Wrongful Death

November 6, 2013

TSA Officer Shot and Killed at LAX Airport

A TSA Officer who was shot at close range by a 23 year old man at LAX airport on Friday, died after his assailant, Paul Ciancia, shot him for the 2nd time with an assault rifle. Finally, the shooter was apprehended by airport police, shot and captured.He remains hospitalized, in critical condition at Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center, since Sunday. Sadly, the crime victims involved in this heinous shooting included 3 TSA officers, and several other innocent travelers.

Not only was there a note on Ciancia’s body explaining that he was at the airport in order to kill transportation security, but he sent a text message to his father indicating that something terrible was about to occur. Although, Ciancia’s father called police, the police did not find him when they searched his residence. Unfortunately, airport police apprehended Ciancia after it was too late. The victims of this killing spree already died or were badly wounded.

Killing sprees of this nature occur far too often in our country. Airport security such as TSA officers do not carry fire arms for protection, and airport police are the only ones who can truly protect passengers. Greater security is necessary to prevent dangerous, armed, individuals from harming others.

October 21, 2013

Florida Family Files Wrongful Death

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Recently, a Boynton Beach, Florida, couple filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Deputy in connection with the shooting of their eighteen-year-old autistic son in 2012. The lawsuit is seeking damages in excess of $15,000.

The lawsuit stems from an October 4, 2012, incident wherein the teen’s mother called 911 seeking help to controlling her autistic son, who could be heard screaming, “you’re going down,” on the 911 tape. En route to the scene, the deputy was advised by his dispatcher that the mother claimed the teen had a “hammer and a tree trimmer” and would “hurt anyone who approaches.” The dispatcher also told the deputy that the teen had placed his mother in a chokehold.

Upon arriving at the scene, the deputy encountered the teen, ordering him to drop the hammer and garden shears. Although both sides agree that the teen complied, dropping the weapons, there is disagreement as to what happened next.

September 22, 2013

Florida Appeals Court Reduces Ten Million Dollar Award In Wrongful Death Of UCF Football Player

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Last month, the Insurance Journal published an article discussing a recent decision by Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeals reducing the damages awarded in the case of a University of Central Florida football player who died following conditioning drills in 2008. The Court’s decision reduced the damages awarded to the family of former wide receiver Ereck Plancher on their wrongful death claim against the UCF Athletic Association from $10 million to $200,000. In the same opinion, the Court denied a request from the UCFAA seeking a new trial.

Plancher’s family, with the help of a Florida wrongful death attorney, filed the wrongful death suit against the UCFAA in 2009, claiming that coaches and school officials were negligent forcing Plancher to engage in a strenuous workout without water and with no trainer present. The UCFAA officials argued that the university did everything necessary to save Plancher’s life and his death was caused be a heart ailment. Following a trial in 2011, a jury found the UCFAA negligent and awarded Plancher’s parents $5 million each.

Under the Florida Wrongful Death Act, codified at Florida Statutes §768.16, et seq.,

May 22, 2013

Florida Court Holds That Co-Owners Of A Vehicle Are Liable For Each Other’s Negligence

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Earlier this year, Florida’s Second District Court of Appeals addressed the question as to liability of a co-owner of a vehicle for injuries caused by the negligent driving of the car’s other owner. In Ortiz v. Regalado, Andy Ortiz (“Andy”) was driving a car which he co-owned with his father when he collided with the vehicle of Lourdes Falcon, killing Ms. Falcon’s daughter who was a passenger.

Ms. Falcon filed a lawsuit, claiming that Andy was negligent in causing the accident and that his father was vicariously liable for Andy’s negligence as joint owner of the vehicle. As this blog has discussed before, vicarious liability, or respondeat superior, is a legal theory under which the superior, in this case Andy’s father, is held liable for the acts of his or her subordinate, in this case Andy.

After a trial, a jury found that Andy and Ms. Falcon were each 50% at fault for the accident and awarded Ms. Falcon a judgment for approximately $1.4 million in damages. Under Florida’s comparative negligence law, each party to an accident is held proportionately liable for damages resulting from his or her negligence. Accordingly, the court ordered Andy and his father jointly liable to pay half of the $1.4 million judgment.

May 2, 2013

No Texting While Driving Passes in Florida Senate

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Texting while driving is a rampant problem across the US, which often times leads to catastrophic car accidents. The state of Florida is one of the only remaining states who had not yet passed a law banning texting while driving, until now. The senate has approved and passed Bill 52 making texting a secondary violation for drivers, who are cited for a primary driving infraction. If it is discovered, that a driver is typing on any device whatsoever, he or she will receive an additional citation for this, now illegal activity.

Statistics indicate that thousands of teens and adults are killed each year due to texting and driving. Miami auto accident attorneys, as well as law enforcement deal with these critical cases on a regular basis. The dangers of distracted driving have been proven over and over again throughout the world. According to Distraction.Gov, drivers who use a hand held device are 4 times more likely to get into life threatening car accidents. Sending a text or an email can take a driver’s eyes of the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, resulting in serious car accidents that cause injury to drivers, passengers and pedestrians, alike.

Personal injury attorneys Nicholas and Philip Gerson have seen firsthand what can happen when a careless driver is holding the wheel and a hand held device at the same time. They have handled numerous cases in which a driver who sent a quick text or email caused serious harm to their clients. Wrongful death cases or cases of catastrophic injuries are the result of driver negligence.

If drivers were not otherwise distracted, they would have been paying closer attention to the road. Texting or sending emails while driving takes the driver out of the moment and away from noticing the street signs, lights, or innocent pedestrians. Frequently, teen agers who are new drivers are easily distracted by texting while driving. Due to their young age and inexperience, children’s slower reflexes become a handicap for them while navigating the road. 11 teenage drivers die every day in the US due to texting and driving.

January 8, 2013

Fatal Florida Car Accidents & Wrongful Death Lawsuits

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Recently CentralNY published a story on a tragic fatal Florida car accident that took the life of a college student. Details on the auto accident remain sparse, as authorities are still investigating to determine exactly what happened. What is known is that a 22-year old was on his way back to Santa Fe College in Gainesville after having spent the holiday season with his family. He was traveling south on Interstate 95 on Sunday when, for reasons that have yet to be determined, his car careened off the road. The vehicle eventually slammed into the concrete base of an overhead sign. The impact was severe, and the student did not survive the collision.

The Miami, Florida Auto accident attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz, PA say it is far too early to make any claims about whether or not there might be civil liability in this case. The road conditions may have been poor, items from another vehicle may have been in the road, his car could have malfunctioned, or any number of other factors may had led to the tragic accident.

December 14, 2012

Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

News is still coming in today about about Sandy Hook shooting massacre. With eerie similarities to the Columbine and shootings at Virgina Tech it is unthinkable how and why heinous crimes at schools are becoming more and more widespread. The latest calculations are that nearly 100 rounds of ammunition were fired and up to 30 children and adults have been killed. Crime Victim Lawyers at Gerson & Schwartz, PA believe that this is should be another wake up call to everyone from Congress to the members of the public.

Though the right to bear arms is a “constitutional” right recurring crimes like these at our most scared institutions require immediate legal reform. ” How can someone just go and purchase 100 rounds of ammunition?” What does someone need a high powered machine gun for other than to kill and inflict serious bodily harm?, asked Nicholas Gerson

Though it is still unknown what other security and safety measures were breached, or if there even were any in place at Sandy Hook Elementary victims rights attorney Nicholas Gerson, believes people are still going to argue that this was just another isolated and unforeseeable incident. “We disagree.” Reasonable security measures need to be enforced on a national basis- even at elementary schools. Gerson said from his Miami, Florida offices that the attorneys and investigators at his firm were monitoring the situation and have started their own preliminary investigation to determine how this happened, and what could have been to prevent it from happening.

November 29, 2012

Prescription Overdosing in Florida Hospitals

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Hospitals Overdosing Patients on Drug Already Infamous
For Causing Liver Failure

Findings published in the November 12 edition of Archives of Internal Medicine reveal that hospitals may be overdosing a significant number of their patients who are being treated with the drug acetaminophen. More specifically, researchers found, in two carefully studied inpatient facilities, that overall, 6.6% of patients on acetaminophen received more than the recommended daily dose of the drug. Among older patients and patients already suffering from chronic liver disease, between 18% and 22% were given more acetaminophen than is deemed safe for these high-risk populations.

These statistics indicate a gravely serious breakdown in the care of inpatients, but they are particularly concerning in light of the fact that acetaminophen, best known as the active ingredient in Tylenol, poses unusually high risks for liver damage at any dose. Acetaminophen’s infamous capacity to poison the liver has been the foundation of many liver-injury lawsuits brought against Tylenol’s manufacturer over the years, and news of institutional acetaminophen overdosing lends a new urgency to claims such as those raised by Charlotte Lee Thompson, a Floridian who suffered serious liver damage while taking Tylenol in 2008, and whose case against Tylenol’s manufacturer was very recently moved from a Florida state court to a Florida federal District Court.

The Well-Known Dangers of Acetaminophen

As stated in Ms. Thompson’s lawsuit filing, acetaminophen is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the United States. The above mentioned Archives of Internal Medicine report confirms this, and adds that acetaminophen is linked not only to liver injury, but also to blood clotting disorders and deafness. It is particularly easy to overdose on acetaminophen because the drug is a common secondary ingredient in many other drug products, and patients who are unaware that one of their medications contains acetaminophen may add Tylenol (or a store-brand equivalent) to their drug regimens, unwittingly exceeding safe dosage levels. This accidental overdosing can become chronic or “staggered,” and according to the February 2012 edition of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, staggered acetaminophen overdosing is particularly likely to cause liver toxicity with life-threatening effects such as multiple organ failure.

In 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that acetaminophen manufacturers place stronger warnings about the risk of severe liver damage on their products. In 2011 the FDA directed manufacturers of combination drugs containing acetaminophen to limit acetaminophen content to 325 mg per unit. Effective earlier this year, in response to FDA pressure and high rates of acetaminophen-related liver failure, Tylenol’s manufacturer lowered the maximum daily dose for Regular Strength Tylenol.

The Consumer’s Right to Adequate Warning
Lawsuits filed on behalf of acetaminophen victims are generally framed as product liability claims, in which injured individuals focus on the unusual dangerousness of the drug and the inadequacy of warnings placed on product packaging. In the Florida case brought by Charlotte Lee Thompson, Ms. Thompson explains that in February of 2008, she took Tylenol for several days, all the while keeping her dosage within the limits recommended on the product packaging. During this period, she was admitted to hospital, on an emergency basis, for severe liver damage. She required over 10 days of hospitalization, enduring substantial pain and suffering, and later suffered a loss of earning capacity.

Ms. Thompson asserts that Tylenol is defective, unreasonably dangerous to consumers, and not safe for its intended use. Her complaint also states that she should have been warned that Tylenol should not be taken on an empty stomach, and that at the time she took the Tylenol, the manufacturer-recommended dosage was too high. In addition to these claims, Ms. Thompson has alleged that Tylenol’s manufacturer breached the implied warranty of safety that goes with consumer products like Tylenol. Ms. Thompson hopes to recover damages to cover her medical expenses and economic losses, along with damages for physical and emotional injuries and punitive damages.

November 26, 2012

School Bus Shooting in Homestead: One Girl Killed

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Tragedy struck a Dade County family, when a 13 year old girl was shot in the neck by another student on a school bus last week. According to reports by the Miami Herald and CNN, an unidentified, teenage boy was charged with manslaughter, after allegedly accidentally firing a concealed weapon on a school bus shooting Lourdes Guzman. The young girl was airlifted to Miami Children’s Hospital where she died the same day. (The Miami Herald) Lourdes Guzman was an innocent victim of a violent crime and the possible negligence of a bus company and driver, who took no action to prevent this senseless death. The crime victim’s younger sister, age 7, and seven other children were eye witnesses on this fateful day. The school bus was transporting children to 3 different schools. Guzman attended the Palm Glades Preparatory Academy.

This incident has shaken the community, and has made national news this week. Wrongful death cases should be litigated, and responsible parties should be held accountable. . The bus company owned and operated by Yelimar and Portieles might be to blame for this act, which could be judged as preventable and avoidable. Regulations for school buses should be improved, including video surveillance and possibly metal detectors are on board and other protections. Training school bus drivers how to manage children in a crisis such as this one would be helpful. Teaching school bus drivers how to intervene in potentially life threatening situations could save children’s lives. A child should never be allowed to bring a deadly weapon on board a school bus and action should be taken by the drivers in order to prevent this from ever happening! Hand gun owners and parents should be accountable too. There is no excuse for underage school children to leave home armed with a deadly weapon.

Personal injury attorneys can help victims and their families in seeking damages in a court of law. Settlements for death cases, sometimes can result in millions of dollars paid to a victim’s family. If a bus company is found to be a responsible party and is insured, attorneys for their clients can seek damages, for crimes committed against children being transported in these vehicles. Experienced attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz, PA are highly trained at handling wrongful death cases. Negligent school supervision and careless firearm safety have been the basis for successful recoveries for clients of the firm.

October 25, 2012

Car Accident Killing One and Critically Injuring 4 Others while Waiting for a Bus

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

According to the Miami Herald, a woman lost her life after a man recklessly drove his car into a Miami Gardens bus bench yesterday around 4 pm. 4 other people were seriously injured while waiting for the bus at Northwest 199th Street and Second Avenue. The driver who was speeding lost control of his vehicle and literally plummeted directly into the bus bench without even breaking.

One woman, Delia Tafur, wound up having both of her legs amputated. A second woman Wendy Vaszuez, 44, endured severe trauma to the head. Mary Smith, died at the scene, and two teenagers, ages 16, suffered fractures throughout their entire bodies. The name of this driver is still unknown and an investigation is pending. It will be interesting to find out if this driver was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol or what is past driving record reveals about him.

Car accident attorneys are hired by victims’ families such as these to represent them in a court of law and to seek damages for their physical and emotional losses. Automobile collisions are one of the most common causes of personal injury and wrongful death in Florida. Car accidents can result in multiple kinds of injuries, leaving individuals disabled for a lifetime. Tragically, a car accident can result in the loss of life of a loved one.