Miami Injury Attorney Blog

Last month, the Sacramento Superior Court handed down a $29 million verdict in the wrongful death lawsuit of an elderly woman who died as a result of a nursing home failing to provide adequate care. The 79-year-old died from untreated bedsores. Her death followed a slip and fall accident at the nursing home that caused her to break her hip.

Nursing homes in Miami-Dade and Broward offer a service that allows elderly and sick patients to receive healthcare services in a professional manner. Unfortunately, there are still many instances where abuse and negligence happens at the hands of nursing home professionals - even though Florida and federal laws have been passed to try to prevent it. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are suppose to provide 24-hour supervision and a safe, secure place for the elderly to live in peace.

The nursing home and elder abuse attorneys of Gamba & Lombana have seen abuse by nursing homes happen in a variety of ways, including physical, verbal and sexual, improper medication administered, theft of personal property, and unsanitary conditions.

Continue reading "Negligence at Nursing Home Leads to $29 Million Verdict" »

Last month, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, introduced a bill that would ban the sale of baby cribs throughout the country, including in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Since 2000, these defective cribs, that feature a movable side rail, have been attributed to the deaths of at least 32 infants and toddlers and suspected in the deaths of 14 others from suffocation and strangulation.

In the past five years, more than seven million drop-side defective cribs have been recalled, and many larger retailers like Wal-Mart have already discontinued selling them. Unfortunately, many defective and dangerous cribs can still be found for sale on the Internet, and in use in day care centers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission hopes to have the ban in place by the end of year.

When a consumer purchases a product for their child, he or she believes that what they are buying is a product that adheres to the highest safety standards and that it won't harm, or worse, kill their infant. Lately, it seems that too many defective child products - cribs, strollers, medicine - are injuring our youngsters. It is an incredibly traumatic experience to have a child injured or killed by a faulty or defective product, an experience no person should have to endure.

Continue reading "Cribs sold throughout South Florida may be banned under new legislation" »

A man who was aboard the Staten Island Ferry that crashed into a pier last month has filed a lawsuit against the City of New York for $5 million for injuries suffered. The ferry boat accident injured more than three dozen passengers. In 2003, the same ferry boat malfunctioned and was involved in a similar accident, resulting in the death 11 people and injuring a dozen others.

As residents of South Florida, we are fortunate enough to be able to enjoy a multitude of water related activities. Recreational boating, jet skiing, charter fishing, and leisure boat tours are all ways that Miami-Dade and Broward county residents, and its visitors, can enjoy the Atlantic Ocean and its beaches.

With the summer in full swing though, boating and water vessel accidents are an unfortunate reality - whether by human error or mechanical failure. News stories about accidents caused by negligent behavior are unusually common, and South Florida residents and tourists need to be aware that they have rights if a regrettable situation should happen.

Continue reading "Boating Accident Leads to $5 Million Lawsuit Against City" »

Medical malpractice in South Florida often results in doctors having to face penalties from their medical associations. Last week, the Florida Board of Medicine levied a $5,000 fine on a Coral Springs surgeon Bernard Zaragoza for removing a patient's healthy kidney instead of his gallbladder during an operation in 2007. The surgery took place in Broward county's Northwest Medical Center, and the patient died three weeks later because of heart failure. While the board found that the doctor was not being careless or inept, it could not dismiss the case because a state hearing officer issued a ruling that said removal of a kidney is not a complication of gallbladder surgery, as the doctor's attorney had argued. The 83-year-old patient had an unusual anatomy - his kidney was located where his gallbladder should have been.

A Northwest Medical Center administrator was forced to report the wrong-organ removal to the Agency for Health Care Administration, a requirement for serious errors. The AHCA then notified the Department of Health.

Continue reading "Broward Surgeon Fined for Removing Healthy Kidney Instead of Gallbladder" »

Last month, the Miami medical malpractice attorneys of Gamba & Lombana filed a lawsuit against the University of Miami on behalf of a victim of alleged hospital negligence. The lawsuit stated that University of Miami doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami Medical Center failed to give proper post-operative care to Pablo Portieles. Portieles, who initially was treated for a gunshot wound, was placed in a post-operative care unit where his deteriorating condition, including an injured spleen, went unrecognized and untreated by physicians. This led to Portieles to go into a cardio-pulmonary arrest causing permanent brain damage. He is currently in a minimally conscious state and is residing at a rehabilitative facility where he remains bedridden and unable to speak, walk, eat or perform any daily living activities.

The medical negligence lawsuit names the University of Miami, various physicians, and the Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County, the governing body of Jackson Memorial Hospital. Damages are sought for Portieles' injuries and for the past and future suffering of his wife.

Continue reading "South Florida Medical Malpractice Attorneys File Lawsuit Against University of Miami on Behalf of Comatose Patient" »