Miami Personal Injury Law Blog

The Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Fund, or NICA, was set up to provide an alternative to a medical malpractice lawsuit after a mistake during delivery causes serious injury to a newborn. Infants who were deprived of oxygen during birth - which can lead to severe brain damage and is often diagnosed as hypoxic brain injury or Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE), or those who suffered a spinal cord injury may be eligible for the program.

One Florida family recently tried to contest the recovery limits mandated by NICA. After a serious birth injury, NICA provides for a one-time payout of $100,000 to the parents or legal guardians of the child that suffered a birth injury. The couple who brought the case is raising a daughter who is dealing with substantial impairment due to a birth injury in 2007. Rather than receiving $200,000 as compensation for their losses, the couple received only $100,000. This was challenged as inadequate because there were two parents involved, violating their right to equal protection under the law.

As Miami Heat fans watched the game Thursday night, the patio deck at Shuckers Waterfront Grill collapsed into Biscayne Bay, with dozens of patrons crashing into the water.

Police arrived at Shuckers, located at North Bay Village, around 9:45pm after the deck collapsed with approximately 100 people on the waterfront patio deck. As many as two dozen people are reporting injuries.

By midnight Thursday, 15 people were transported to various South Florida hospitals and two were in serious condition. According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, one person might be missing.

Although the water was shallow, patrons were having difficulty getting out because wood, tables and other debris surrounded them.

According to witness, the fans were cheering during the game, and within seconds the deck gave way. Patrons and restaurant employees worked together to get people out of the water until fire rescue arrived.

By 11 p.m., a triage unit was set up in the parking lot. The collapse is still being investigated.

Frozen fruit that was the subject of a product recall last week has been linked to a hepatitis A outbreak, which has grown to 87 reported cases.

Townsend Farms recalled bags of its Organic Antioxidant Blend this month, which was sent to Costco and Harris Teeter stores, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The cases have been reported in eight states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Washington. Thirty-six people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

The CDC have evaluated 68 of the 87 reported cases, with 46 people reporting eating the fruit mix from Costco.

The outbreak has been traced to pomegranate seeds from Turkey that are in the fruit mix.

A Lauderdale Lakes man now calls Georgia home. He was left in a vegetative state, unable to move or to communicate other than through blinking his eyes after an anesthesia error left him without oxygen to his brain for approximately five minutes. The man is with family in Georgia now who, along with a care team, provides in-home comfort and care for him.

A Florida jury recently awarded him $27.5 million to cover his past and future medical expenses that have resulted from the improper monitoring of his vitals while under anesthesia. He was awarded an additional $5 million to attempt to cover his pain and suffering.