Florida Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

The victim in this Florida automobile accident suffered serious and permanent injuries as he was stopped for a traffic signal on Alternate A1A in Palm Beach Gardens. Suddenly, and without warning, a bus being operated by a careless and inattentive driver plowed into the rear of his vehicle. Fortunately, the victim was wearing his seat belt when the accident occurred.

Immediately upon impact, the victim experienced the onset of pain in his neck. Since he could literally see the hospital entrance from the accident scene, he drove himself to the emergency room at Palm Beach Gardens Hospital, where he presented with symptoms including pain to the head, headaches, paresthesias around the mouth, arms and neck, along with neck pain. After undergoing a complete physical examination and diagnostic work up (including a CT scan of the head and spine) the emergency room physician diagnosed neck pain with probable cord compression and released the victim with prescriptions for pain medication, muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatories and instructions to immediately follow up with a physician.

Subsequently, the victim was seen by a neurosurgeon for continued pain in his lower back and neck. Unfortunately, he continued to experience numbness to the left side of his mouth and left hand. In addition, the CT scan revealed a disc herniation at the C4-C5 level. Based on his physical examination and clinical findings, the neurosurgeon immediately ordered MRI’s of the cervical and lumbar spine.

The MRI of the lumbar spine revealed a disc bulge at the L4-5 level as well as an L5-S1 central disc protrusion. More importantly, the cervical MRI revealed the left paramedian annular tear at C6-7, central disc herniations at C2-3, C3-4 and C4-6, and broad based disc herniation with cord impingement and central canal stenosis at C4-5. Needless to say, the victim (who has never experienced any significant neck pain or required medical treatment on his cervical spine in the past) was absolutely devastated by the MRI findings. The neurosurgeon confirmed a diagnosis of mechanical low back and neck pain with cervical radiculopathy and noted a significant increase in the progression of the victim’s neck pain, headaches, and numbness into his right arm and leg. Furthermore, he noted that the victim was in a severe state of inflammation and spasm and recommended continued and aggressive physical therapy and medications.

Approximately one month later, the victim received unfortunate news from his neurosurgeon that would permanently impact him and his family. He confirmed that due to the mechanical neck pain with cervical disc radiculopathy as well as the herniated nucleus pulposus at C4-5 and C5-6, the only form of relief would come though a major open, lengthy and complicated surgery on the cervical spine to correct the defects.

Subsequently, the victim scheduled an appointment with another neurosurgeon for a second opinion and unfortunately, this neurosurgeon confirmed what the victim’s first neurosurgeon had stated, and explained the risks of the procedure, which included death, infection, bleeding, paralysis, transfusion, re-operation and/or chronic pain. Most importantly, he confirmed that there was no guarantee as to the outcome of the surgery.

Continue reading " Auto/Bus Accident in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Results in Permanent and Devastating Injuries " »

The law in Florida attaches a presumption of negligence to the rear driver in a rear-end collision accident. In fact, the governing rule under Florida law is that even a sudden stop by the lead vehicle does not overcome the presumption of negligence on the part of the rear-ending driver.

The victim in this Florida automobile accident case was a 45 year old married father of five children when he sustained very serious and debilitating injuries in a rear-end collision while sitting at a light on an off-ramp from I-95. The other driver in this case stated that he was waiting at the light on the off-ramp with approximately 10-12 vehicles in front of his, including the victim. He indicated that when the light turned green, he started to proceed forward while the victim’s vehicle was directly in front of him. He then indicated he was looking to the left for other vehicles and when he turned back to look forward, he realized the victim’s vehicle was stopping when he saw the brake lights and he then collided with the back of the victim’s vehicle.

The victim in this case felt immediate pain in his neck, shoulders, low back and knees, but he was a very healthy, active individual who never went to doctors and was hoping the pain would resolve on its own, so he did not immediately seek medical attention. After approximately one month of constant pain and increasing discomfort, he decided to visit a chiropractor for some relief. After numerous sessions with the chiropractor, the chiropractor diagnosed him with 3 herniated discs and referred him to an orthopedic physician for further evaluation.

After treating the victim conservatively for several months for his injuries, the orthopedic physician felt that he may need some type of formal open decompression along with discectomy and referred him to an orthopedic surgeon for a second opinion. This orthopedic surgeon sent the victim for additional MRI scans, and noted that he had multi-level disc herniations both of the lumbar spine and the cervical spine. At this point the physician recommended epidural steroid injections and advised the victim that any relief would most probably be temporary in nature.

Unfortunately, the relief the victim received from the injections was temporary and he eventually had to undergo the following procedures: bilateral hemilaminotomies at L2-3, L3-4, L4-5; with total discectomy L2-3, L3-4, L4-5; with posterior lumbar interbody fusion, L2-3, L3-4, L4-5; with Stryker PEEK cages, with segmental pedicle screw fixation with Stryker XIA titanium pedicle screws L2 to 3, L2-L5; with posterior lateral arthrodesis L2 to L5 with C-arm fluoroscopy and evoked potential monitoring; with foraminotomies over the nerve roots. He also required intervention after he developed a severe infection.

Continue reading " Rear-End Accident Results in Severe Pain and Disability for Father of Five in Boca Raton, Florida " »