Ratley sustained brain damage in the beating. The newspaper did not report on the extent of the damage, but a nonprofit organization that counters teen violence says she has trouble writing her name and recognizing days of the week, suggesting serious damage. Her family had relied on Medicaid for part of her medical care, the newspaper said, but it won’t cover an indefinite stay at the rehab center. For that reason, her family decided to move her home and allow her to be treated as an outpatient. The move makes the best possible use of donations private parties have made toward her care, the family’s attorney said. Another fundraiser is planned for later this month. The teenager accused of beating her, 15-year-old Wayne Treacy, is charged as an adult with attempted first-degree murder, and 13-year-old Kayla Manson is charged as an accomplice in juvenile court.

This sad situation, in which money limits access to needed medical treatment, is unfortunately familiar to our West Palm Beach catastrophic injury lawyers. Brain injuries are extremely expensive to treat, reaching seven figures over a lifetime for more severely injured patients. Depending on their injuries, victims of brain injuries may need months or years of rehabilitation like Ratley is undergoing; long-term help with daily life; and long-term medical monitoring. Medicaid and Medicare have limits, as this story shows. To make matters worse, adult victims may no longer be able to do their jobs, which means they lose an income suddenly and perhaps permanently. This is a difficult financial burden for any family to carry. However, if the injury was someone else’s fault, victims may be able to recover the money they need from that person, or his or her insurance company, through a personal injury lawsuit.

Balliro offers free, confidential consultations, so you risk nothing by speaking to us about your case and your legal options. To set up a meeting, contact us through the Internet or call 1-866-INJURED toll-free from anywhere in Florida.

A spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Romeu admitted that he’d been drinking the night of the crash. Specifically, he told authorities that he’d had four rum and Cokes between 7 p.m. and midnight on May 7, including while he was behind the wheel as well as before. When Romeu set out into the Intracoastal Waterway, neither he nor his two passengers -- Christopher Smith and Smith’s 36-year-old sister, Alexandra Smith -- were wearing life jackets. When the boat hit the marker, Christopher Smith was thrown from the vessel. He was found dead in the water an hour later. The FWCC is currently investigating whether Romeu was intoxicated at the time of the crash, as well as whether he was in a restricted-speed area when the 30-mph crash happened.

As Miami wrongful death lawyers, we’re sorry to see reports about preventable deaths like this one. Florida law makes drinking and boating a crime just like drunk driving, but boaters don’t always pay attention. Because they’re away from obvious enforcement signs like police cruisers, and often boating in a party atmosphere, too many boaters don’t think they need to observe the same rules they’d observe to be safe on the road. Unfortunately, drinking and boating can be even more dangerous, especially when the victims are thrown off the ship. Even if they can swim, they can hit their heads and end up unconscious in the water, or even be sucked into boats’ propellers. Swimmers can also get tired after an hour or more of treading water. The result can be needless deaths or serious, permanent injuries.

If you have lost a loved one in Florida because of someone else’s carelessness, you should call Balliro to see how we can help. For a free evaluation of your case, you can reach us toll-free from anywhere in Florida at 1-866-INJURED or send us a message through our website.

Mas was reportedly driving a load of bleach from Tampa to Miami when the accident occurred. Broward Sheriff’s Office spokespeople said he was apparently driving too fast when he entered the exit from I-75 to U.S. 27 in Weston. The turn caused the cargo in the truck to shift, overbalancing the trainer and then overturning it. The truck skidded about 500 feet before it stopped. Passers-by helped get Mas out of the cab of the truck, and he was treated by fire rescue personnel at the scene before being flown to Broward General Medical Center. The accident also caused the tank on the truck to leak a small amount of the bleach it was carrying, which then mixed with oil. Cleaning it up required help from the hazardous materials team from Broward Sheriff’s Fire Rescue.

Our Miami-Dade tanker truck crash lawyers are pleased that this accident wasn’t worse, because it easily could have been. A large truck like this one weighs many tons, which means it can literally crush the average passenger car, pickup truck or SUV. Any other driver who happened to be nearby in morning rush-hour traffic could have been killed or badly injured by this crash. In addition, the bleach spill could have had toxic consequences for the people and environment nearby. Chlorine bleach, such as the kind we use in laundry, is safe in small amounts but can burn the skin and mucous membranes in larger concentrations. When very concentrated fumes are breathed, it can be toxic. It is also unsafe when large amounts are added to drinking water and will outright kill fish.

Balliro offers free consultations, so you risk nothing by speaking to us about your rights and your claim. To set up a free consultation, please send us a message online or call us toll-free from anywhere in Florida at 1-866-INJURED.

Before driving that day, Albury allegedly drank juice laced with GHB, which he got from a bodybuilder roommate who used the drug to stimulate growth hormones. His former attorney in the United States said he didn’t realize the juice was drugged; the roommate said Albury bought a gallon of the juice the day of the crash. At least 10 witnesses called 911 the day of the crash to report his swerving and dramatic changes in speed. After fleeing Florida, Albury was arrested in the Bahamas and jailed for 14 months. However, he’s currently out on bail while he appeals extradition to the Bahamian Supreme Court. That process could take years, the article said. The extradition treaty between the Bahamas and the United States means Albury may not face any additional charges if he is returned. Albury’s lawyer in the Bahamas said the 13-year sentence for DUI manslaughter was draconian.

As Miami auto accident lawyers, we imagine that Richard Sheppard must be feeling frustrated by the extreme slowness with which the wheels of justice are turning in his wife’s case. Prosecutors in Palm Beach County can’t do much until Albury exhausts his appeals in the Bahamas, which means there is literally nothing else that U.S. criminal authorities can do right now. However, the Sheppard family may still be able to seek justice through the civil courts, by suing Albury in absentia. A civil trial cannot put irresponsible drivers in prison, but it can give their victims a chance to put them on trial when the criminal justice system cannot or will not do so. It can also extract a penalty -- financial payment -- regardless of what may have happened in the criminal courts. Financial payments can never bring back a lost loved one, but they can help families place the responsibility for serious accidents where it belongs -- with the irresponsible, intoxicated drivers.

Balliro offers free consultations to all potential clients, so you risk nothing by speaking to us about your case and your legal options. To set one up, please contact us through the internet or call 1-866-INJURED toll-free from anywhere in Florida.

Maltez was under Kaplan’s treatment for about a year, after Rainbow Ranch changed his treatment from a team at Jackson Memorial Hospital, allegedly without his mother’s consent. Kaplan said in a deposition that he was told Maltez had been abandoned by his mother, which was not the case. However, Maltez did have physical and emotional outbursts that made him hard to control. Kaplan put the boy, who weighed 70 pounds, on adult doses of Zyprexa and Seroquel, both antipsychotics that were not approved for use in children. He also prescribed relatively high doses of the tranquilizer Klonopin and the mood stabilizer Depoakote. Two months later, caregivers started reporting that Maltez was sluggish in the mornings, and teachers reported him sleeping through class, which prompted an emergency room visit.

A number of Miami caregivers had expressed concerns by then that Kaplan’s patients were overmedicated, and no fewer than eight calls about Maltez had been placed to a state Department of Children and Families hotline. DCF, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities and the federal Agency for Healthcare Quality and Management all received complaints suggesting that Maltez was overmedicated, but each referred the case to another agency. On May 23, 2007, he died after getting into an altercation with a caregiver who restrained him on his stomach. After his death, the APD hired an outside psychiatrist who reported overmedication of 99% of Rainbow Ranch’s residents. Rainbow Ranch has since closed. Kaplan is still under scrutiny by several agencies, but is still in practice despite the Miami-Dade medical examiner’s office finding that Maltez died of overmedication.

As Fort Lauderdale wrongful death lawyers, we are disappointed that so many agencies couldn’t work together to take dangerous doctors away from their patients. As the article points out, doctors like Kaplan who take Medicaid’s notoriously small reimbursements are rare, which means administrators in homes like Rainbow Ranch can’t be very picky. That’s unfortunate, because children, disabled people and the elderly often can’t speak out when something is very wrong, as it may have been at Rainbow Ranch. Caregivers at homes and hospitals have to be the first line of defense when they notice shoddy care and intentional over-medication, and regulators need to step up when they get strong evidence that there’s a problem. If they don’t, tragedies like the needless death of Denis Maltez will continue to happen.

Balliro offers free, confidential consultations to all potential clients, so you can learn about your options and your rights at no further risk. To set one up, please contact us through the Internet or call toll-free from anywhere in Florida at 1-866-INJURED.

Hall’s lawsuit alleges that Shepherd’s Beach Resort over-served West on the night of the accident. Hall’s Florida drunk driving attorney says the bar ejected West for being grossly intoxicated, in fact. He also claims that employees of Shepherd’s helped West to his car, giving them actual knowledge that he was driving. It is not disputed that shortly after he left, West reached speeds of 90 mph before becoming airborne and hitting Hall, then fleeing. Police found West a short distance away. Hall suffered multiple serious injuries, including a shattered pelvis as well as the severed leg, and was not originally expected to survive. Three hours after the crash, West’s blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.188, more than twice the legal limit in Florida.

As West Palm Beach car crash attorneys, we know lawsuits against bars that serve drunk drivers can be controversial. Like many other states, Florida has a “dram shop” law allowing injured people to hold alcohol-serving establishments legally liable for accidents. In Florida, bars and restaurants are liable only if they “willfully” served a minor or someone who is “habitually addicted” to alcohol. (Other states set lower standards, holding businesses responsible for serving an obviously drunk person.) Habitual addiction may be difficult to prove, but in this case, Hall also alleges that Shepherd’s employees knew West was driving and even helped him into his vehicle, presumably because he was too drunk to make it on his own. If true, those allegations would make a very strong case that the bar was negligent.

If you were in an auto accident through no fault of your own, Balliro can help. To set up a free, confidential evaluation of your case, call us toll-free from anywhere in Florida at 1-866-INJURED or contact us through our Web site.

Sickle-cell disease causes red blood cells to change their shape, causing numerous circulatory problems and pain. It is a genetic disease that disproportionately affects African Americans. Sickle-cell trait appears in people who have only one of the two sickle-cell disease genes. Such people can live normal lives without realizing they have the condition, but during extreme physical exertion, their blood cells can sickle, causing a sudden lack of oxygen to organs. That was the case for Plancher, an otherwise fit 19-year-old. The lawsuit claims coaches didn’t make recommended accommodations for his condition, and ignored signs that he was struggling during the workout. It is not disputed that UCF knew about Plancher’s condition, but the two sides dispute whether Plancher himself knew, which is one reason the judge chose to appoint a special master to oversee pre-trial testimony of the coach and head athletic trainer.

As West Palm Beach wrongful death lawyers, we wish the Plancher family the best of luck. Sickle-cell trait is not well known outside of athletic circles, but it affects 1 in 12 African Americans. In fact, after the condition caused several 1970s-era military recruits to collapse during basic training, the Air Force temporarily banned recruits who had it. Athletic trainers and doctors have developed guidelines for protecting athletes with the condition. Included in those guidelines is a suggestion that coaches allow extra rest for athletes with the condition. Unfortunately, coaches who push their athletes hard may see genuine fatigue as malingering and penalize athletes for resting. In individuals with sickle-cell trait, this can be deadly. For coaches who know the athlete has sickle-cell trait, it may be negligence, leading to the kind of wrongful death claim UCF is now defending.

If your family has lost someone and you believe someone else’s carelessness is to blame, Balliro can help. To set up a free, confidential case evaluation, please contact us through the Internet or call 1-866-INJURED toll-free from anywhere in Florida.

LeVin, the son of a wealthy Chicago-area family, has more than 50 traffic violations and a drug possession conviction in Illinois. At the time of the crash, he was on probation for causing a high-speed chase that injured three people; he later served six months for violating that parole order by failing to complete drug treatment. Law enforcement knew quickly that LeVin’s Porsche had been involved in the accident, but couldn’t show that he was driving at the time. He claims Cook was driving. However, law enforcement believes it can show through cell phone records and other documented evidence that this is not true.

At 2:13 a.m. on Feb. 13, 2009, LeVin was pulled over in the Porsche and given a warning for having a loud exhaust. Cook was not in the vehicle, but cell phone records show him in another vehicle heading toward Tamarac. Five minutes later, security cameras showed the Porsche racing another car up A1A, and hitting Elford and Watkinson. Four minutes later, phone records show that Cook had turned around and headed for LeVin’s parents’ condo, where he picked up LeVin in his BMW. Police later spotted the two drivers and their cars together, but the Porsche sped away and was abandoned on a highway interchange ramp. They successfully pulled over the BMW and found LeVin inside.

We’re glad to see that law enforcement has managed to build a case prosecutors are comfortable with taking to court. As Fort Lauderdale wrongful death lawyers, we’re sorry to say that in hit-and-run crashes, police are frequently unable to find enough evidence to file charges. As this story shows, it’s not enough to identify the car; law enforcement must also connect a specific driver to that car at that particular moment. Because that’s not always easy -- and because most cases are not this high-profile -- families may have no access to the criminal justice system, even when they have a good idea of who the driver is. In those cases, their best option for seeking justice may be the civil courts, where they can file a wrongful death lawsuit instead of a criminal case.

If you’ve suffered a death in your family because of someone else’s carelessness, you should talk to Balliro about a wrongful death claim as soon as possible. To set up a free consultation, please call us toll-free from anywhere in Florida at 1-866-INJURED or contact us through the Internet.

Brito Marin’s clinic, Weston Medspa, also offers massage, manicures and tanning. Kah-Orukotan, a healthy mother of three, had taken advantage of those services before she came to Brito Marin for liposuction. But the Surgeon General’s order said the doctor had only an inadequate 18 hours of training in plastic surgery. He is accused of giving Kah-Orukotan too much of the anesthetic lidocaine and giving her a sedative called propofol without an anesthesiologist present, leading to what ABC’s Nightline described as seizures on the operating table. The state also said Brito Marin did not have the required “crash cart” full of life-saving equipment required at all surgeries. Instead, Kah-Orukotan was taken to an emergency room, where she was pronounced brain dead. Two weeks later, her husband made the terrible decision to remove her from life support.

The newspaper reported that the Broward Sheriff’s Office is considering criminal charges against Brito Marin, which are separate from the license suspension. However, as Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice lawyers, we know that the Orukotan family faces significant personal and financial hardship that criminal charges cannot solve. In addition to the emotional challenges of going on without a wife and mother, the family may face significant financial strain without her income. In fact, if they are not fully covered by medical insurance for Kah-Orukotan’s medical care, they may also face six-figure medical bills.

Balliro offers free, confidential case evaluations, so you should never worry about cost or obligations before calling us. To learn more and tell us about your case, please contact us through the Internet or call 1-866-INJURED today.