It’s something we write about all the time. Kids playing in a driveway or running up to a SUV to say goodbye to their parent, only to be run over by the driver who just couldn’t see the small person behind the large SUV. It has happened so often, with 292 fatalities and 18,000 injuries occurring every year from back-up crashes, that the government is requiring auto manufacturers to increase the visibility behind large vehicles.
A new proposal by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) that was issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) would require the expansion of the field of view behind SUVs, minivans, and pickup trucks, by requiring a rear-mounted video camera with an in-vehicle display on all new vehicles by September 2014. The proposed rule was part of the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007, named for a two-year-old who was killed by his father behind the wheel of an SUV in the family driveway.
The Jacksonville car accident lawyers at Farah & Farah remind parents that no technology can make up for being mindful of the possibility that a small child, an animal, or an elderly person that may be around the rear of your vehicle as you back out of a driveway. Before you start your car, make sure no one is behind you before backing up. It is the person who is in a hurry and distracted that is most likely to be surprised by what they can encounter when they are not paying attention.
During the busy holiday season, parents sometimes forget to put safety first and nowhere is that more true than on an airplane. Consumer Reports recently reminded parents that the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Raymond LaHood, is warning parents that the safest place for a child to sit on an airplane is in their own seat with a safety seat or a seat belt – not on the parent’s lap. Children sitting on an adult’s lap face particular dangers during air turbulence. They can become a projectile during turbulence, despite a parent’s best efforts to hold onto them. That is why all books, laptops, and purses must be secured during takeoff and landing.
However, the law allows children under the age of 2 to sit on a parent’s lap. This appears to be primarily a financial decision since the adult does not have to purchase another airline ticket. However, the federal government and airlines are reconsidering that policy because the injuries that can result because an infant was sitting on a parent’s lap are devastating and entirely preventable.
This month the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) updated the “Child Safety on Airplanes” section of its website to include specific advice on choosing and using proper child safety restraints. Just last week, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hosted a forum on child passenger safety in the air and in automobiles. Consumers Union advocates mandatory child restraint systems for children under the age of 2 on commercial aircraft.
Parents can purchase an airline ticket for children younger than age 2 and use a certified child restraint system approved for airline use. The restraint system should be appropriate for the child’s size. And the child must be restrained during takeoff, landing, when the seat belt sign is illuminated, and preferably during the entire flight as turbulence is unpredictable.
Adverse events in hospital care is killing an estimated 15,000 Medicare patients every month, or one in seven hospitalized Medicare patients, according to a government survey released Tuesday, November 16 and reported by USA Today.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conducted a survey of adverse events in hospitals studied a representative sample of 780 Medicare patients discharged from hospitals in October 2008. The patients suffered a range of ailments, from infections to death. Of the 780 cases, 12 patients died. Five of those deaths were related to the use of blood-thinning medication. Two other deaths that were medication-related resulted in a patient suffering hypoglycemic coma and over-sedation that led another patient to respiratory failure. The focus of the survey was to have a better understanding of adverse events in hospitals since about 47 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare, a government health insurance program for people age 65 and older.
Peter Pronovost of Johns Hopkins University, is a leading advocate for reducing hospital errors, and was quoted in the article as saying, “We spend two pennies trying to deliver safe health care for every dollar we spent trying to develop new genes and new drugs. We have to invest in the science of health care delivery.” Not much progress has been made in health care delivery since a 1999 study by the Institute of Medicine on medical errors found that about 98,000 patients die a year from medical mistakes, including medication errors, infections, and under-diagnosis.
If you or a loved one has suffered needlessly from the effects of a medical or medication error by your physician, the Florida medical malpractice attorneys at Farah & Farah are available to talk with you about your legal rights.
Last year, Florida lawmakers approved a system to track prescription drugs in an effort to reduce the number of deaths from the misuse of dangerous medications; however, implementation of the program has been delayed, reports The Sarasota Herald Tribune.
Under the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, doctors and pharmacists are supposed to enter into an electronic database information about medications prescribed that have a high potential for abuse such as methadone, oxycodone, Xanax, Valium, and other narcotics. The name and address of the patient; their date of birth; the name and quantity of the drug; and name of the pharmacy and doctor; as well as how the person paid for the drug should be entered within 15 days of issuance of the prescription. The only exception is extended to a hospital or nursing home that has the ability to dispense drugs directly to the patient.
The system was set up to stop so-called “doctor shopping” by individuals looking to amass drugs for recreational use or for sale on the street. While the program was supposed to debut in December, the launch was delayed after some controversy about the initial bidding process.
Another problem is that the Florida lawmakers who approved the statewide database to track prescription drugs failed to fund the effort. Florida remains the largest state without a program to track how potentially dangerous medications are dispensed.
Always check any prescriptions you receive from the pharmacy. If you have suffered serious side effects from a medicine and believe the drug manufacturer is to blame, the Jacksonville pharmaceutical litigation attorneys at Farah and Farah offer free and confidential consultations.
Volusia County will review the decades long policy of allowing motorists to drive on Daytona Beach after some near misses and a growing number of fatalities in recent years, reports The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Over the past six years, 46 people have been hit by cars, trucks, ATVs and golf carts on Volusia County Beaches.
Most recently, the death of a two 4-year-olds in separate incidents sparked the intense debate about whether the county should end the policy and the debate will continue Thursday November 11 when the Volusia County Council decides whether or not to hire a consultant to review pedestrian beach safety.
Most of the incidents occur in March and July when Daytona Beach is the busiest and often the motorist say they cannot see the person on the beach. Up to one-third of the tourist collisions happened when the vehicle was backing up. The problems has been growing over the years so much so that in 1985, Florida lawmakers decided to ban beach driving; however, Volusia County took advantage of a loophole in 1989 which allowed beach driving to continue. Ultimately, the decision to ban the practice will be up to the County Council, which can also come up with a plan to limit beach driving to certain hours and day to protect the safety of beach-goers.
If you or a loved one has been injured by a motor vehicle on any of Florida’s beaches, the personal injury attorneys at Farah & Farah would welcome you into our any of our Florida offices to review the details of your accident. The at-fault party can be held liable for your medical bills, lost wages, and other related expenses.
An attorney for a woman who blew the whistle on a medical device company says his client has exposed the lucrative world of doctor kickbacks given by Ela Medical, the maker of heart defibrillators and pacemakers, reports The Miami Herald. Ela Medical will pay a $9.2 million fine after the whistleblower named a dozen Florida hospitals and 25 doctors who participated in the kickback scheme that amounted to fraud under the Civil False Claims Act.
In investigating the fraud, the Department of Justice has found that doctors were over-billing Medicare, implanting an amended heart device not approved by the FDA, and not informing patients that their device could not live up to its 5 year warranty, putting patient safety in jeopardy. Medicare then would be billed for a second operation when the defective device failed.
The field of medical devices is very profitable with a defibrillator costing about $18,000 and a pacemaker about $7,000. Ultimately it is the taxpayer who foots the bill because doctors billed Medicare for the medical devices and up to $4,000 for each patient who became part of a “study.” Ela made $3.2 billion in revenue in 2008 and the company admits in court documents that its sales representatives took part in fraud.
The whistleblower can receive up to 25% of the fine but has had a difficult time finding employment in her field as a medical technician. Even when she transferred to California and took a job with a competitor, she lost her job after the company learned she was involved in a lawsuit.
A major investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and the Carnegie-Knight Journalism Initiative paints a scary picture of our federal regulations when it comes to traffic safety.
The investigation finds that the National Transportation Safety Board, which is in charge of examining accidents, has essentially abandoned 1,952 of its safety recommendations. In fact, only one of every six recommendations has made it into law since 1967. It is taking longer than ever to put new laws into place – from 3.4 to 5.4 years over the past decade.
Airline safety is not doing much better with more than 2,300 people dying on runways from ice buildup, faulty aircraft repairs, and tired pilots. The NTSB has tried to address the tired pilot problem by issuing 138 fatigue-related safety recommendations since 1967. So far, only 68 have been implemented, even though more than 320 accidents have occurred that were a result of fatigue.
Concerning the U.S. rail system, the investigation finds that had more than 780 rail accidents may have been averted if automated train control technology had been installed.
“America’s transportation safety apparatus is badly broken,” said Bill Buzenberg, the center’s executive director. “Recommendations ignored; cases closed without resolution. Our joint investigation clearly shows what’s wrong with the system. It’s mind-boggling to think how many lives could be saved if we just did things right.”
As this report demonstrates, the safety of travelers is of extreme importance and Florida is no exception. As Jacksonville personal injury attorneys, we have seen far too many serious injury and wrongful death accidents occur due to a person’s negligence. It is crucial for all motorists and operators of public transportation to uphold their responsibilities and follow the law to help prevent accidents.
The Breakdown: Traveling Dangerously in America report is available on the Center for Public Integrity’s Web site.
One doesn’t often think of personal injury prevention preparedness on a college campus, but that is exactly what they are teaching at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Since April, school officials have conducting sessions for about 700 USF staffers, faculty and students to train them on what to do if there is a gunman on campus. Twenty-eight “active shooter” training sessions have covered such topics as developing a “survival mind-set” which includes reacting when shots are heard and not just becoming a passive victim. Participants are taught when to get out of a building even if it involves a life-or-death scenario.
Developing “resistance” is the key.
Then there are the signs to look for when someone is experiencing a meltdown before they become violent. They would include a change in appearance and attitude, a failure to turn in homework, and shouting or becoming withdrawn.
Of course the chances of this happening on any college campus are very small, but the world became of the potential for violence on campus most recently in 2007 when a Virginia Tech student became a shooter and murdered 32 people, before killing himself. Last October, USF also experienced a bomb hoax that froze the campus for three hours.
The training features a 20-minute video produced by the Center for Personal Protection & Safety, a Spokane Washington company. Not only Fortune 100 companies but more than 900 campuses, including Florida State and the University of Florida have been trained. The video is called Shots Fired on Campus.
Not only does this training help, but USF has set up a siren system that can be heard campus wide. An auto e-mail system will alert about 66,000 people immediately if there is a shooter on campus.
The video is available online with a USF log-in and password.
A new survey finds Jacksonville is lacking in safety features for our youngest population. Men’s Health Magazine finds, among 100 cities, that Jacksonville ranked last as a safe city for children. Considered were accidental deaths, car-seat inspection locations, abused children protection and the number of sex offenders.
One of the factors that may be skewing this survey is the massive size of Jacksonville. We are the largest city by land mass within the U.S. Not to make excuses, but the larger the city, the more problems you are likely to find.
John Harrell, who is a spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) takes exception to the survey.
“The fact of the matter is the New York Times, the National Public Radio have praised the many innovations taking place in child welfare in Jacksonville,” said John Harrell to News4Jax.
“We were honored by Prevent Child Abuse America as being the first pinwheel city in the country for our child abuse prevention efforts. Forget being last in the country. Prevent Child Abuse America says that Jacksonville’s No. 1.”
Harrell says when DCF contacted the magazine to ask how the survey was conducted; the magazine would not say when or how the data was collected.
Child Safety
While data and surveys are debatable, one thing is not. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among children under the age of 14. Child safety seats, whether an infant seat, car seat or booster seat, when properly installed, reduce the risk of fatal injury by 80 percent. Florida auto accident attorneys would like to remind you to please keep your children safe when they ride in a motor vehicle.
PIP stands for Personal Injury Protection. It is the type of insurance we all are expected to have in Florida to cover auto accidents and pay for medical expenses, lost wages and a death benefit, no matter who is at fault.
But is PIP a cause to celebrate? Organizers of a monthly social mixer in Fort Lauderdale think so. Its advertisements for “PIP Thursdays” feature a woman dressed in cocktail dress ready to party next to the scene of an auto accident. The party is held at the Fort Lauderdale Blue Martini Lounge. Two orthopedic surgeons sponsor the event.
Not everyone is ready to party.
The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud is among them. The group has brought the ad to the attention of the Insurance Consumer Advocate’s round table last week on Personal Injury Protection fraud.
Dennis Jay, executive director of the anti-fraud coalition, said the ad suggests that accidents are a reason to celebrate, reports the Sun-Sentinel newspaper.
Florida is in the process of beefing up laws that fight PIP fraud. With an easy $10,000 to be gained from auto accidents, some scammers have faked accidents and bring in medical clinics as part of the insurance fraud.
Dennis Jay’s group is proposing that medical clinics have their licenses renewed periodically to check for insurance fraud and giving the state the ability to revoke licenses and accreditation of medical providers who are convicted of insurance fraud. The state needs more prosecutors to investigate insurance fraud as well, says Jay.
If you have questions about your PIP coverage or suspect you may have been the victim of a staged auto accident in Florida, call Farah & Farah to discuss the specifics of your case.
