Florida Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Ana and Rodolfo Santana were brought to tears Friday, September 9th when a Palm Beach County jury awarded them 4.5 million dollars, half of what the family was asking for, to provide medical care for the duration of their son's life. Bryan Santana's life expectancy is a healthy 70 years old, and the funds awarded will ensure that he is cared for in the duration of his life and will cover prosthetic limbs.

“The money awarded to the Santana family will help Bryan live a normal life,” Weisser said. “Properly read sonograms would have clearly shown that Bryan was going to be born without three limbs - the doctors responsible were clearly negligent and blatantly misread ultrasounds.” Doctors should be held accountable for their actions, especially when the livelihoods of regular families in Florida are being harmed.

The Santana family chose not to ask money for pain and suffering, instead stating the money is solely for Bryan. “We are happy knowing that our son will live a more normal life, thanks to the funds awarded by the jury in the suit,” Ana Santana stated.

After careful review of the Santana family's details, Jason Weisser decided to take on the case to bring justice to innocent families harmed by negligent doctors. Recently being awarded Best Medical Malpractice Attorney in the State of Florida, Weisser is an experienced attorney properly prepared to defend the people in the courtroom.

Continue reading "Family Awarded 4.5 Million After Baby is Born Disconfigured" »

Medical malpractice cases have now become some of the most difficult cases for attorneys to undertake. While the attorney would like to be able to assist the potential client in obtaining some financial assistance for their pain and suffering and especially for the past, present and future medical care, the case must be a very clear cut case of medical malpractice because insurance companies, hospitals and doctors fight these cases with all of the resources available to them.

In this particular case, while working in his kitchen at home on a Saturday, this 60 year old gentleman suddenly began to have lines going through his left eye, and then just as suddenly, they went away, leaving him with somewhat blurred vision. With no recent trauma or strenuous activity to explain this strange occurrence, he called and made an appointment with his ophthalmologist for the following Monday.

Upon examination of this gentleman’s left eye, the ophthalmologist informed him that he had a detached retina and his office set an appointment for the patient to go directly to a retinal specialist that same day. The retinal specialist examined the patient and performed laser surgery on his left eye that very afternoon. Two days later, it seemed as if a veil had come down over his left eye and he completely lost his vision. The retinal specialist scheduled this gentleman for surgery for a retinal detachment. This surgery went very well and he recovered his vision in his left eye.

At the follow-up visits for the left eye surgery, the specialist suggested a “little surgery” for this patient’s right eye and it was soon scheduled because the patient was under the impression that this was a very routine procedure. The physician never discussed with this patient the possible complications that could come from this surgery.

Unfortunately, the surgery on the right eye did not go well and the patient was told to return the following morning. At that time, his right eye was drained with two needles sticking out of his eye. The patient was to return to the retina specialist the following afternoon and at that time the physician examined his right eye and informed him that he had a cataract in his eye and that was the reason he could not see yet. He also was informed that he had a retinal detachment from the macular and would need surgery once again.

Surgery was performed on this gentleman’s right eye and a bubble was placed in his eye at that time, along with a buckle. The patient was instructed to stay in a face down position for at least 20 hours a day and had to rent a face down chair for assistance in keeping this position as instructed. Follow-up visits continued with this specialist once or twice and week and on many visits he would perform laser surgery on this patient’s right eye.

A few months later during a follow-up visit, the patient was informed that he would need a different procedure to his right eye. This time, the physician would put oil in his eye to try to keep the retina attached. He also removed the lens in the patient’s right eye during this procedure. This was the third surgery to this gentleman’s right eye in three months.
After this latest surgery, the patient was still unable to see out of his right eye and had continued with countless follow-up appointments with this retinal specialist. On some of the visits he would receive additional laser treatments to his right eye.

Continue reading "Eye Surgery in West Palm Beach, Florida Causes Partial Blindness" »

We all experience depression in our lives occasionally. It can be from the loss of a job, a serious illness, the death of a loved one, or for other various reasons. Usually, we are able to adjust and return to our normal daily routines. However, sometimes feelings of depression seem overwhelming and continue in intensity. Extended periods of depression and sadness sometimes indicate a greater cause than personal circumstances. In times such as this, talking to a professional is important to identify if you are possibly suffering from depression. When this depression is accompanied by suicidal thoughts, other mental illnesses, alcohol or drug abuse, this is especially troubling and can indicate serious illness. A situation such as this demands immediate medical attention. The young woman in this Florida medical malpractice case was a model and just 20 years old when she voluntarily entered a facility for depression and anxiety and for psychosocial assessment. The victim had stated upon entering the facility that she felt helpless and hopeless and did not want to live. The victim also admitted to a poor appetite, difficulty sleeping, and feeling anxious. She further stated that she heard voices and had become increasingly depressed to the point where she had not gone to work, had slept all day, and complained of poor energy and poor appetite. While in the facility, the victim would cry hysterically saying she wanted to go home. The nurses stated that the victim’s affect was flat, tearful, feeling hopeless, saying that she doesn’t want to live. She attended no group meetings and remained isolated in her room except for meals. In spite of all of the above telling signs, the treating psychiatrist, who saw her for less than 10 minutes, stated that she did not meet the criteria for involuntary commitment (“a danger to herself or others”) and decided to discharge her after only 24 hours in the treatment facility, with an appointment to return for a follow-up visit with this psychiatrist in one week. Tragically, the following week, after multiple attempts to reach the psychiatrist (who was on vacation), fire rescue was summoned to the home of this young victim because she had sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and was unresponsive. She was trauma hawked to the closest trauma center, but was pronounced dead upon arrival. The family of this young woman contacted Attorney Richard D. Schuler for assistance in bringing a lawsuit against the treatment facility and the treating psychiatrist involved for failing to recognize the obvious signs and symptoms of expressed and implied suicidal tendencies, helplessness, hopelessness, and the wish to die, and for failing to convert her voluntary admission to an involuntary placement, as well as patient abandonment.

The couple in this Florida medical malpractice case had been happily married for almost 23 years. She was a hairdresser who was very active and athletic and had just been certified as a personal trainer. He worked for an aerospace firm in Delray Beach, Florida and life was good.

Our victim in this case was only 48 years old and had a heart valve problem that had been watched over the years. She had been told that someday she would have to have something done about it.

One morning over the weekend she noted she woke up short of breath with wheezing. She would have to sit up to feel better. She stated she did not have any chest pain or
lightheadedness. The first of the week she went in to see her cardiologist and it was his feeling that she experienced these complaints over the weekend due to salt and volume overload which was all secondary to significant underlying valve or heart disease. He felt that she was more likely than not approaching the need for valve replacement surgery and scheduled her for an echocardiogram as soon as possible.

After the echocardiogram was done, the results showed that she was in need of a cardiac catheterization, which was also done, and showed that she had mitral valve and aortic valve problems, along with two coronary arteries that needed to be bypassed.

Continue reading "Cardiac Surgery in Palm Beach County, Florida Causes Death of " »

According to statistics, between 44,000 to 98,000 Americans die in hospitals each year due to preventable medical errors.

The victim in this medical negligence case was a young 39 year old mother of three children who went to the emergency room of a hospital in Cape Coral, Florida after fever for two days, with her highest temperature being 104 degrees. She also had diarrhea, nausea without vomiting, and abdominal cramps in the bilateral mid to lower abdomen. She also complained of a painful lump on the left side of her neck that had come up over the past two weeks but had become painful in the last couple of days.

After examination and some minor testing, she was given prescriptions for Bactrim for infection and Paregoric for the diarrhea and advised to take Ibuprofen and to follow-up with her primary physician the following morning. It should be noted that some blood work had been ordered and then canceled, no EKG was ordered and no chest x-ray or abdominal x-rays were ordered.

The next morning, her husband stated that she did not rest well, she had chills and her temperature was 96.8. Her husband then called the emergency room, spoke with one of the nurses on duty and informed her of the events of the previous evening and that her temperature went from 104 to 96.8 within 10 hours. The nurse stated that he did not need to bring her back in to the emergency room because the temperature drop was just an effect of this medication.

Next the victim attempted to make an appointment with her primary care physician and was informed that she could not get in to see him for three days. Her husband then attempted to get an appointment for her to see his physician, but they could not see her for two days. The victim also tried to make an appointment with a third physician to no avail. The husband confirmed that he told these individuals on the phone that the victim had been to the hospital, the prescriptions she had been given and the symptoms she had. Still, no one was able to see her on that day.

About six o’clock that evening, because they could not get in to see a physician and she was steadily getting worse, her husband once again took her to the emergency room. The nurses attempted to take her blood pressure three times in triage and were unable to get a blood pressure reading. After the third time, she was taken back into a room immediately, a series of x-rays were taken, she was given antibiotics intravenously and a CAT scan of her abdomen was performed. After obtaining the results of the CAT scan, one of the emergency room physicians informed them that she would either be taken for surgery or placed in ICU for observation.

Continue reading "In Cape Coral, Florida, Young Mother of Three Dies Due to Medical Negligence" »

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" »

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 " »

Head injuries are categorized as: (1) external, which are usually just scalp injuries, and (2) internal, involving the skull, the blood vessels within the skull, and/or the brain. An internal head injury could have far more serious consequences even though the skull is there to protect the brain. In fact, any internal head injury could be serious and potentially life threatening.

Each level of injury requires a different level of concern and since it can be difficult to determine the level of injury, you should consult and discuss the head injury with a physician. We all trust that our physicians and medical facilities will render adequate care to assure that our loved ones are cared for in the best possible manner. Unfortunately, sometimes that is not always the case.

One evening, a young 17 year old boy fell from his bicycle hitting his head on the pavement. Early the following morning, he was taken to the hospital emergency room complaining of severe headaches, so severe he was unable to sleep during the night. He was not vomiting, no complaints of numbness or weakness, but he had a large hematoma and a laceration on the left temple area of his head. He was examined and a CT scan of the head was done, which was noted as being negative and he was discharged with pain medication. Since this was on a weekend, he was told to follow up with a neurologist on Tuesday.

The following evening, the boy’s mother took him to another hospital emergency room because he had been complaining of headaches for three days, he was spitting up blood, and the pain medication he had been given previously was not working, he wanted something stronger. The medical records note that he had been injured 72 hours prior and was now complaining of a frontal headache, nausea, weakness, and lightheadedness. The location of the pain was midfrontal forehead and the quality of the pain is pounding intense headache. Severity is severe. The differential diagnoses pending results of another CT scan of the brain were: (1) Intracranial hemorrhage vs. (1) Contusion and abrasion of the forehead. He was given Percocet and Vicodin Extra Strength for pain and discharged with instructions to see his own doctor on Monday.

Shortly after he was released, the CT scan of the brain was re-read as having a fracture of the frontal bone extending into the frontal sinus cavity with fluid density and with a fracture line extending into the inner table. No follow up was done to contact this young boy or his family to request that he return to the hospital immediately.

Continue reading "Inadequate Medical Care Causes Death of 17 Year Old in Delray Beach, Florida" »

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a blood clot in a deep vein, usually in the legs. Blood clots in deep veins require immediate medical care. These clots are dangerous because they can break loose, travel through the bloodstream to the lungs, and block blood flow in the lungs (pulmonary embolism). A pulmonary embolism is often life-threatening.

This 43 year old father of four was pressure cleaning a friend’s home when he fell off the roof, breaking his left leg. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance and prior to performing the surgery on his leg, it was discovered that he had some heart problems, and therefore, a cardiac catheterization was done showing stenosis in several of his coronary arteries. He was transported to another hospital where stents were placed in these affected coronary arteries. At some time during his stay at this second hospital, it was discovered that he had a cardiac arrhythmia and postoperatively, after the stent placement he was placed on Coumadin, a blood thinner. Shortly thereafter, his left leg was surgically repaired by an orthopedic surgeon and placed in an external fixator device.

During his hospitalization he complained of both legs feeling “funny”, his left foot was cold, and he also complained of his right foot being cold. No one seemed to pay any attention to the complaints that he had of his right foot, nor did they pay much attention to the fact that his left leg continued to be very painful.

Prior to being discharged from the hospital, he was taken off the Coumadin and placed on one aspirin a day by his cardiologist. Astonishingly, he was never placed on prophylactic anti-coagulation therapy.

At home he received visits from a nurse to check and clean the external fixator and he also had a physical therapist. At one point the physical therapist actually faxed the orthopedic surgeon to ask if this patient was a “thrombo risk”, and evidently received no response, according to the medical records. This patient made several calls to the orthopedic surgeon’s office requesting stronger pain medication and shortly before his death was taking a total of 30 mg. per dosage of Oxycodone.

According to the wife, the pain in this man’s left leg became unbearable and she took him to see the orthopedic surgeon. At this time an x-ray was taken and the surgeon’s partner said the leg looked fine, maybe he had gout. The surgeon attempted to draw some fluid from the ankle area, but there was nothing there. The patient was sent home, still with no anti-coagulation medication.

Continue reading "Father of Four Dies from Pulmonary Embolism in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida" »