South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

The mother of a 12-year-old girl who was allegedly bullied by other students at Ramblewood Middle School has filed a Coral Springs personal injury lawsuit on her daughter’s behalf against the Broward County School District. Randi Vanderheyden claims that school officials not only failed to give the adolescent a safe school environment but also, faculty did not take action to stop young Breann from being bullied.

Breann contends that she was verbally abused, targeted with racial slurs, and physically assaulted for months. Her mom complained to the Broward County school superintended but, rather than help the girl, Vanderheyden says the principal blamed her daughter. Breann says that she attempted to kill herself because she couldn’t stand being bullied. Her mother found her in time and took her to a hospital.

The Broward County personal injury complaint claims that Breann suffered as a result of the hate crimes, discrimination, harassment, and bullying. She is now in therapy and continuing her studies through the Internet.

Breann’s family is seeking unspecified damages for psychological injuries, emotional injuries, and ongoing medical bills.

Bullying
Unfortunately, bullying is a problem that continues to plague many students in the US. School officials and teachers know this and it is their responsibility to provide a safe environment and address any allegations of bullying, which can cause severe distress and emotional and psychological injuries to those that are targeted. Florida even has the “Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act,” which mandates that all schools implement an anti-bullying policy. The law is named after a teenager who killed himself because he was constantly bullied and school officials did nothing to stop the incidents from continuing.

MOM SUES OVER SCHOOL BULLYING, South Florida Times, November 16, 2011

Alleged bullying victim files suit against school district, WSVN.com, November 22, 2011

Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act

More Blog Posts:
$1.8M Miami-Dade Wrongful Death Settlement Reached in Coral Gables High School Student’s Fatal Stabbing, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, November 18, 2011

Child Sex Abuse Scandal Rocks Penn State and Leads to Ousting of Legendary State football coach Joe Paterno, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, November 9, 2011

St. Lucie County Personal Injury Lawsuit: Teacher Accused of Florida Sex Abuse, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 4, 2011

A Miami Garden’s woman almost died after someone claiming to be a doctor injected her buttock with a mixture of mineral oil, cement, and Super Glue last year. The concoction was supposed to give the patient a butt lift but instead almost killed her.

The victim went to three hospitals before doctors finally diagnosed the problem. She continues to suffer from health issues and she is receiving home health treatments.

The woman, whose name is being kept confidential due to medical privacy laws, paid someone to do the procedure. She says that she was screaming in pain the whole time and not all of the injections could be administered because of this. Her “doctor,” a person named Oneal Ron Morris, then allegedly closed up her wounds with Super Glue before sending her home.

A day later, the woman was still in pain and feeling sick and she sought medical help. It took visits to three hospitals before a doctor was able to diagnose and treat her condition. Because she was afraid of being charged over the incident, she left the third hospital after staying there for several days. It took a health investigator until March 2011 to find her.

Meantime, Morris proved elusive until yesterday when she was arrested and charged with causing bodily harm and practicing medicine without a license. Investigators believe she is part of a group of scammers in South Florida that offer home buttocks augmentations and “pumping parties.”

Miami-Dade Personal Injury
If you believe that someone’s reckless or negligent acts caused you to get sick or hurt, you may have grounds for a Miami Gardens personal injury case. Medical negligence is also reason for a Miami-Dade medical malpractice complaint.

Unfortunately, Miami plastic surgery malpractice can happen—especially in Florida, where cosmetic procedures are extremely popular. You should be compensated for the harm that you suffered.

'Doctor' accused of injecting cement into woman's buttocks, Palm Beach Post, November 18, 2011

Police say fake doctor injected Fix-A-Flat, OC Register, November 21, 2011

More Blog Posts:
$10.3M Palm Beach Medical Malpractice Award Will Stand, Says the Florida Supreme Court, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, November 11, 2011

Broward County Plastic Surgery Malpractice Lawsuit Filed in Liposuction Patient’s Alleged Florida Wrongful Death from Anesthesia Complications, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 21, 2011

Man to File Lauderhill Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Wife’s Broward County Wrongful Death Following Butt Enhancement Surgery, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, April 29, 2011

Miami Woman Dies After Undergoing Lauderhill Plastic Surgery, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, December 31, 2010

An aspiring model has filed a federal lawsuit in Miami suing the social networking site BlackPlanet.com for Florida personal injury. The plaintiff contends that she was drugged, sexually assaulted, and made into a porn star without her consent by men she met through the Web site. Also named as defendants in the Miami personal injury case are Emerson Callum and Lavont Flanders.

The two men are accused of pretending to be talent scouts to get her and eight other women to audition. The nine of them were given Xanax and alcohol before Callum allegedly raped them. Flanders is accused of shooting video the sexual assaults and selling the footage online as pornography.

The plaintiff, known as Jane Doe 11, says she doesn’t remember being raped and she didn’t even know the video existed until her agent found it. According to her Miami personal injury lawyer, the sex crime wouldn’t have happened if BlackPlanet hadn’t been negligent. Her legal team contends that the social networking site, should have known or knew that it had members who were sexual predators.

The victim is seeking $10 million in Miami injury damages from BlackPlanet, Radio One Inc, which is its corporate parent, Flanders, Callum, and three companies that produced and issued the video, which was produced for a series named "Miami's Nastiest Nymphos.”

Flanders and Callum, who are charged with human trafficking, sexual battery, and conspiracy, face life sentences if convicted. Their lawyers say the women signed releases giving their consent to be in the porn movies.

Social Networking Sites and Personal Injury
Can social networking be held liable if they were used to commit a crime. A few months ago, Match.com settled a personal injury lawsuit filed by a woman who was also raped. The plaintiff, Carole Markin, sued the online dating site, which was where she met the man who raped her. She blames Match.com for failing to perform a security background check on members. Her assailant, Alan Paul Wurtzel, had several convictions for sexual assault. The 67-year-old has pleaded no contest to sexual battery.

Markin, who is an author and Hollywood screenwriter, didn’t ask Match.com for any financial compensation. Instead, the online dating site has agreed to conduct security checks on everyone who is a member or applies to join. The settlement came even though courts have so far ruled that networking sites aren’t liable for the physical or financial harm suffered by members.

Rape-porn case puts spotlight on social networking, Miami Herald, October 26, 2011

Match.com settles suit with pledge to screen out sex offenders, Los Angeles Times, August 23, 2011

BlackPlanet.com

More Blog Posts:
$550,000 Miami Injury Settlement Approved for Woman Who Was Kidnapped and Raped by Cop, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 14, 2011

Miami Nursing Negligence Lawsuit Accuses Home Care Nurse of Sexually Assaulting Paraplegic Patient, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, September 22, 2011

Mother Files Miami-Dade County Lawsuit Against Opa-Locka Police After Her Mentally Disabled Son’s Alleged Rape, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 31, 2011

A Miami-Dade personal injury lawsuit has been filed accusing a male home health care nurse of sodomizing and harassing a paraplegic in his own home. The defendant of the Miami nursing negligence complaint is A.S.A. Home Care, Inc.

Per the complaint, the nurse started taking care of the victim in 2007. Despite the nurse’s obvious sexual interest in the patient, the latter rejected his overtures. Still, the lawsuit contends, the nurse showed the patient porn, brought him a sex toy, and sexually assaulted him when dressing a wound located close to the buttock area. The nurse then allegedly begged the patient not to tell anyone what happened and threatened to otherwise kill himself.

The plaintiff blames ASA for inadequate supervision, failure to provide him with a secure and safe environment, and neglecting to look into complaints that had made about the nurse.

The plaintiff is seeking more than $5 million in Miami personal injury damages for serious emotional, psychological, and physical injuries, in addition to his humiliation and shame over what happened.

Sexual assault is traumatic, painful, and damaging to the victim. Unfortunately, patients that require nursing care—whether at a Miami nursing home or at home—can fall victim to sexual predators—especially if the patient is extremely, frail, physically incapacitated, mentally ill, and/or unable to fight back/report what happened.

Assisted living facilities and nursing companies can be held liable for Miami nursing abuse if one of their workers abuses or neglects a patient. It can be devastating for your loved one to be hurt or ignored by the person hired to care for him/her.

**Reporting on this case is also important because it serves as a reminder that Florida nursing negligence and abuse doesn't just happen at assisted living facilities. Unfortunately, there are professional nurses and caregivers invited into a patient's home that have been known to cause serious into people they've been hired to provide with professional nursing care.

Lawsuit Claims Nurse Assaulted Paraplegic Man, NBC Miami

ASA Homecare

More Blog Posts:
Miami Herald Reports: Florida Nursing Home Neglect Taking Place at a Number of Assisted Living Facilities, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 25, 2011

Bills Seeks to Cap Florida Nursing Home Negligence Damages Over Wrongful Deaths, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, April 20, 2011

Florida Nursing Home Neglect?: Maggots Found in 76-Year-Old Patient at Assisted Living Facility with Palm Beach County Ties, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, September 14, 2010

Trina Jackson plans to sue J. Ruiz Learning School, LLC for Miami-Dade personal injury to a minor. Jackson’s five-year-old daughter, Kayla, attends the daycare center. The little girls says that she has been slapped, hit, and scratched many times while at the daycare.

Jackson claims that her daughter was victim of negligence, assault, and battery while at the Miami facility last April. She says that video footage from surveillance cameras shows a group of girls jumping on her daughter and ripping one of her braids out of her head. Jackson contends that the caregiver that was there appeared to ignored the altercation.

Jackson says that when she complained about marks she found on her daughter after the alleged incident, the caretaker told her that nothing happened and that her daughter’s braid was already gone when she arrived at the preschool that day. However, according to Jackson’s Miami personal injury lawyer, the footage shows a daycare employee grabbing Jackson’s daughter’s scalp to check it after the alleged assault. The surveillance footage also shows one teacher punching a boy’s face,.

The Department of Children and Families had opened a probe into the abuse allegations, but the investigation was closed in June. Findings were not released.

Daycare centers, schools, and any individual or organization in charge of the care and supervision of your child can be held liable for Miami personal injury if their negligence, recklessness, or carelessness allowed or caused your son/daughter to get hurt.

Reasons why a parent or guardian might pursue a Miami child injury claim against a daycare center:

-Physical abuse
-Sexual abuse
-Injuries caused by dangerous conditions or hazards on a premise
-Fall accidents that could/should have been prevented
-Playground accidents
-Inadequate supervision
-Inadequate care

Mom Sues Daycare Over Alleged Abuse Video, NBC Miami, August 30, 2011

Daycare sued for abuse of child, WSVN, August 30, 2011

Related Web Resource:
Injury Prevention Issues & Topics of Interest: Daycare Safety & Injury Prevention, InjuryFree.org

Florida Department of Children and Families

More Blog Posts:
Man Files Miami-Dade Child Sex Abuse Lawsuit Naming Catholic Nun as His Abuser, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, April 15, 2011

Inadequate Security Alleged in Broward County Injury Lawsuit of Teen Left with Brain Damage After Beating at Deerfield School, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, January 27, 2011

West Palm Beach Injury Lawsuit Filed in 13-Year-Old’s School Beating, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, December 3, 2010

Fela Netkin is seeking Margate personal injury damages from her local Sav-a-Lot pharmacy because she says that they mistakenly gave her 5 times the prescribed dose of her anticoagulant medication. Because of the pharmacy’s negligence, Netkin says that she suffered bleeding and bruising and had to go to the hospital.

Per court documents, Netkin says that she had her prescription filled at the Margate pharmacy in June. However, instead of 45, 1 MG tablets of warfarin sodium, which was what the prescription was for, she was administered 45, 5 MG tablets.

Florida Pharmacy Malpractice
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can be held liable if mistakes they make when administering medication causes serious injury or death. Common pharmacist mistakes:

• Giving a customer someone else’s prescription
• Giving the wrong medication to a customer
• Confusing medications that have the same name or look alike
• Giving the correct medication but the wrong dose
• Giving the correct medication but with the wrong instructions
• Misreading the physician’s handwriting, which can result in pharmacy misfills
• Failure to consult or advise a customer who has been given a prescription

Pharmacists owe a duty of care to the customers whose prescriptions they are filing. The pharmacy, clinic, or hospital where the pharmacist works also is upheld to this duty.

Common cause of pharmacy errors:
• Inexperience
• Inadequate training
• Too many tasks to tend to—from filling prescriptions to dealing with customers. This can make it hard to focus.
• Inadequate systems and procedures in place for minimizing errors
• Too many prescriptions and not enough pharmacists
• Doctor error

Many pharmacy mistakes are preventable. It can prove fatal for someone to take the wrong medication, the wrong dose, or take a drug that reacts adversely to other medications he/she already may be taking. You may have grounds for a Palm Beach pharmacy misfill lawsuit.

Accidental Overdose? Pharmacist's Slip Makes Woman Bleed, Lawsuit Claims, Broward Palm Beach, August 10, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Unreported Pharmacy Errors, ABC

Prescription Errors Rising, Consumer Affairs, June 10, 2010

Institute for Safe Medication Practices

More Blog Posts:
Methadone as A Painkiller Can Be Fatal For Some Users, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, September 25, 2008

Miami Beach Personal Injury Seeks Damages Against Ex-NFL Star Larry Johnson for Alleged Assault, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, July 31, 2011

Fort Myers, Florida Personal Injury Lawsuit: Jury Orders Wal-Mart to Pay $421,400 to Woman Hit by Stock Cart, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 11, 2011

John Graney is suing Ex-NFL football star Larry Johnson for Miami-Dade County personal injury. He contends that the former Kansas City Chiefs running back beat him after a party last May on Miami Beach. Johnson also used to be signed with the Washington Redskins and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Graney, who is from Miami, claims that without provocation Johnson used a “closed fist” to “viciously” hit him multiple times, kicked him while he was on the ground, and chased him down the street. The plaintiff says that he sustained a torn rotator cuff and three herniated discs and is suffering form post-traumatic shoulder, wrist, and back pain.

Meantime, Johnson is denying the allegations. The police report describes Graney’s injuries as a “minor laceration” and “small abrasion.”

Miami Beach Personal Injury
If you or someone you love was injured in an assault, you may be able to sue your assailant for damages. Physical assault can result in serious injuries for the victim. Back injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and internal injuries are just some of the injuries that can result. If the assault occurred on someone else’s property and the premise owner could/should have acted to prevent the incident from happening, you may have grounds for filing a Miami premises liability lawsuit.

Assault crimes between strangers happen all the time in the United States. Sometimes, an altercation between two people that know each other can blow out of proportion, resulting in serious injuries for at least one of the participants. It is important that you speak with a Miami injury attorney while the physical evidence is still fresh and witnesses can provide detailed accounts of what happened.

NFL RB Larry Johnson Sued For Battery, The Post Game, July 28, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Personal Injury, Nolo

More Blog Posts:
Fort Myers, Florida Personal Injury Lawsuit: Jury Orders Wal-Mart to Pay $421,400 to Woman Hit by Stock Cart, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 11, 2011

Miami Personal Injury: Four Women Claim They Were Sexually Assaulted by Employees at Doral Golf Resort & Spa, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, March 28, 2011

2008 Car Crash Victim Files St. Lucie County Personal Injury Lawsuit Over His Severed Foot That Was Stolen, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, March 9, 2011

The woman who sustained a Florida traumatic brain injury when an ATV being driven by an on-duty cop hit her is suing the Clevelander Hotel and Erick Kuilan for Miami Beach personal injury. Kitzie Nicanor and her friend Luis Almonte, both 29, were walking on the beach before dawn when the ATV, which Kuilan was driving, struck them. As a result of her Florida TBI, Nicanor, who is still in the hospital, has experienced memory loss, problems concentrating, paralysis on her right side, and difficulty talking. She also broke a leg, sustained heart perforations, and had to have her spleen removed.

Nicanor is still in the hospital. Her Miami brain injury attorney says that she will likely have to undergo rehabilitation for years. She has a 1-year-old son.

According to her Miami-Dade County personal injury complaint, the Clevelander Hotel regularly lets on-duty cops drink alcohol and hang out at its clubs. (The Miami Beach Police says cops are banned from drinking while they are on-duty.) More than four hour after the ATV crash, Kuilan, who has since been fired from the force, still had a BAC exceeding Florida’s limit of .08%. He is charged with two counts of reckless driving resulting bodily injury and two counts of driving under the influence. Nicanor may also sue the City of Miami Beach.

If you or someone you love suffered serious injuries in a Miami Beach motor vehicle crash because someone was careless, reckless, or made mistakes, you may be entitled to Florida personal injury recovery. Some injuries are so serious that you will need all the financial compensation you can get to cover medical expenses, recovery costs, lost wages, and other damages. Sometimes, there is more than one party who should be held liable.

For example, in this Miami injury lawsuit, the plaintiff is seeking to recover compensation not just from the person who was driving the ATV, but also from the establishment that allowed him to drink alcohol. She also is considering suing the city of Miami Beach, which employed Kuilan at the time.

Miami Beach hotel, fired cop sued in ATV crash, AP, July 29, 2011

Aunt: ATV crash a nightmare, The Miami Herald, July 7, 2011

Related Web Resources:
ATV Safety Institute

Miami Beach Police Department

More Blog Posts:
Man Files Miami Car Accident Lawsuit Against Ex-NBA Heat Player Alonzo Mourning, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, July 20, 2011

Palm Beach Wrongful Death Lawsuit Seeks Damages from Yamaha Over Fatal WaveRunner Accident That Killed One Teen, Leaving Another With Brain Damage and Physical Injuries, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 20, 2011

$1.575M Broward County Injury Settlement Reached with Sheriff's Office Over Abused Child’s Brain Damage, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, February 4, 2011

Continue reading "Miami Personal Injury Lawsuit Filed Over ATV Accident on Beach Seeks Damages From Police Officer and the Clevelander Hotel" »

21-year-old William Candelario is suing former Miami Heat basketball player Alonzo Mourning for Florida personal injury. Candelario claims that the former NBA player failed to help him after he was injured in a Miami-Dade car crash on the Julia Tuttle Causeway on Sunday.

Mourning’s Porsche had reportedly stuck Candelario’s vehicle, which had been disabled in an earlier crash, close to the intersection with Interstate 95. The ex-Heat player says that he did stop and check on Candelario before leaving the scene. He then called the authorities and then returned to the crash site. He has not been charged in the crash. Candelario, however, believes that Mourning could have done more to help him. He is also suing Eddy Desir, who is the driver of the car that was involved in the first collision with him.

Candelario’s Miami car accident lawyer says that his client sustained a concussion and suffered memory loss. Because of his injuries, he received treatment at the Aventura Hospital emergency room twice. It is not known at this time whether any of Candelario's Miami car crash injuries are permanent.

Miami Car Accidents
It is important when someone is involved in a car crash and there have been injuries for those involved to do everything possible to help the victims. This includes contacting 911 and making sure that the injured parties get the help that they need. Leaving a car crash scene where there are injuries or deaths is a crime. Failure to provide medical help can sometimes result in more serious injuries or health complications and even deaths that could otherwise have been prevented if only help was sought and administered sooner.

Also, Florida’s PIP statute requires that everyone have their own personal injury protection, this may not be enough to cover injuries, medical costs, recovery expenses, and other damages and losses from your Miami traffic crash. You may want to explore your legal options to find out whether you should file a Miami personal injury lawsuit against the negligent parties.

Suit targets Alonzo Mourning, claiming he left crash victim too soon, Sun-Sentinel, July 20, 2011

Mourning on car crash: I stopped, did nothing wrong, Miami Herald, July 20, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Involved in a car crash in Florida? Should you dial 911 or just swap information?, The Palm Beach Post, April 25, 2011

Florida PIP, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

More Blog Posts:
Palm Beach Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Polo Mogul John Goodman Can Proceed Even With Criminal Case Unresolved, Says Judge, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, November 3, 2010

Mother Files Florida Pedestrian Accident Lawsuit Against Alleged Drunk Driver Over Daughter’s Wrongful Death, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, November 17, 2010

Belle Glade Man Awarded $720,000 Palm Beach County Truck Accident Verdict by Jury, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 29, 2010

A judge in Florida has approved the $421,400 Fort Myers personal injury verdict awarded to a 68-year-old woman who got hurt at a Wal-Mart store when she was thrown to the ground by a loaded, motorized stock cart. Janice Morris fractured several pubic bones during the accident and had to take three months off work.

Court documents state that Morris got hurt at the Wal-Mart on Ben C. Pratt/Six Mile Cypress Parkway on Oct. 10, 2009 in the packaged meat section. In her Lee County personal injury complaint, Morris accuses Wal-Mart of failing to properly supervise and train the employee that was operating the cart and neglecting to warn shoppers that there was a potentially hazardous condition inside the store. Morris also contends that the cart did not have an audible beeper and that its operator, Richard Hesson, should have realized that patrons might not hear the cart approaching.

The Fort Myers, Florida premises liability verdict awards 250,000 for future pain and suffering, $150,000 for past pain and suffering, and $21,400 for past medical expenses.

Stores and groceries are responsible for ensuring that the premises are safe for patrons. When failure to prevent or remove hazards causes serious injuries or death, the store owner can be held liable. Other common accidents that can occur at stores:

• Slip and fall
• Trip and fall
• Accidents falling merchandise
• Fall accidents
• Crimes that can occur as a result of inadequate security
• Escalator accidents

Hit by cart at Walmart, Fort Myers woman gets $421,400, News-Press, May 10, 2011

Related Web Resource:
Wal-Mart

More Blog Posts:
14-Year-Old Injured in Hollywood, Florida Elevator Fall Accident at Millennium Mall, South Florida Injury Lawyer, April 11, 2011

$500K West Palm Beach Slip and Fall Verdict Awarded in Lawsuit Against Lake Worth Lawsuit Against CVS, South Florida Injury Lawyer, January 24, 2011

Violent Crimes at South Florida Malls Highlights Need for Adequate Security, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 30, 2008