Florida Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

It is a very heart wrenching moment when you have to face placing one of your elderly parents in a nursing home. You hear the horror stories, but you want to believe that after you’ve done your homework and researched all of the facilities in your local area, that once your loved one is settled into the nursing home, they will be well cared for. Unfortunately, it is a sad fact that this is not always what happens, as we see here in this Florida nursing home negligence case.

This husband and wife had been living in an apartment in the assisted living portion of this well-known nursing facility in Boca Raton, Florida for some time. However, as time went on, the husband began suffering from Alzheimer’s dementia and would wander. He was also legally blind. When the decline in his cognitive abilities became quite evident to both his family and the medical staff, it was mutually decided that the husband should be moved to a higher level of care within the facility, with the wife to stay in the apartment in the assisted living section. He was allowed to visit his wife’s apartment when attended on these trips by a nursing home attendant.

However, on several occasions, he was found wandering aimlessly around the facility and would state “I got lost”, or would wander to his wife’s apartment without assistance. Several times the medical records from the nursing facility stated that he had “periods of confusion”and “wanders at times”. Because of this wandering propensity, this gentleman wore a bracelet that was connected to an alarm system within the facility.

One January evening, the couples’ daughter took them out to dinner at an area restaurant. Because the next day was her mother’s birthday, the daughter asked her mother to stay with her for the evening at her home in Tequesta, Florida. Before they left for the evening, they left voice mail messages for the head of the nursing home’s medical unit and the director of nursing, and told them that she would be away and that her husband should not visit their apartment. In addition, they also placed a note on her husband’s room in the medical unit to this effect. In spite of all this, there were security people and other nursing home employees that had seen her husband walking outside the medical unit later on that particular evening.

The next evening while the wife was still at their daughter’s home, the husband had dinner in his room at approximately 6:00 p.m. At approximately 8:00 p.m. his room was checked and he was not in his room. The records reflect that at this time, the staff started a search throughout the facility, including the apartments, parking lots, and outside the facility, but were unsuccessful in locating the patient. It was later learned that the alarm system which connected to the patient’s bracelet had not been working at the time.

Continue reading " Elderly Patient Leaves Nursing Home in Boca Raton Unattended and Dies " »

Posted by Schuler, Halvorson & Weisser | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Nursing Home Litigation

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Very often, a truck accident involving a large truck and a smaller vehicle can have very tragic results since a large truck can weigh more than 80,000 pounds and can be up to 75 feet in length. So, it is not surprising that truck accidents result in more serious injuries and a higher number of deaths than other traffic accidents.

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) compiles data about truck accidents, and statistics show that twelve percent of all traffic fatalities in the United States are due to truck accidents. Tractor trailer truck accidents are the most dangerous, and studies show that 98% of the time, the passengers or driver in the other vehicle are killed as opposed to the occupants of the truck.

The victim in this case was a 30 year old husband and father of two young sons, both less than three years old at the time of this accident.

While working to support his family, this victim was driving a truck on Interstate 10 in Madison County, Florida, when all of a sudden, a Mack truck carelessly and negligently attempted to make an unauthorized U-turn from the emergency shoulder across the eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 immediately in front our driver. This caused the Mack truck to collide with the motor vehicle being driven by the victim, causing the victim’s truck to become engulfed in fire, resulting in the death of this young father as he burned alive. The passenger in our victim’s truck was able to escape the fire, but unfortunately, he was not able to pull the driver to safety.

The family of the victim in this Florida truck accident case contacted Attorney Richard D. Schuler to assist them in their case against the driver of the Mack truck and the company that owned the Mack truck for the inexcusable neglect of its driver in attempting to make to make a U-turn under a bridge of a major throughway.

Mr. Schuler also pursued a claim against the company that employed the victim in this case because at the time of this accident, the victim was within the course and scope of his employment. The company did not carry workers’ compensation coverage for the benefit of its employees, in accordance with Florida Statute Section 440.02(16), subject to the provisions of Chapter 440, Florida Statutes. Since the company employed more than three (3) employees, all of which were non-exempt employees pursuant to the compliance requirements of Florida Statute Section 440.05, this company had a duty to secure workers’ compensation coverage for the benefit of its employees.

This was a very sad case since, of course, the wife and mother in this case has had to endure losing the comfort and companionship of her husband and best friend, and will have to raise their two sons on her own with the help of the children’s grandfather. The two little boys will never know their father, and will never have his guidance and companionship during their lifetimes. He will not be there to play ball or attend any of their sporting events, or to participate in any of the many activities young boys enjoy doing with their father. And they will all have to live with the memory of the horrible nature of his death for the rest of their lives.

With extensive investigation and discovery, Mr. Schuler was successful in obtaining a $3,000,000.00 settlement in this case for the family of this young father.

Posted by Schuler, Halvorson & Weisser | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Truck Accidents

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You would never expect to go to an amusement center with your friends to have some fun one evening and end up with excruciating neck, back and abdominal pain after riding a virtual reality roller coaster. But that’s exactly what happened to this 27 year old single mom.

This victim and her girlfriend decided to try the virtual reality roller coaster and asked the attendant if it would be a problem for the friend to ride, as she was pregnant. The attendant said it would not be a problem, so the two climbed in to the virtual reality roller coaster and the attendant strapped them in for the ride.

Shortly after the ride started, the victim in this Florida premises liability/product liability case noticed that something was wrong and started screaming for the attendant to stop the ride. Unfortunately, the attendant did not hear her and the ride continued until its conclusion. During the ride, as the machine was turning upside down and twisting in all different directions, her shoulder harness malfunctioned and came loose, she was thrown about the ride and suffered severe injuries.

Immediately after getting off the ride, the victim made a complaint to the attendant and then to the management because she was in a lot of pain. However, she was not even taken seriously enough for the management to write a report regarding the incident.

The first thing the following morning, this victim went to the emergency room because she was in a tremendous amount of pain and the pain was not subsiding. She was treated and released from the hospital, still in a lot of pain. But, since she had no insurance, she was unable to treat with a physician as needed at that time.

Continue reading " An Evening at an Amusement Center in Lake Worth, Florida Results in Tragic Consequences " »

Posted by Schuler, Halvorson & Weisser | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Premises Liability Litigation

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What a devastating feeling it must be to go in to the hospital for a fairly routine surgery, and when all is said and done, you end up having one of your arms amputated above the elbow because of medical negligence.

The victim in this case, a 71 year old mother and grandmother, went into the hospital to have an endarterectomy on the left side, which began at approximately 7:00 a.m. and was in surgery for approximately two and a half hours. At approximately 9:30 p.m. that evening, she complained of numbness in her left arm and hand, difficulty moving her fingers and a note in the medical records indicated that the A-Line in her left wrist was related to her increased numbness, as well as the forearm IV, and both were discontinued at 9:45 p.m.

At 1:00 a.m. there was a request for consultation regarding high blood pressure, but the patient also complained of left arm pain, weakness and numbness since 10:30 p.m. last night, which she attributed to a painful A-Line. At that time, it was noted that she had neurological weakness in her left grip, wrist, biceps, and decreased sensation. She complained that her arm was still numb and had not changed at 1:45 a.m., 3:10 a.m., and 4:10 a.m. At 6:00 a.m., the nurses noted edema, red blotching of the left arm, and swelling. Her doctors were notified. At 7:30 a.m., she had numbness in her mid-forearm, and her left arm was noticed to be swollen and it was mottled. She was unable to move her left hand or wrist and areas all along the length of the arm were mottled with a line of demarcation being on her upper arm above her elbow.

By 8:00 a.m. that morning, the operating surgeon came in to see the patient and immediately called a neurosurgeon regarding her left hand and arm. At this time, the patient’s arm remained entirely numb. She was unable to move her fingers, hand or wrist. Hematomas were noted where the IV site was located.

When the neurosurgeon arrived at 8:30 a.m., he immediately performed tissue measurement studies, ordered an ultrasound of the left arm and had the patient transported to the operating room by 10:10 a.m. for emergency surgery. During the emergency surgery, it was determined that this patient had compartment bleed with nerve compression, increased fluid throughout the forearm, dead tissue so extensive that she required three operative procedures on her arm and she ultimately had to be transferred to another hospital for hyperbaric care with prognosis for her left arm as “poor”.

A review of the medical records in this case determined that there was negligence in both the administration of the IV medication in the hand, particularly after the patient complained of excruciating pain upon entry, and then by the failure to recognize, in a timely way, that problems were developing with compartment syndrome for nearly 12 hours after the initial complaints were made. As a result of this neglect, this lady had to suffer excruciating pain, literally watching her own arm be carved down to tendons and bone, and then had to endure the ultimate pain of having that arm surgically removed above the elbow as a result of significant muscle and tissue death rising all the way up to a point almost midway between her elbow and shoulder.

Continue reading " Surgery for Blocked Artery in West Palm Beach, Florida Causes Loss of Arm " »

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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A Florida medical malpractice claim arises when there is an allegation that negligent medical treatment resulted in an injury or death. This negligent treatment could have been provided by a physician, surgeon, hospital or clinic.

Medical malpractice claims have become some of the most difficult cases for Plaintiff’s attorneys to undertake. Contrary to what most people think, multi-million dollar verdicts in these cases are not as prevalent as believed. Not only is the investigatory process expensive due to all of the medical records that need to be compiled and all of the expert witness testimony required, but more often than not, it takes years to get one of these cases to trial. Finally, once the case gets to trial, juries are many times very reluctant to award large damage amounts because they have heard all the erroneous stories about the huge jury awards in some cases.

Statistics in seven states from 2000-2004 show that most medical malpractice claims were closed without any compensation provided to those claiming a medical injury. For closed medical malpractice insurance claims that resulted in compensation for the injured party, fewer than 10% of the claims in Florida, Maine, Missouri and Nevada had a payout of $1,000,000.00 or more.

For persons receiving compensation, insurance payouts were highest for the persons who suffered lifelong major or grave permanent injuries and lowest for those who suffered temporary or emotional injuries. In Florida and Missouri, median range payouts from $278,000.00 to $350,000.00 were received by claimants with major or grave permanent injuries, in comparison to payouts ranging from $5,000.00 to $79,000.00 for the claimants with various types of temporary or emotional injuries. Most medical malpractice insurance claims were closed without a payout to the person seeking compensation for the alleged medical injury.

Studies have shown that between 44,000 to 98,000 Americans die in hospitals each year due to medical errors that were preventable. And the estimation of annual costs for medical errors which result in injury is between $17 billion and $29 billion each year, with half of that figure being represented by health care costs.

One study found that 51.7% of emergency room related malpractice lawsuits involved the following words: misdiagnose, delayed diagnosis, or failure to diagnose.

Continue reading " The Myth of Huge Medical Malpractice Payouts " »

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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Slip and fall accidents can leave elderly victims with a debilitating injury, or even cause their death. There are estimated to be 9 million slip-fall accidents per year in North America.

The elderly victim in this case was a 79 year old married woman who, prior to this horrific accident, was an active adult who enjoyed golfing, swimming and leisurely walks.

One April morning, this lady was walking to the parking lot of the condominium building where she resides. She was proceeding down a freshly painted ramp, leaving from the elevator landing to the parking lot when she slipped on the slick surface ultimately shattering her left leg. It had rained earlier that morning and the ramp had been painted two days prior to the incident. It had been determined that the maintenance individuals who painted the ramp failed to use the needed abrasive additive to prevent the slick surface and this surface was not up to code. Additionally, there were no handrails on either side of the ramp.

As a result of this Florida premises liability accident, this victim was rushed to the emergency room of a nearby hospital where a physician performed an open reduction and fixation of the left femur to include supracondylar hardware and screws with substantial bone graphing. She remained in the hospital under observation for approximately 10 days and was discharged with instructions to undergo physical therapy and to be non-weight bearing during her period of rehabilitation. During the physical therapy and rehabilitation, she required the use of a wheel chair or crutches at all times.

In addition to the fracture to her left femur, this victim also received an injury to her left knee, and due to this knee injury, she was required to undergo a total knee arthroplasty, femoral osteotomy and removal of previous supracondylar hardware. Needless to say, after the most recent procedure she was required to continue her physical therapy and rehabilitation.

Very shortly after this Florida premises liability accident, apparently aware of the negligent error that had been made, the maintenance workers promptly cordoned off the ramp and repainted the surface to include the code compliant abrasive additive and paint texture. Had the ramp surface been painted to code to begin with and handrails provided, this terrible accident would not have occurred and this lady would have continued to be able to enjoy her routine activities, but now may never be able to participate in these activities again.

This injured victim contacted Attorney Richard D. Schuler and requested his assistance in representing her against this condominium and the management company for this facility. Shortly before the trial of this matter was to begin, Mr. Schuler was successful in reaching a settlement in this case with the defendants for $235,000.00.

Posted by Schuler, Halvorson & Weisser | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Premises Liability Litigation

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