tag:www.tampainjurylawblog.com,2011:/31 2011-04-01T03:58:40Z Tampa Personal Injury Attorney Blog Movable Type Pro 4.34-en tag:www.tampainjurylawblog.com,2011://31.19165 2011-03-31T23:44:01Z 2011-04-01T03:58:40Z

The general public thinks medical malpractice lawyers bring too many cases. The truth is that at least in Florida, the overwhelming majority of medical malpractice cases are never brought. The reason is that the medical profession gets special treatment under the law. The special treatment makes it very hard to pursue a medical malpractice case. One example of special treatment involves medical malpractice cases involving death. As I discussed in a previous post about wrongful death, in most wrongful death cases, if a person dies with no spouse, their children are entitled to pain and suffering damages. Furthermore, if they...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com medical malpractice lawyers bring too many cases. The truth is that at least in Florida, the overwhelming majority of medical malpractice cases are never brought. The reason is that the medical profession gets special treatment under the law. The special treatment makes it very hard to pursue a medical malpractice case. One example of special treatment involves medical malpractice cases involving death. As I discussed in a previous post about wrongful death, in most wrongful death cases, if a person dies with no spouse, their children are entitled to pain and suffering damages. Furthermore, if they have no children, the persons parents are entitled to pain and suffering damages. However, when a fatality is caused by medical malpractice, and the person has no spouse, only children under 25 are entitled to pain and suffering damages. If there are no children or the children are 25 or older, no one, including the parents is entitled to pain and suffering damages. The harshness of this special treatment becomes clear when you realize that if someone either has no job or makes very little income dies with no spouse and either never had children or their children have all grown up, there are really no damages worth perusing. Basically that means that the medical profession can routinely cause the death of most unmarried people over the age of 55 without the fear of being held responsible for the death. ]]> tag:www.tampainjurylawblog.com,2011://31.18258 2011-02-12T16:01:54Z 2011-02-12T23:17:01Z

In a recent post I highlighted the hunger strike of Tampa pharmacist Raj Bhat RPH. He started his hunger strike on July 5, 2010 to protest what he believes are dangerously high quotas required of pharmacists working for online pharmacy company Medco. According to Bhat the quotas required online pharmacists to fill upwards 45 prescriptions per hour, a pace he says leads to life threatening prescription errors. As a pharmacy malpractice attorney, I have often criticized large pharmacy chains for high quotas that put profits over patient safety. Quotas increase profits because the more prescriptions that are filled, the more...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com recent post I highlighted the hunger strike of Tampa pharmacist Raj Bhat RPH. He started his hunger strike on July 5, 2010 to protest what he believes are dangerously high quotas required of pharmacists working for online pharmacy company Medco. According to Bhat the quotas required online pharmacists to fill upwards 45 prescriptions per hour, a pace he says leads to life threatening prescription errors. As a pharmacy malpractice attorney, I have often criticized large pharmacy chains for high quotas that put profits over patient safety. Quotas increase profits because the more prescriptions that are filled, the more money the company makes. Quotas can compromise patient safety however, because when the pharmacists work at too fast a pace to meet unreasonably high quotas, they make mistakes like filling the prescription with the wrong medicine or the wrong dose of medicine. Bhat's hunger strike is more than simply criticizing quotas. It is an active attempt to end the practice by drawing attention to it. As of January 17, 2011 he had been on his hunger strike for 28 weeks. On that day his blog was updated with a post indicating he suspended the hunger strike to "drink a glass of orange juice". Apparently, his heath has spiraled downward from going without food for so long. His current status is unknown because that was the last time he posted on his blog and there have been know media stories on him in a long time. I have deep respect for Bhat's desire to make a difference and his willingness to take a moral stand. However, I can't help but wonder if his hunger strike will accomplish nothing more than him quitting or worse yet dying without change. He does not seem to understand that moral conviction and a willingness to put your life on the line is not enough. While true change can occur through such courageous acts, the act alone is never enough. To prevail, the act must be used as a vehicle to bring relentless, continuing, and unending public media attention to the situation. Bhat has failed to grasp this point. His blog is rarely updated and he does not appear to know how to generate ongoing media attention. Hopefully, he will figure this out before it is too late. ]]> tag:www.tampainjurylawblog.com,2011://31.17817 2011-01-21T13:42:32Z 2011-01-21T14:19:32Z

In a previous post, I questioned whether personal injury protection benefits (PIP) that are part of all automobile accident insurance policies in Florida should be eliminated. The reason I am critical of personal injury protection is that it is so susceptible to fraud. Over the years, the Florida Legislature has attempted to put in place restrictions to eliminate the fraud. However, the restrictions have not really helped. According to Mike Salinero in an article posted on TBO.com, the Hillsborough County commissioners are attempting their version of PIP regulation. The commissioners have requested the county attorney to write an ordinance that...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com previous post, I questioned whether personal injury protection benefits (PIP) that are part of all automobile accident insurance policies in Florida should be eliminated. The reason I am critical of personal injury protection is that it is so susceptible to fraud. Over the years, the Florida Legislature has attempted to put in place restrictions to eliminate the fraud. However, the restrictions have not really helped. According to Mike Salinero in an article posted on TBO.com, the Hillsborough County commissioners are attempting their version of PIP regulation. The commissioners have requested the county attorney to write an ordinance that regulates the medical clinics that provide medical care to people injured in car accidents. Their focus on regulating the medical clinics is based on the fact that these clinics are often at the center of the fraud. There are many reputable auto accident medical clinics. However, the dishonest ones recruit people that stage auto accidents and then fraudulently billed for medical services that were never provided. This type of fraud is so prevalent in Hillsborough County that in 2009 the Tampa Bay area became a national leader. The purpose of the proposed new ordinance in Hillsborough County would be to require all clinics to register with the county and have a licensed physician be responsible for all written prescriptions. While the goal is a good one, it is unclear how this increased regulation will address the fraud problem. I guess we will have to wait and see the actual ordinance to get that clarity. My experience as a car accident attorney in Tampa and throughout Florida makes me question whether any regulation of personal injury protection will do much to eliminate the fraud. It may be that the only way to eliminate the fraud is to eliminate PIP itself. In my practice I do see the benefit that PIP provides for people who would otherwise be unable to pay for medical care after a car accident. On the other hand, if PIP were eliminated, letters of protection could be used to provide medical care to most of these people.]]> tag:www.tampainjurylawblog.com,2011://31.17741 2011-01-17T01:12:09Z 2011-01-17T02:11:17Z

Personal Injury Protection is a part of all automobile accident insurance policies in Florida. It has been a mandatory for all car drivers since 1972. It pays for up to $10,000.00 of medical care or lost wages after a car accident regardless of whether or not you were at fault in the accident. The idea behind personal injury protection is a good one. It was meant to make sure that people with an injury after an auto accident get the medical care and wages they need. However, in practice, it has not lived up to its ideals. The main problem...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com Personal Injury Protection is a part of all automobile accident insurance policies in Florida. It has been a mandatory for all car drivers since 1972. It pays for up to $10,000.00 of medical care or lost wages after a car accident regardless of whether or not you were at fault in the accident. The idea behind personal injury protection is a good one. It was meant to make sure that people with an injury after an auto accident get the medical care and wages they need. However, in practice, it has not lived up to its ideals. The main problem is the system is rampant with fraud and Tampa Bay is the biggest offender. As a recent article pointed out, the fraud has caused the cost of auto insurance to be unacceptably high. In fact, fraud within the system costs the typical family as much as $400.00 extra per year for their car insurance. The fraud occurs because dishonest medical providers are able to bill insurance companies for care that was never provided. Often times the patients are involved in the fraud and get a portion of the billings. Insurance companies do the best they can to try and eliminate the fraud. In fact, their enforcement efforts often end up accusing innocent people of wrongdoing. The insurance industry is lobbying the Florida Legislature to increase regulation of the personal injury protection system. However, over the years, increasing regulation has never solved the problem. The time has come for the legislature to think about whether to eliminate it all together. ]]> tag:www.tampainjurylawblog.com,2011://31.17509 2011-01-04T02:01:30Z 2011-01-04T02:47:57Z

According to an article by John Thomas, published at abcactionnew.com, Tampa city council is reconsidering ways to charge those responsible for causing Tampa automobile accidents with the costs associated with the accident. Apparently they tried to do the same thing in 2007 but decided not to do so. Since then a state law was passed to address the issue. According to City Attorney Chip Fletcher, "...in 2009 the legislature significantly limited the ability of cities to access fees for responses to car accidents." Given the current economy, it makes sense for Tampa to try and reduce its overhead by passing...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com abcactionnew.com, Tampa city council is reconsidering ways to charge those responsible for causing Tampa automobile accidents with the costs associated with the accident. Apparently they tried to do the same thing in 2007 but decided not to do so. Since then a state law was passed to address the issue. According to City Attorney Chip Fletcher, "...in 2009 the legislature significantly limited the ability of cities to access fees for responses to car accidents." Given the current economy, it makes sense for Tampa to try and reduce its overhead by passing some of its costs on to those that cause car accidents. However, in this case, even if the city can find a way around the state law, it is unclear whether their efforts will generate much in the way of savings. Often, the cost of enforcing such programs can substantially reduce the net benefits. Hopefully Tampa council members will thoroughly research the costs and benefits before moving forward. ]]> tag:www.tampainjurylawblog.com,2010://31.16999 2010-11-29T21:44:48Z 2010-12-09T22:41:38Z

Tort reformers always try to blame the innocent injured party for causing unacceptable costs to society. Personal injury lawyers know the person causing the harm is not the injured person. The harm is caused by the negligent person. Eliminating personal injury lawsuits will not eliminate the costs. It will simply require the injured person and or society to pay the costs instead of the negligent person that caused the harm. Efforts by some state and federal governments to try and eliminate a patient's right to bring a medical malpractice claim provides a perfect example. Tort reformers have convinced many state...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com Personal injury lawyers know the person causing the harm is not the injured person. The harm is caused by the negligent person. Eliminating personal injury lawsuits will not eliminate the costs. It will simply require the injured person and or society to pay the costs instead of the negligent person that caused the harm. Efforts by some state and federal governments to try and eliminate a patient's right to bring a medical malpractice claim provides a perfect example. Tort reformers have convinced many state legislatures to pass laws that severely restrict a patients right to bring medical malpractice lawsuits. According to their logic, the reduction in medical malpractice lawsuits should reduce costs to society. However they fail to address the fact that a reduction in medical malpractice lawsuits will not reduce the amount of medical malpractice that occurs. A recent study discussed in the New York Times on November 25, 2010 makes the point. According to the study, from 2002 through 2007, in the hospitals that participated in the study, harm to patients was common and the number of harmful events did not go down over time. About 18% of the patients were harmed by the medical care they recieved. In addition, 63.1 % of the injuries to those patients were preventable. In fact, according to the author, many of the injuries were caused by the hospitals' failure to impliment measures proven to illiminate or reduce mistakes. Clearly, the failure to impliment the safety measures caused the cost to society and not the lawsuits filed to hold the negligent health care providers accountable. Most of the costs will exist whether or not the lawsuit is filed. The real question is who will pay the the costs. The inoccent person inured by the medical care or the negligent healthcare provider that caused them. ]]> tag:www.tampainjurylawblog.com,2010://31.16976 2010-11-24T20:55:29Z 2010-11-24T21:33:51Z

I have written many posts on the topic of electronic prescriptions. Up until now, my review of the literature has suggested that it reduces the number of medication errors whether the result of a pharmacy, hospital, doctor, or nurse. However, at least some researchers are now concluding that the practice of using computer software to enter the prescription, order the prescription, and fill the prescription with the proper medicine at the proper dose and frequency can create errors unique to the electronic format. Lynn Peoples recently wrote on the subject for Anesthesiology News. Her article quotes statistics provided by anesthesia...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com many posts on the topic of electronic prescriptions. Up until now, my review of the literature has suggested that it reduces the number of medication errors whether the result of a pharmacy, hospital, doctor, or nurse. However, at least some researchers are now concluding that the practice of using computer software to enter the prescription, order the prescription, and fill the prescription with the proper medicine at the proper dose and frequency can create errors unique to the electronic format. Lynn Peoples recently wrote on the subject for Anesthesiology News. Her article quotes statistics provided by anesthesia resident and researcher Karen Caputo Nanji M.D. Apparently Dr. Nanji and her colleagues studied pharmacy chains in Florida and other states. Their findings included the fact that 11.6% of the electronic prescriptions had errors. Of those errors 60% were missing information, 15.9% lacked clarity, 15.7% had conflicting information, and 7.6% involved the wrong prescription. Of course these results are from only one study. However, the researchers did review 3898 electronic prescriptions. The sample size seems large enough to be statistically relevant. If so, it maybe that electronic prescribing does little in the long run to reduce prescription pharmacy errors.]]> tag:www.TampaInjuryLawBlog.com,2010://31.15084 2010-07-31T15:33:57Z 2010-08-16T14:21:25Z

Online pharmacies continue to grow rapidly. The growth is largely based on their claims of cost savings and convenience of doorstep delivery of prescriptions. The industry claims that cost savings are achieved based on the elimination of the brick and mortar store. However, according to an article in the Baltimoresun.com, pharmacists working for Medco Health Systems are claiming that cost savings are also coming from quotas that may lead to medication errors. A former Medco pharmacist in Tampa Florida is so concerned about the quotas causing mistakes in filling prescriptions that he began a hunger strike. Raj Bhat was a...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com article in the Baltimoresun.com, pharmacists working for Medco Health Systems are claiming that cost savings are also coming from quotas that may lead to medication errors. A former Medco pharmacist in Tampa Florida is so concerned about the quotas causing mistakes in filling prescriptions that he began a hunger strike. Raj Bhat was a pharmacist in Medco's Tampa mail order pharmacy filling plant until he was fired in 2005. He claims he was fired because of complaints about the company's prescription filling quota of up to 45 prescriptions an hour. The company says they fired him because of poor job performance. Bhat started the hunger strike in early July of 2010 after a trial court dismissed his lawsuit against the company. The lawsuit claimed damages as a result of his firing. Although Bhat has appealed the trial court's decision, the appellate process can be very slow. It may take years before an appellate court ultimately decides whether his lawsuit can move forward. Apparently, the United Steel Workers Union has taken up the cause because Medco pharmacists have joined their union. The Baltimore Sun articled quoted the Steelworkers Union as saying the company makes high demands on its professionals, requiring them to work at a pace they think is too fast. Pharmacists have complained for years that working at too fast a pace can lead to errors in judgment resulting in filling prescriptions with the wrong medicine or the wrong dose of medicine. For example, Daniel Hussar, a pharmacy professor at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia says "The large chains push their pharmacists to work 10, 12, 14 hours a day at a pace that is often a blur." Medco denies it has quotas. Instead, the company says "Our longtime operating policy is that we have performance standards to ensure we maximize the delivery of both quality of care and cost effectiveness." As a Florida pharmacy error lawyer, this statement sounds to me like corporate double speak. After all, any definition of performance standards that revolves around filling prescriptions would have to involve quotas. Especially in light of the number of former employees that have surfaced willing to say the company has quotas. Unfortunately, the Florida Board of Pharmacy does not believe it has the power to regulate the number of prescriptions a pharmacist fills in any given time period. Their rational is that no specific law states the board can set a specific limit on the number of prescriptions filled. However, it appears the board may be missing the point. They law does give the Board the power to protect the public health. Based the number of pharmacy error injuries that have been blamed on pharmacists moving too fast, it would seem to me that quotas do affect public health. ]]> tag:www.TampaInjuryLawBlog.com,2010://31.14757 2010-07-09T19:45:03Z 2010-07-09T20:43:08Z

Scott Stroud recently wrote an interesting post about the effects the Gulf Oil Spill may have on tort reform. He discusses the fact that the current cap on damages caused by Oil drillers will not cover the damages caused by BP in the Gulf of Mexico. He then points out that many of the same politicians that have used the mantra of personal responsibility to pass caps on damages are now claiming that the caps on damages in this case should be removed because BP has to be held personally accountable. Hopefully Mr. Stoud is right about the effect of...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com Scott Stroud recently wrote an interesting post about the effects the Gulf Oil Spill may have on tort reform. He discusses the fact that the current cap on damages caused by Oil drillers will not cover the damages caused by BP in the Gulf of Mexico. He then points out that many of the same politicians that have used the mantra of personal responsibility to pass caps on damages are now claiming that the caps on damages in this case should be removed because BP has to be held personally accountable. Hopefully Mr. Stoud is right about the effect of the gulf oil spill has on the tort reform argument. My experience as a personal injury attorney in Tampa lead me to conclude long ago that tort reformers have the personal responsibility argument backwards. They claim that caps on damages are necessary because personal injury victims do not want to take responsibility for what happened to them. Of course they don't. They did not cause the harm so why should they pay for it. The goal of personal injury law is to hold wrongdoers accountable for the damage they have caused. In truth, the goal of Tort reform and caps on damages is exactly the opposite. It is nothing more than an attempt to shelter the one that caused the harm from paying for the true cost of the harm they have caused. It is unfortunate that it took something like the BP oil spill to begin the process of waking the public. ]]> tag:www.TampaInjuryLawBlog.com,2010://31.14681 2010-07-05T16:29:45Z 2010-07-05T17:11:57Z

CBS news Travel Editor Peter Greenberg recently spoke about the deadliest roads in America. Play the video below to view the report. Watch CBS News Videos Online While doing backround research for the report, CBS news discovered a report from the Daily Beast that identified the 100 most dangerous roads in America. The report is based on fatal car accidents throughout the country. Florida had two roads in the top 5. In fact, Interstate 95 (I-95) in Florida is apparently considered the number one deadliest road. The number 3 most deadly road ends right hear in Tampa. It is Interstate...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com
Watch CBS News Videos Online While doing backround research for the report, CBS news discovered a report from the Daily Beast that identified the 100 most dangerous roads in America. The report is based on fatal car accidents throughout the country. Florida had two roads in the top 5. In fact, Interstate 95 (I-95) in Florida is apparently considered the number one deadliest road. The number 3 most deadly road ends right hear in Tampa. It is Interstate 4 (I-4). ]]> tag:www.TampaInjuryLawBlog.com,2010://31.14467 2010-06-19T15:09:23Z 2010-07-02T23:04:25Z

Most medical doctors do great things. Whether they are saving peoples' lives or proscribing medicine for the common cold. Either way, they are helping people. However, like all professions, there are some that do not do the right thing. Sometimes doctors have lapses in judgment. Sometimes they do not have the training or skill to be providing the kind of care they have chosen to provide, and sometimes the profit motive causes them to lose track of why they became doctors in the first place. A perfect example involves the arrest of Tampa medical Doctor John Mubang in 2008 for...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com an article in the St. Petersburg Times written by Alexandra Zayas and Letitia Stein, Dr. Mubang runs a pain management clinic in Tampa. He is accused of prescribing powerful pain medicines to anyone that was willing to pay regardless of whether they were in pain. If true, he was basically using his medical degree to legitimize acting as a drug dealer. At least one of his patients has died of an overdose. Society does not and should not blame the entire medical profession for the actions of doctors accused of things like Dr. Mubang. Of course, the same should hold true for all professions. In other words, no profession should be condemned as a whole just because some in the profession do bad things. Unfortunately, there are many in the medical profession, politics, and the corporate world that do not agree when it comes to personal injury lawyers. They condemn all personal injury attorneys for the bad things that some personal injury lawyers do. Many of them condemn us because it is our job to hold them accountable. They see themselves as doing no wrong. Therefore, in their eyes the problem must be that those that want to hold them accountable are bad people. In their eyes the answer is tort reform. The truth is that personal injury attorneys are not bad people. Our goal is to help society by holding wrongdoers financially accountable for the harm they cause. Sometimes, some of us fall short. Just like doctors, some lawyers may have lapses in judgment; some lawyers may not have the training or skill to be handling a particular case; and the profit motive may cause some lawyers to lose track of why they became personal injury lawyers in the first place. When this happens, the individual lawyers should be held accountable. But just like with doctors, the entire personal injury profession should not be blamed for the actions of a few. ]]> tag:www.TampaInjuryLawBlog.com,2010://31.12344 2010-02-13T15:48:30Z 2010-03-30T15:32:44Z

Personal injury lawyers are considered by a large segment of the population to be causing harm to society. No matter where you look, it is hard not to find some sort of criticism of the personal injury profession. Some call us ambulance chasers. Others call us parasites. The Republican Party blames us for the high cost of health care. Big business blames us for the high cost of consumer products. The liability insurance industry has labeled us domestic terrorists. If the portrayal of personal injury attorneys that has been spun by Republicans, the health care industry, big business, and the...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com Personal injury lawyers are considered by a large segment of the population to be causing harm to society. No matter where you look, it is hard not to find some sort of criticism of the personal injury profession. Some call us ambulance chasers. Others call us parasites. The Republican Party blames us for the high cost of health care. Big business blames us for the high cost of consumer products. The liability insurance industry has labeled us domestic terrorists. If the portrayal of personal injury attorneys that has been spun by Republicans, the health care industry, big business, and the liability insurance industry is true, why would anyone want to become one? These entities portray us to be like the wicked witch of the west in the Wizard of Oz. Born of pure evil. We apparently swoop down on our broom to capture unsuspecting clients (Dorothy and Toto) and use them in their time of grief to blackmail productive members of society (the wizard and the community of Oz) into paying us exorbitant sums of money. If they refuse our extortion, we will force them to endure the torture of a jury trial where we con handpicked members of the general public that are selected as jurors (those same unsuspecting members of the community of OZ) into awarding even more money than we originally tried to extort. For those of you that have seen the play "Wicked", the analogy of the Wicked Witch may not actually be wrong. It turns out that the Wizard of Oz was the evil one. He was harming the animals of Oz and covering up his actions. The Wicked Witch was actually good. She resisted the corrupting power of the Wizard and was trying to save the animals. As a result, the Wizard used his power and influence to portray the Wicked Witch to the public as evil. Every once in a while, however, an event comes along that is so big the propaganda machine cannot cover it up. When this happens, the truth shines through and the public can see that many personal injury lawyers are actually helping society by exposing corporate wrongdoing and obtaining just compensation for their clients. The recent scandal surrounding the Toyota defective product recalls of their automobiles is one such event. For years, Toyota has been denying that their vehicles suffer from a defect that causes sudden acceleration. Undaunted, personal injury lawyers relentlessly pursued Toyota for just compensation for their injured clients. Like the Wizard of Oz, Toyota successfully branded itself as good while it branded plaintiffs' attorneys and their clients as evil. Slowly but surely, plaintiffs lawyers assembled expert testimony to uncover the cause of the problem and convinced courts to disclose evidence implicating Toyota. As a result, the momentum has shifted. Recent disclosures by a corporate insider, coupled with the media finally focusing its attention on recent episodes of Toyota vehicles involved in sudden acceleration causing injury and death, have brought the truth to light. It appears that Toyota may have been covering up the sudden acceleration problem to avoid a recall. If true, its actions in trying to protect its reputation and profits caused many unnecessary injuries and deaths. The Toyota example is just one of many that demonstrate the stereotype of personal injury attorneys is not accurate. The truth is that we are no different than any other profession. Most of us are motivated to help our clients and have a positive impact on society. A few are motivated by money and power. Political and corporate interests use the actions of the few to condemn the rest of us. ]]> tag:www.TampaInjuryLawBlog.com,2010://31.12134 2010-01-31T15:40:23Z 2010-01-31T18:38:37Z

A pharmacy prescription misfill occurs when the pharmacist fills a prescription with the wrong medicine. Sometimes the misfill can cause personal injury or death. When this occurs, the victim and or the victim's family should consult a personal injury attorney to decide whether it makes sense to file a personal injury lawsuit. Recently, A Pharmacy misfill attorney brought suit on behalf of Reva Tosh and her husband, Gerald Tosh, against Rite Aid pharmacy in Montgomery, Alabama. According an article published January 27, 2010 in the Montgomery Advertiser Riva Tosh took her prescription for pain medicine to the Rite Aid to...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com pharmacy prescription misfill occurs when the pharmacist fills a prescription with the wrong medicine. Sometimes the misfill can cause personal injury or death. When this occurs, the victim and or the victim's family should consult a personal injury attorney to decide whether it makes sense to file a personal injury lawsuit. Recently, A Pharmacy misfill attorney brought suit on behalf of Reva Tosh and her husband, Gerald Tosh, against Rite Aid pharmacy in Montgomery, Alabama. According an article published January 27, 2010 in the Montgomery Advertiser Riva Tosh took her prescription for pain medicine to the Rite Aid to be filled. The prescription misfill occurred when the Rite Aid pharmacy filled the prescription with a steroid called dexamethasone, a steroid used in cancer treatment. The medicine was given in a dose seven times the normal dose. Mrs. Josh took it for 28 days before the prescription misfill was discovered. The main issue at trial was whether Mrs. Josh's Cushing Syndrome, a disorder that caused her to have mental and physical problems was caused by the Rite Aid prescription misfill. The jury apparently believed that it did. The jury awarded Mrs. Josh 2 million dollars for her damages and awarded her husband $500,000.00 for loss of his wife's companionship. ]]> tag:www.TampaInjuryLawBlog.com,2010://31.11804 2010-01-11T15:19:46Z 2010-01-13T17:46:00Z

A wrongful death lawsuit allows a family to hold a wrongdoer financially accountable for causing a loved ones death. Florida wrongful death lawsuits are controlled by The 2009->Ch0768->Section%2016#0768.16">Florida Wrongful Death Act. Under the Florida statute, when a person dies as a result of someone else's negligence, the pain and suffering of the person involved in the fatal accident is not recoverable. Instead, the Wrongful Death Statute creates a claim on behalf of the Estate of the person that died and the person's survivors. The damages recoverable are described in 2009->Ch0768->Section%2021#0768.21">Section 768.21 Florida Statutes. The Estate of the person that died...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com 2009->Ch0768->Section%2016#0768.16">Florida Wrongful Death Act. Under the Florida statute, when a person dies as a result of someone else's negligence, the pain and suffering of the person involved in the fatal accident is not recoverable. Instead, the Wrongful Death Statute creates a claim on behalf of the Estate of the person that died and the person's survivors. The damages recoverable are described in Section 768.21 Florida Statutes. The Estate of the person that died is entitled to damages for the economic losses of the Estate. Those losses include funeral expenses, medical bills caused by the death, and the amount of net income the decedent would have saved over his or her lifetime. Certain survivors of the person involved in the fatal accident are also entitled to damages. For example, a surviving spouse may recover for loss of the decedent's companionship and protection and for mental pain and suffering. Minor children of the decedent, and all children of the decedent if there is no surviving spouse, may recover for lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance and for mental pain and suffering. If the decedent was an adult without children or a spouse, then each parent of the adult child may recover for mental pain and suffering. If the decedent was a minor that was not married, the parents also may recover for mental pain and suffering. Not all of the above damages are available in every case. Therefore, a Florida wrongful death lawyer will interview the family and friends of the person that died. The attorney will then compare the information obtained from the interviews with the damages allowed under the wrongful death statute to determine what damages are recoverable in a particular case. ]]> tag:www.TampaInjuryLawBlog.com,2009://31.11438 2009-12-22T15:28:35Z 2009-12-22T16:32:03Z

$27 billion of the federal economic stimulus package has been set aside for Highway construction. Large states like Florida will get their fare share. There is no doubt the money will fund a much needed increase in new roads as well as repairs to old ones. Unfortunately, The Federal Highway Administration has predicted the increase in Highway construction will also cause an increase in work zone related driver personal injuries and death. According to an article written by Mike McIntire and published in the New York Times, many of these work zone car accidents, motorcycle accidents, and truck accidents might...

Scott Distasio http://www.DistasioLawFirm.com the New York Times, many of these work zone car accidents, motorcycle accidents, and truck accidents might have been avoided if better safety measures were utilized by the construction companies involved. The article does an excellent job of detailing the various types of hazards that pose a risk to drivers including failures to deploy warning signs, improper traffic lane markings, barriers placed in the wrong position, and drop offs between lanes. It also describes a lack of Uniform National Safety Standards that would definitely save lives if they were put into place. Personal injury lawsuits brought in the wake of highway and roadway work zone tragedies hold wrongdoers accountable, clarify the cause of the accidents, and compensate victims. They also play a role in encouraging contractors to implement safety measures so they can avoid personal injury lawsuits in the future. ]]>