowd killing two and wounding seven others.

``It's a process. It's a cycle -- a vicious cycle,'' said neighborhood activist Renita Holmes. ``There's no respect for life.''

Neighbors, who spoke on condition on anonymity for fear of their lives, said the shooting was gang-related. A police spokesperson said that it was too early to tell whether that was the case.

Det. Rebeca Perez urged anyone with information to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

Speaking of the teenage victim, Perez lamented, ``What could she have possibly done to deserve this?''

Continue reading "Miami - 15 Year Old Girl Shot and Killed in Apartment Complex Parking Lot" »

Miami Negligent or inadequate security may have been to blame for the fatal shooting of a Miami woman today in the parking lot of Peoples Storage. An unidentified woman was shot to death earlier today during an apparent robbery attempt in Miami according to police.

The shooting occurred in the parking lot of the People's Storage located at 200 NW 79th St. at about 11:30 a.m. when two men approached her.

Kenia Reyes, a Miami police spokeswoman said ``It appears it was an intent to rob her and she was shot.'' The woman died outside the Peoples Storage facility .

One witness present at the business, Lazaro Garcia, who owns a car dealership, said the woman had gone out to her car because she was short of money to pay for the storage of her furniture.

While this robbery gone bad is still under investigation, it is likely that the victim would still be alive today had the business or people who control the parking lot implemented adequate security measures. Reasonable security measures often deter crime since robbery, and many other violent crimes are crimes of opportunity. Violent crimes are usually committed in places where the criminals believe they can avoid being seen or caught.

Business and land owners in Florida have a legal duty to use reasonable means to protect their customers and guests from foreseeable violent crime. When they fail to do that, they may be liable to pay the crime victims compensation.

Continue reading "Miami - Woman Fatally Shot In Peoples Storage Parking Lot" »

The Miami based law firm of Hannon & Boyers has been retained by two Danish businessmen who were guests at the Epic Hotel, located at 270 Biscayne Boulevard Way, Miami, Florida 33131. Shortly after staying at the Epic Hotel they began to exhibit signs and symptoms consistent with Legionnaires' Disease. Our clients are currently undergoing medical treatment and evaluation to obtain a definitive diagnosis.

The Miami-Dade County Health Department has reported at least three other cases involving guests at the Epic Hotel who developed Legionnaire’s Disease including. One involved a fatality. According to published reports, it appears that the Epic Hotel installed a water filtration system that allowed waterborne bacteria, including the legionella bacteria to grow. Legionnaires' Disease is usually contracted through exposure to contaminated water vapor from hot showers, Jacuzzis and hot tubs.

It appears that the CDC and other governmental entities have not confirmed the source of the Legionnaire’s Disease, which resulted in at least one death. However, they have reported that this fatal strain of the disease may be linked to a source other than the Epic Hotel.

One family tragically lost a loved one, Tore Myhra, who not only stayed at the Epic Hotel but had also been on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship during the relevant period. It is believed that more than one person on that cruise ship contracted Legionnaires' Disease. Accordingly, any investigation regarding the source of illness during the pertinent period of time must explore both the culpability of the Epic Hotel and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

Continue reading "Legionnaires' Disease Linked to Epic Hotel and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Vessel " »

Pompano Beach, Florida - One man is dead and was injured in a shooting outside of a Pompano Beach apartment complex.

The fatal shooting occurred Saturday evening when two men who were outside an apartment complex on Avondale Drive were approached by one or more persons. Shots were fired and the victims were transported to North Broward Medical Center in Deerfield Beach where injuries to one of them proved to be fatal.

The shooting is being investigated by BSO homicide detectives. They asked anyone with information to call BSO Homicide Det. Frank Ilarraza at 954-321-4210 or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477, or online to www.browardcrimestoppers.org.

Many violent crimes are "crimes of opportunity", meaning they are committed in the place which affords the perpetrator the best opportunity to avoid being seen or caught. Very often that place turns out to be a commercial property like an apartment complex, night club, bank or automated teller machine (ATM) where safety and security have been neglected.

Continue reading "Pompano Beach Shooting Leaves One Dead, One Injured" »

The state of Florida will receive $8.5 million from a settlement with Columbus, Ohio pharmaceutical company, Roxane Laboratories, to partially resolve a Medicaid fraud lawsuit filed in Leon County according to the state attorney general.

The case is still pending against two other defendants, Dey and Warrick Pharmaceuticals.

The settlement comes in response to allegations that Roxane set and reported false, inflated prices for medicines dispensed by pharmacies and others, which were then reimbursed by the Florida Medicaid program. Medicaid sets reimbursement rates based on prices reported by drug companies.

Roxane's fraudulent actions induced Florida's Medicaid program to millions of dollars in inflated pharmacy reimbursements.

The whistle-blower that first reported the fraudulent claims was Ven-A-Care of the Florida Keys. The attorney general is currently litigating against six other drug companies for price-reporting fraud.

The settlement money from the Whistle-blower case will be divided with approximately $4.4 million going to the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which administers the Medicaid program. Over $1.69 million will be put into the state's general accounts, and approximately $188,000 will be deposited into the legal affairs revolving trust fund, which is used to reward whistle-blowers, people who report and provide information about Medicaid fraud.

Tipsters can call the Hannon & Boyers fraud hot line at 1-800-545-9100 to report medicaid or medicare fraud or any other fraud on the State of Florida or on the government of the United States of America.

Continue reading "Florida Medicaid Fraud Charges Settled by Drug Company" »

Unsafe Child Products Now Include Popular Disney, Barbie Toys

The dangers of unsafe toys and child products are a major cause for concern, especially during the holiday season. Just prior to the start of the 2009 holiday shopping season, a California-based consumer advocacy organization reported that it had commissioned scientific testing which discovered unsafe levels of lead which exceeded federal limits in popular Disney and Barbie toys, including the Tinkerbell Water Lily Necklace, Dora the Explorer Activity Tote and Barbie Bike Flair Accessory Kit.

As a result of this finding, the California Attorney General sent letters to Target, Wal-Mart and other retailers, warning them that the toys should be immediately pulled from store shelves.

These new findings of excessive lead in popular toys from some of America’s most trusted brands come approximately one year after the passage of a sweeping product safety law that set strict limits on the amounts of lead and chemicals that are allowed in products for children under 12. The law was enacted after a number of recalls for lead-tainted toys were issued in 2007, including several for Mattel that accounted for in excess of two million toys.

It’s important for parents to be aware that dangerous toys, whether tainted with lead and other harmful chemicals or defective in design are still making their way into the hands of U.S. consumers every day.

Continue reading "Dangerous And Unsafe Toys A Concern at Christmas Time" »

The Florida Injury Lawyer Blog sometimes reports on out of state events which may impact Florida citizens. While this post deals with events which occurred in CVS Pharmacies in Connecticut, CVS does a significant amount of business in our state as well.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced Monday that his office has filed a law suit against CVS Pharmacy Inc., a division of CVS Caremark Corp., for allegedly selling over-the-counter drugs and other products in its stores in Connecticut which had already expired.

Blumenthal said that investigators from the AG's office found expired over-the-counter medications as well as certain expired food and beverage items on sale in multiple CVS Pharmacy stores in Connecticut during an investigation which took place in 2008 and 2009.

The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection cooperated with the AG's office in filing the lawsuit.

In a statement released by the Connecticut AG's office, Mr. Blumenthal said that "Basic business law and ethics give consumers a right to unspoiled food and safe and effective medicine." He also pledged to "...fight for significant penalties against CVS, sending a powerful message that expiration dates must be respected. Any item past its expiration date should be off shelves, out of stores."

Just last month, CVS agreed to pay penalties and fees totaling approximately $875,000 to end an investigation by the New York Attorney General focusing on the sale of expired products in its New York stores.

CVS agreed to implement training for it's employees and to commit to policies and procedures designed to prevent expired products from being stocked on its shelves.

New York Attorney General Cuomo reached a similar agreement with Rite Aid Corporation which resulted in the company agreeing to pay $1.3 million and to adopt new internal policies procedures.

A CVS spokeswoman had this to say in response to the allegations in Connecticut: "[t]he health and safety of our customers is our top priority, and CVS Pharmacy has a clear product removal policy in place at all of its stores to help ensure that items are removed from store shelves before they reach their expiration dates," the spokeswoman said. "Any unintentional deviations from this policy that are brought to the company's attention are quickly rectified for customers. The company is fully committed to maintaining inventory management practices to prevent expired products from being sold to customers."

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A Fort Lauderdale train accident claimed the lives of two women and left one man critically injured on November 19th when a 325-ton Tri Rail train slammed into a gold Toyota Camry which had stopped on the tracks on Commercial Boulevard.

Forty-four year old Connie Hamblin and her passenger 22 year old Felicia Hatmaker of Tennessee were both ejected from the car and killed according to Fort Lauderdale Police. Another occupant of the Toyota, Eddie Hamblin, also of Tennessee, was transported to North Broward Medical Center in Deerfield Beach in critical condition.

This railroad crossing lies between two very busy intersections -- Powerline Road to the west and the southbound I-95 ramps to the east.

Traffic often backs up onto the crossing in both directions when the traffic lights at those intersections turn red.

At least two attempts to address this hazard either were unsuccessful or were never fully implemented.

The Florida Department of Transportation in 2000 tested a concept called a ``European X'' -- a box about the size of a car with an X painted on the roadway just beyond the crossing in each traffic lane. The idea was that if drivers could see the X as they approached the crossing, they would be able to safely cross.

The X markings are no longer on the pavement there and the Miami Herald reported that no one at the FDOT could recall the results of that experiment.

The DOT had also announced plans to install cameras at that crossing and at crossings at McNab Road, Cypress Creek Road, Powerline Road and Prospect Road.

The cameras were designed to send an instant signal to the train operator to slow down if a motorist is stalled. But train operators balked presumably at the idea of cameras preserving evidence of their own negligence.

There have been seven railroad accidents involving automobiles at the Commercial Boulevard Tri-Rail crossing since Tri-Rail began service in 1989. Those accidents resulted in three fatalities and two serious injuries.

All of those accidents involved Tri-Rail trains but one involved an Amtrak train.

Continue reading "Fort Lauderdale Train Accident Kills Two And Critically Injures Another" »

Broward County, Florida - A three-vehicle accident on I-595 left one man dead and another in critical condition, according to a spokesperson for the Florida Highway Patrol.

The fatal motorcycle accident occurred shortly after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. According to FHP, two motorcycles were eastbound in the left lane near Hiatus Road and a four-door Kia, driven by twenty-two year old Erica Vieira Borges of Sunrise was eastbound in the center lane ahead of the motorcycles.

Reports indicate that when the Kia merged into the left lane, one motorcycle, operated by twenty-five year old Josue Rene Robles Duprey of Miramar, struck the rear end of the Kia.

Duprey was thrown from his Yamaha motorcycle, which slid across the highway and came to rest in an exit lane.

Borges' Kia left the roadway and struck a guardrail. When it attempted to move back onto the interstate, it was hit by the second motorcycle which was operated by twenty-two year old Shaun L. Pasley of Miramar.

Pasley was thrown from his Honda CBR 1000 motorcycle. Both Pasley's motorcycle and Borges' Kia then caught on fire.

Pasley and Duprey were transported to Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale. Duprey did not survive and Pasley was in critical condition even though both motorcyclists were wearing helmets.

Erica Borges appeared to have suffered only minor injuries.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of this fatal accident.

Continue reading "Broward County Motorcycle Accident Leaves One Dead And One In Critical Condition " »

Ft. Lauderdale - Medical malpractice occurs on a daily basis in Florida and throughout the United States when medical care and treatment fall below the accepted standards of care. It is particularly appalling when the mistakes involve negligence in carrying out some of the most basic procedures such as the administration of intravenous fluids.

Earlier this month, hospital officials at Broward General Medical Center announced that they were investigating a nurse's actions that may have exposed more than 1,800 patients to blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. The nurse, who has since resigned and has been reported to the Florida Board of Nursing, admitted to re-using saline bags and tubing in administering IV fluids to patients who were undergoing chemical cardiac stress tests. Hospital officials identified more than 1,800 patients who were treated by the nurse between January 2004 and September 2009.

A similar case of medical negligence took place earlier this year when more than 10,000 patients were administered colonoscopies with equipment that was not properly sterilized at VA hospitals in Miami, Tennessee and Georgia.

Continue reading "Fort Lauderdale - Nursing Malpractice Exposes Patients To Disease" »

Medication errors, whether the result of pharmacy errors or medical malpractice represent a significant portion of the preventable medical errors that take place every year in Florida and throughout the U.S.

It was ten years ago that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) declared that as many as 98,000 people die each year needlessly because of "preventable medical harm and errors." A decade later, it is debatable whether any real progress has been made to reduce these errors and the harm that they can cause. Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, issued a report in May 2009 indicating that preventable medical harm still accounts for more than 100,000 deaths each year. The report gave the country a failing grade on the progress that has been made in implementing the recommendations from the IOM study that it believes are necessary to create a health-care system that is free of preventable medical errors.

The Consumer Union report reveals that few hospitals have adopted well-known systems to prevent medication errors, and the FDA rarely intervenes.

Some medication errors are caused by similar drug names, packaging and design. Confusion between primidone and prednisone caused the death of an adolescent in 2004, and a report from 2008 indicated that prednisone is commonly confused with 12 other drugs. In 2007, the twin babies of actor Dennis Quaid and his wife were given 1,000 times the prescribed dose of the blood thinner heparin, which was packaged in similar vials with blue labels as those used by the manufacturer for its pediatric dosage, according to the Quaids’ lawsuit and testimony before Congress.

Continue reading "Florida - Pharmacy Medication Errors Remain a Major Problem" »

Miami, Florida - Drowning is the number one cause of death among children in Miami-Dade County. With Summer approaching, more children will be in or near swimming pools, at beaches, water parks and lakes. This increased exposure to water coincides with an increase in the number of drownings. For this reason, it is extremely important that children are taught about water safety.

The Miami-Dade Fire Department has responded to 199 drownings since January 2007. Most of those involved children under 16 years old and 32% involved children under 5 years old. In Miami, most drowning incidents occur between 11:00am and 6:00pm peaking between 3:00pm and 4:00pm. The majority of Miami drownings and near drownings occur in the Summer months from May through August. MDFR has already responded to 11 drowning incidents just since January of 2009.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue has prepared the following list of Summer Safety Tips to help keep our children safe:

• Always think of the ocean, lakes and your pool as dangerous places.
• Always directly supervise children when they are in a pool or around any body of water. Young children can drown in just a few inches of standing water. Bathtubs and large buckets also pose a threat. Most childhood drownings occur without an adult immediately present.
• Keep a phone at poolside so you don’t have to leave the kids to answer the phone and so you can call 9-1-1 immediately in case of an emergency.
• Never assume that swimming lessons or flotation devices can completely protect a child from drowning. Don’t have a false sense of security!
• Install alarms on all doors that lead into a pool area so you will know if a door to the pool has been opened.
• Secure long hair to the head, braid it, or cover it with a cap. Long hair can get suctioned into defective pool drains and vacuum lines.
• Make sure that all family members learn how to swim and what to do if they see someone in trouble in the water.
• Have your family members learn CPR. Drowning victims have a better chance of surviving if they get assistance right away.
• Know and comply with the Florida and Miami-Dade County statutes for pool fencing and pool safety. Pool fencing has been proven to save the lives of many children.

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