- Mike Damaso | October 31, 2007 4:14 PM |
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MiscellaneousThere was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal October 24, 2007, titled "Trouble at Sea: Free Agent Doctors". Essentially, the article points out that cruise companies are not being held responsible for negligent medical care aboard their ships. Although cruise ship doctors wear a crew member uniform, render medical care on the ship, and use equipment on the ship, cruise companies...
- Sandy Grinnell | October 30, 2007 6:06 AM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsThe Consumer Products Safety Commission issued a notice on Friday that Simplicity, Inc. of Reading, PA has a repair kit for the cribs that were recalled September 21, 2007 because of faulty drop-sides. The repair kit should only be used on older model Simplicity or Graco cribs with the faulty mounting brackets. The original recall was made due to a defective mechanism that allowed the side to...
- Ed Normand | October 29, 2007 8:26 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsSaturday at 6 PM a vehicle travelling on Aloma Avenue in Winter Park crossed two lanes of traffic and struck a tree. The sole occupant of the vehicle died in the auto accident. The driver was transported to Winter Park Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Once again we are reminded to be careful in driving even in our own neighborhood roads.For more information on this subject, please...
- Ed Normand | October 29, 2007 8:06 PM |
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MiscellaneousHalloween can be fun but it can also be dangerous. There are many precautions you can take to avoid personal injury on Halloween. The Consumer Products Safety Commission has information on all aspects of making your Halloween a safe one. Some of the more important tips include:All costumes should be flame resistant, reflective or brightly colored. Kids should carry flashlights or glow...
- Diego Madrigal | October 28, 2007 4:10 PM |
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MiscellaneousA Tampa school was ordered to pay $4 million by a jury as the result of a young man having his arm broken by a bully during a football game. The jury found that the private Hillel School in Tampa should have provided better supervision for Danny Heidenberg. Danny had his arm broken in a football game in early 2004 and suffered permanent damage. He likely will not be able to become a surgeon...
- Patricia Doherty | October 27, 2007 4:45 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeThousands of Americans lose their lives each year because of medication errors. Some hospitals are trying to prevent medical neglect in the administration of medications through electronic verification systems. With this system a patient wears a bar-coded armband. The nurse scans the patient's armband before giving a medication and pulls up the patient's records to verify the medications. The...
- Mike Damaso | October 26, 2007 11:07 AM |
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MiscellaneousNot even 30 days ago we posted a blog regarding an incident in which a sixth grade student was killed when he was struck by an SUV as he was leaving his school bus stop. Tragically, another student in Central Florida was struck by a pick-up truck on her way to her school bus stop. The Orlando Sentinel reports that just before 7:00 a.m. on October 25, 2007, a 13 year old Mascotte girl was...
- Sandy Grinnell | October 25, 2007 4:30 PM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsThe Consumer Products Safety Commission has issued an immediate, voluntary recall of booster chairs manufactured by Bumbo International and sold at Target, Walmart, Sears, Toys R Us, Babies R Us and other retailers. The Bumbo "Baby Sitter" booster seat is a foam seat with holes for the legs and a seatback. It comes in yellow, bue, purple, pink, aqua, and lime green. Although the seat has a...
- Mike Damaso | October 24, 2007 10:01 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsThe Tampa Tribune reported that 37 vehicles and 100 people were involved in a series of auto accidents that occurred on Interstate 4 Tuesday night. The crashes began just before 7 p.m. when one car hit the brakes and other cars started crashing into him. Then, everyone else started colliding into each other, one motorist described. In total, there were four incidents involving collisions...
- Sandy Grinnell | October 24, 2007 10:55 AM |
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MiscellaneousUpon the heals of subpoenas from insurance regulators for documents supporting 28.3 and 41.9 percent rate hikes, Allstate is sending notices to 100,000 more homeowners that there policies will not be renewed. The policy holders are being referred to Royal Palm of Volusia County for their homeowners coverage. Governor Crist has been reported as calling the insurance companies "tenacious and...
- Sandy Grinnell | October 23, 2007 5:07 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsTwo Amish families returning from a church function lost 5 family members in a terrible auto accident on I-69 near Muncie Indiana. Eleven other family members were injured and transported by helicopter to local hospitals. The 15-passenger van rolled over at least four times and because of a hole in one of the tires, police think the accident may have been due to a blown out tire. Even...
- Patricia Doherty | October 22, 2007 4:25 PM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsIt's time to get your flu shot. Flu season starts in October and comes to a peak in January and February. Once you receive your flu shot it takes two weeks from the time of the vaccination to obtain protection from the influenza virus. So, the sooner you get your flu shot, the sooner you will be protected. Some physicians think that if you don't get vaccinated for the flu by November then its...
- Patricia Doherty | October 22, 2007 12:28 PM |
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MiscellaneousThree people who alleged they were raped while being held in the Alachua County Jail settled their civil lawsuit against the Alachua County Sheriff's Dept. The case was settled in late August for $1.25 million dollars. The vicitms reported they were raped in 2003 by another inmate while they were housed in jail. One of the three rape vicitms was a University of Florida student who was in jail...
- Ed Normand | October 21, 2007 3:09 PM |
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Miscellaneous
- Patricia Doherty | October 21, 2007 11:52 AM |
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MiscellaneousFlorida served subpoenas on the state's fourth-largest insurance company as part of Florida's investigation into possible conspiracy among property insurers to keep prices high. The subpoenas order Allstate to produce documents pertaining to its business relationships and practices with trade groups. The subpoenas were served on Allstate and its subsidiary Allstate Floridian Insurance Co. about...
- Ed Normand | October 20, 2007 1:19 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsAn 11 year old boy was injured while riding his bike to Conway Middle School. Witnesses to the car accident believe there was a police chase going on at the time of the crash. For years police car chases have been questioned because they often result in severe injuries to innocent members of the public and are usually not necessary. That may be the case here. It appears that the police...
- Patricia Doherty | October 20, 2007 10:42 AM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsAnother product manufactured in China has caused severe personal injury. We have heard about toys manufactured in China that are dangerous and now a curling iron made in China has permanently injured a hairdresser. The hairstylist filed a lawsuit against a Chinese curling iron company alleging she was electrocuted when the cord on her Helen of Troy commercial quality curling iron dislodged...
- Sandy Grinnell | October 18, 2007 5:01 PM |
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MiscellaneousA panic-striken mother of three watched as passers-by tried to save her three children from the murky waters of a pond on I-4. Her van left the highway and flipped into the water leaving her three children trapped in the sunken vehicle. The rescuers, who were being called heroes, were two Disney employees, a timeshare salesman and Wal-Mart employee on his way to his second job. All of them...
- Diego Madrigal | October 17, 2007 9:47 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsA child riding his bike to Conway Middle School was hit when the momentum from an auto collision carried two cars into his path. Apparently one of the cars was speeding as it traveled North on Dixie Belle Drive. That car ran the red light on Lake Margaret Drive, and collided with another vehicle in the intersection. The momentum from the car crash carried one of the cars onto the sidewalk...
- Sandy Grinnell | October 12, 2007 3:45 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsMariah Hutchinson and Joshua Cosme are heroes at Celebration High School today. They saved their bus from going off the ramp to I-4 when the bus driver had what appeared to be a heart attack. When the bus driver fell over, the bus drifted off the road and bounced off the guard rail several times. Hutchinson managed to grab the wheel to steer the bus while Cosme pulled the emergency break,...
- Mike Damaso | October 12, 2007 10:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousThere was an article in Florida Trend last year concerning medical spa mishaps. The article reports that there has been a sudden increase in the number of mishaps at medical spas around the country. This should alert consumers to the potential dangers of undergoing a cosmetic procedure in one of these spas. The article reports one particular incident in which a 24 year old woman in Palm Beach...
- Sandy Grinnell | October 10, 2007 5:30 PM |
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MiscellaneousTwo children with cochlear implants, ages 9 and 11, have died from meningitis, and one of them appears to have died from the serotype Streptococcus pneumoniae which is preventable with a complete vaccination. It has been well-known by the medical community that children with cochlear implants are at a greater risk of contracting bacterial meningitis from Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. And...
- Sandy Grinnell | October 10, 2007 3:35 PM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsThe CPSC reported yesterday that Starbucks is recalling approximately 250,000 animal shaped drinking cups. The cups come in the shape of a lady bug, green turtle, pink bunny, or a yellow chick and were sold from May 2006 through August 2007. If the cups are dropped, the faces of the animals can break off leaving exposed sharp edges or small, sharp loose pieces that can be swallowed. Two...
- Sandy Grinnell | October 08, 2007 4:04 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsThe Florida Turnpike was shut down near Clermont last Wednesday evening due a massive tractor trailer accident. The driver of a tractor-trailer that was headed north skidded out of control on the wet pavement and crossed the median. The center guardrail was no match for the semi as it veered into oncoming south-bound traffic. The second tractor-trailer driver tried to miss the other semi...
- Sandy Grinnell | October 08, 2007 5:18 AM |
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MiscellaneousA work truck hauling a trailer with a cleaning product with chlorine and two cars crashed on the Florida Turnpike at about 12:20 on Sunday. The cleaning solution in the trailer caught fire and destroyed the work truck and the two cars. The burning vehicles then caused an additional 11-car accident which shut down the northbound lanes for hours. FHP shut down the southbound lanes as well for a...
- Diego Madrigal | October 06, 2007 9:27 AM |
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MiscellaneousA recent bill passed in the legislature that was designed to help consumers, actually could have scared away many retailers from offering coupons and RUINED CHRISTMAS. The original bill was intended to forbid expiration dates on gift certificates and gift cards so that consumers would actually receive what they paid for. However, Disney hired 14 lobbyists (at a cost of $40,000-$90,000) to get...
- Ed Normand | October 05, 2007 1:41 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsA deal has been reached in the Florida Legislature on Personal Injury Protection Insurance/No Fault (PIP). The old no fault law had been around for about four decades. It expired October 1. Governor Crist put it on the agenda for the current special legislative session. Much to the chagrin of the Auto Insurance Industry a bill reinstating PIP has passed. The bill has the approval of ...
- Patricia Doherty | October 05, 2007 5:39 AM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsThe parents of a 15 year old girl sued Wal-Mart alleging their daughter contracted an e-coli infection from frozen hamburger patties they bought at a WalMart. The young girl was hospitalized for about 3 weeks suffering from pain, fatigue, diarrhea and dehydration. She almost died from eating the tainted beef distributed by Topps Meat. The Miami Herald reports that the U.S. Dept. of...
- Diego Madrigal | October 04, 2007 2:28 PM |
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MiscellaneousA proposed class action settlement would pay each member of the class less than 4 cents. The suit is against the Bayer company, which has agreed with plaintffs' attorneys on a $4.75 million amount. Al though the plaintffs will only get 4 cents, the attorneys are asking for 30% of the total settlement amount. That works out to 1.42 million, or just over $600/hour. The remainder of the money...
- Sandy Grinnell | October 04, 2007 2:03 PM |
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Motorcycle AccidentsIn a letter to Governor Charlie Crist dated October 3, 2007, it has been recommended that the State of Florida rescind its no helmet law. The letter says that the statistics show these no helmet laws are deadly. The Safety Board is concerned about motorcycle safety and the growing number of riders who have been killed or injured in motorcycle crashes. Since 1997, the number of motorcycle...
- Patricia Doherty | October 04, 2007 5:11 AM |
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MiscellaneousFlorida's Office of Insurance Regulation has served subpoenas on two insurance companies. State Farm Florida (and its parent corporation) and Cincinnati Insurance and Cincinnati Indemnity (subsidiaries of Cincinnati Financial Corp.). According to the Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner, the agency wants to find out if the insurance companies improperly worked with financial rating firms,...
- Mike Damaso | October 02, 2007 6:38 PM |
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Wrongful DeathMonday afternoon a sixth grade student was struck by a sport utility vehicle and killed after exiting a school bus. The bus stopped to let the children off on a busy road in Osceola County. The boy crossed the the street. Then, as the bus pulled away the student tried to run back to the other side. This is when he was struck by a Range Rover SUV. The newspaper article in the Orlando...
- Patricia Doherty | October 02, 2007 2:51 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeThe US Supreme Court announced it will decide a case regarding whether federal regulation of pharmaceutical companies preempts state law. The case the Court will decide arises from a products liaiblity lawsuit against Pfizer's Warner-Lamber unit involving its Rezulin diabetes drug. The FDA ordered Rezzulin off the market in March 2000 because it was linked to hundreds of deaths and cases of...