South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

A man died Sunday afternoon after his car rolled into a west Miami-Dade County lake while he was inside. Witnesses said Jose Laviste, 68, was parked at the edge of the lake on Southwest 129th Avenue when he apparently put the vehicle into reverse and accidentally drove it into the water.A witness jumped into the water to try to save Laviste, but he was unsuccessful.

Rescue crews arrived shortly thereafter and were able to retrieve Laviste about six minutes later, but he died on the way to the hospital.

Witnesses said it appeared the man had been drinking.

A class action lawsuit has been filed against the manufacturers of a heart defibrillator, who claim at least five people have died from lead fractures in the device. The suit seeks $5 million for each member of the class.

Attorneys from the law firms Wexler Toriseva Wallace LLP and Motley Rice LLC filed the case Nov. 19 in the United States District Court of the Southern District of West Virginia.

The suit names West Virginia resident Ted Carter as the plaintiff, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated. The case was filed by Wheeling attorney Teresa C. Toriseva, president of the West Virginia Association for Justice which formerly was known as the West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.

The suit is against Medtronic Inc., which distributes Sprint Fidelis Defibrillator Leads. The defibrillator is implanted into the body of the patient, and the leads present can cause injury or death.

Medtronic is located in Minneapolis, Minn. The Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management Division produces the defibrillator.

A defibrillator is implanted in patients who have abnormal heart rhythms. They deliver an electrical shock or rapid pacing to restore the normal rhythm when irregular heartbeats are detected. They are surgically implanted into patients who are at risk for sudden cardiac arrest.

According to the suit, the Sprint Fidelis Leads Models: 6930, 6931, 6948 and 6949 were placed on the market in September 2004.

According to the suit, Medtronic estimates that 2.3 percent of the devices will fail within 30 months of implantation.

The Sprint Fidelis Leads were recalled Oct. 15, 2007, because of the potential for lead fractures. The suit says Medtronic believes at least five people have died due to the lead fractures, and others have been seriously injured.

One of those injured is Monongalia County resident Ted Carter. Carter was a Medtronic defibrillator implanted Dec. 16, 2004, at Monongalia General Hospital in Morgantown. The device implanted was a Sprint Fidelis Lead Model Number 6949581D, which was recalled.

According to the suit, the Sprint Fidelis Lead in Carter’s body presents a serious ongoing health risk due to its defective design and manufacture.

According to the suit, the defibrillator can fracture and malfunction, and is defectively designed. It also fails to perform as safely as an ordinary patient would expect.

“Upon information and belief, as of Oct. 15, 2007, roughly 235,000 Sprint Fidelis Leads have been implanted,” the suit says. “172,000 of the leads have been implanted inside patients residing in the Unites States.”

The suit claims Medtronic knew of the dangers the defibrillator presented, and should have exercised reasonable care. The suit says the Sprint Fidelis Leads are uniformly defective because they possess the same potential for fracture or malfunction and, as a result, are subject to risk of resulting injury.

In the three-count suit, the class members, including Carter, seek to be compensated for negligence, breach of implied warranty of merchandise and medical monitoring. The medical monitoring program, funded by Medtronic, would provide testing, screening, services, research and education and a medical/legal registry to ensure the class members receive prompt and proper medical treatment

Just more than 10 months after Ashley Zauflik lost her left leg in a bus crash outside the Pennsbury High School East campus, a lawsuit was filed in Bucks County Court in Doylestown Wednesday morning on behalf of the teenager and her parents, Paul and Marguerite of Fairless Hills.

The suit names as defendants the Pennsbury School District, bus driver John McCleary and four companies involved in the design and manufacturing of the bus and its braking and acceleration systems.

The civil lawsuit, filed by high-profile Philadelphia personal injury attorney Tom Kline, claims Zauflik suffered 21 “severe and permanent” injuries in the Jan. 12 crash — from the loss of her left leg to “past and future embarrassment and disfigurement.”

Wednesday night Kline said the lawsuit was an attempt to hold several people and companies accountable for a combination of factors he said led to the crash.

He said his legal team would take sworn testimony from several officials and look at documentation of potentially similar bus accidents. However, he said he has not yet been given access to the school district’s vehicle maintenance and service records.

“We’ve got to dig further,” he said. Kline said the suit seeks financial compensation for Zauflik’s medical bills as well as pain and suffering and other injuries. No specific financial amount is in the suit.

“It’s an amount that needs to be set by a jury in the future,” he said.

The crash took place at about 2:20 p.m., when McCleary started bus No. 42 outside the Falls high school and the bus lurched forward and careened wildly, speeding forward for about a quarter mile before crashing into a stone retaining wall.

Zauflik, a 17-year-old Pennsbury junior at the time of the crash, is now a senior who is being home-schooled. She was one of 20 students, including three bus passengers, who were injured during the incident.

Investigations by the Falls police and the National Transportation Safety Board found the crash was caused by driver error, due to “unintentional acceleration.” McCleary wasn’t criminally charged.

The lawsuit claims that bus No. 42, a 1995 model built by Thomas Built Buses Inc. of North Carolina, was defective in its design and manufacture. The suit also claims the bus’s braking system, designed and manufactured by Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems of Ohio, was defective, along with the acceleration or throttle control, designed by Williams Controls Inc. of Oregon.

The suit charges Thomas Built and parent company, Freightliner LLC of Oregon, Bendix and Williams, with strict liability, breach of warranties and negligence.

Efforts to reach spokespeople for all four companies Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

The suit charges the Pennsbury School District with negligence, claiming the district failed to properly care for and maintain the bus and “failed to remove Bus 42 from service after it was involved in a sudden acceleration accident in 1994.”

Pennsbury spokeswoman Ann Langtry declined to comment on the lawsuit since it is a matter of litigation.

The suit charges McCleary with negligence, claiming that he “failed to maintain control [of the bus]” and “failed to prevent Bus 42 from leaving the roadway” and “failed to stop Bus 42 before striking pedestrians including [Zauflik].”

Efforts to reach McCleary for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful. He has declined to comment on the crash in the past.

The community has rallied behind Zauflik and McCleary with several fundraising efforts. The driver was suspended with pay while the district conducted its own investigation of the crash.

Zauflik, who recently underwent more surgery on her leg, wants to return to Pennsbury during her senior year, according to William Goldman Jr., a family attorney.

In cooperation with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Marvel Toys announced a toy recall of 175,000 Curious George plush dolls.

The surface paint on the plastic face of the toy and hat contains excessive levels of lead. Lead can be toxic if ingested by small children.

The toy recall includes Curious George 12 inch plush dolls with a plastic face. They come with different outfits: birthday, fireman, sweet dreams and tool time. The following product numbers are included in the recall and can be found on the packaging.

Birthday - 90253/ 8-83199-90253-5
Fireman - 90246/ 8-83199-90246-7
Sweet Dreams - 90247/ 8-83199-90247-4
Tool Time - 90251/ 8-83199-90251-1
Tool Time (soft face) - 90251/ 8-83199-90251-1

Consumers are advised to take the recalled toys away from children immediately and to contact Marvel Toys for a full refund.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Marvel Toys at (800) 352-2064 between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.regcen.com/curiousgeorge.

The vaccine Gardasil was introduced last year as a way to combat cervical cancer in women. It works by preventing an infection with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Now there are reports of girls having adverse affects after receiving the vaccine. One such report is from the family of a 12-year-old girl in Florida that had paralysis in one leg two weeks after receiving the first injection. The family is very upset and is looking for answers. Cronin says he can’t go after Merck with a lawsuit because Gardasil is now part of a federal fund which pays out to those injured from vaccines.

First Coast News has learned, Gardasil was added to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund just months after it hit the market. “The Federal government would not put it on the list without medical scientific justification,” says Cronin.

The girl has been undergoing physical therapy in the hopes that she will regain feeling in her leg and be able to resume her favorite activities.

A Miramar man is in serious condition after leading police on a five-mile chase and attempting to ram an officer’s police car. According to Miramar police, 24-year-old Clint John Wiest drove his gray Honda through a red light at the intersection of Miramar Parkway and Red Road at 1:40 p.m. Thursday.A Miramar police officer in a marked patrol car attempted to stop the driver.

Police said Wiest instead made a U-turn and came toward the officer “head on, attempting to side swipe him.”

The officer then attempted to stop the vehicle a second time and Wiest then tried running the officer off of the road multiple times.

The vehicle then sped off eventually causing a crash at Northwest 199th Street and Northwest 27th Ave., when the driver crashed into another vehicle and then hit a pole.

Wiest had to be extricated from the car using the Jaws of Life. He was then transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital by air rescue. He is charged with attempted aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer.

Police said they believe the reason Wiest fled was because he has multiple suspensions on his Florida driver’s license.

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel filed suit Tuesday against health-care product manufacturer Johnson & Johnson Inc. and two of its subsidiaries, accusing the drug makers of illegally promoting a popular antipsychotic medication.

The lawsuit, filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court, says the drug, Risperdal, is being prescribed to treat illnesses it isn’t approved for and the manufacturers have been misrepresenting its risks to patients.

Risperdal is the most widely used antipsychotic medication of its kind in the world, sales in 2005 amounting to $ 3. 5 billion, the lawsuit states.

The 35-page filing before Circuit Judge Timothy Fox comes about two months after McDaniel told the Legislative Council he planned to sue three major pharmaceutical manufacturers over what he said was a “marketing scheme” for antipsychotic drugs paid for by the state Medicaid program. The other two companies are Eli Lilly & Co. of Indianapolis and a European company, Astra Zeneca.

The lawsuit seeks to recover state money paid out on behalf of clients of Medicaid, patients of the Arkansas Department of Human Services and state employees and retirees through the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration’s employee benefits division.

The lawsuit claims the companies took advantage of state programs to promote the drug for nonmedically approved purposes and have also misled users about how well it works.

“Defendants have engaged in a direct illegal nationwide program of promotion of the use of Risperdal for non-medically necessary uses,” according to the lawsuit. “Defendants have conducted this program of promotion knowing that prescriptions for Risperdal are generally reimbursed by the state… programs even though such prescriptions may be written for non-medically necessary uses of Risperdal.

“ Defendants have falsely represented to the state, and to the public in general, that Risperdal is safer and more effective than less expensive, first-generation anti-psychotics.” The medication is federally approved to treat schizophrenia and some symptoms of bipolar disorder. But the companies have pushed it as a treatment for such conditions as attention deficithyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety, mood disorder and aggression associated with late-onset dementia, according to the lawsuit.

The companies also failed to adequately warn users that Risperdal’s side effects include diabetes, pancreatitis, hyperglycemia and cardiovascular complications, the lawsuit says. Further, the lawsuit says, the defendants have paid “key opinion leaders” to support the companies’ market claims for the drug.

The suit lists eight claims of action against the drug makers, including negligence, recovery of the cost of treatment for injuries caused by the drug and violations of the Arkansas Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act and the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

The lawsuit doesn’t say how much the state is seeking from the companies but notes that Arkansas has spent “millions” on the drug since its introduction in 1993.

The lawsuit is being handled by Bailey Perrin Bailey LLP of Houston, Texas. The firm, which is handling similar suits in six other states, will bear all the expenses in exchange for 15 percent of any award.

Twenty people, including 19 students and one adult, from Pembroke Pines are recovering in the hospital after their buses collided on the way from a field trip Tuesday afternoon. The crash happened in the eastbound lanes of Alligator Alley near Mile Marker 30.The Florida Highway Patrol said the first bus driver hit the brakes suddenly to avoid a construction cone in the road and was rear ended by the second bus which was following behind.

Jake Klomparens was on board the second bus.

“Everybody fell forward and I hit my head on the seat,” the 8-year-old told Local 10’s Roger Lohse.

The two charter buses were carrying 83 fourth graders from Pembroke Pines Charter Elementary school home from a field trip to the Billie Swap Safari in the Everglades.

Paramedics from several different agencies responded to the scene in the middle of the Everglades. Damage to the buses was minimal. The injured were transported to area hospitals with minor injuries.

The charter company that owned by buses brought in a third bus to take students who weren’t injured back to school.

Eastbound I-75 was closed for more than an hour as rescue workers treated the injured, while the Florida Highway Patrol investigated the crash.

Scientists are currently investigating Chantix, a drug manufactured by Pfizer Inc., that is meant to help smokers quit their habit.

More research is being done on the drug since there have been reports of increased thoughts of suicide and violent behavior in those taking the medications.

FDA Reports Risks

Earlier this week the FDA announced that more and more reports of erratic behavior in patients on the drug have been reported to them.

Even though these reports are new, the FDA has still issued a warning to health care providers and patients to be on the lookout for any erratic behavior.

Chantix sales reportedly reached $101 million last year in the U.S.

Chantix May Have Deadly Side Effects

The FDA has narrowed their investigation in on a death that is speculated to have been caused by the medication.

Carter Albrecht was a musician living in Dallas, when the medication allegedly altered his judgment and cost him his life.

Albrecht’s family is blaming Chantix and its producers for his unexpected death.

Reports explain that Albrecht was killed by his girlfriend’s neighbor when he went into a rage and tried to kick down the man’s door.

A grain bin collapsed and sent a tidal wave of corn into a home, sweeping it off its foundation, trapping a family of four and shaking the ground for miles.One man was taken to a hospital after being buried for hours in grain and debris.

The bin - about 100 feet in diameter, 90 feet high and containing more than 500,000 bushels of corn - collapsed Monday evening. The force of the grain broke the walls of Jesse and Jennifer Kellett’s home and sent the roof crashing down.

“The force actually took the house with the corn and shoved it and crushed it,” Dan Wesely, Henry County chief sheriff’s deputy, said Tuesday.

The Kelletts and their children, Jordan Walters, 13, and Cheyenne Walters, 8, were trapped. Jennifer Kellett and her daughter crawled out, but her husband and son - pinned by walls, wood and corn - had to be rescued.

Many residents of the southeastern Iowa town of 200 said they could hear the bin’s rivets giving way, sounding like machine-gun fire. Farmers miles away reported feeling the ground shake.

The grain bin is owned by Chem Gro. The bin was new, Wesely said, and officials are investigating the cause of the collapse. A telephone message left with the company Tuesday was not immediately returned.

Emergency crews reached Jesse and Jordan Walters and supplied them with oxygen lines.

“The thing was they had to move this corn, and it kept rolling in. They had to move a lot of corn back before they could get down and find out what was holding them in. That would be the lumber, walls and different things,” Wesely said.

Once free, Jordan Walters walked to an ambulance, where he was found to be uninjured. His father, rescued after about four hours, was taken to a hospital, which declined to release information about his condition.

“When it happened, my house shook, and I’m clear on the other end of this town,” Hillsboro resident Naomi Sanderson told the Hawk Eye newspaper of Burlington.