Our Victories*
Medication Errors
In excess of $13,000.000.00| confidential settlement
An overdose of medicine by a health care provider caused permanent brain damage and coma
In excess of $450,000.00 settlement | Palm Beach l Palm Beach county, Florida
An elderly gentleman with Kidney disease was suffering from high cholesterol and high triglycerides. The nurse practitioner that was treating him prescribed a combination of simvastatin, more commonly known as Zocor and gemfibrizole, more commonly known as Lopid in amounts much higher than recommended by the pharmaceutical companies that make the drugs. The drug overdose caused a condition called rhabdomyolosis in which muscle tissue dissolved and entered his bloodstream. Because he was already suffering from kidney disease, the muscle contents in his bloodstream caused his kidneys to permanently shut down. He ultimately needed a kidney transplant. The defense claimed our clients kidney’s were so badly damaged before the overdose that he was going to need a kidney transplant anyway.
In excess of $300,000.00 settlement | Lakeland l Polk County, Florida
A man over 80 was suffering from Parkinson’s disease. He was the victim of pharmacy malpractice when he received the wrong medicine from the mail order pharmacy that had been sending him his Parkinson’s medication. The prescription refill medication looked like the medicine he was supposed to receive. After taking the wrong medicine for a couple of weeks, he started getting very lethargic and his heart beat became irregular. He was put in the hospital and he had to have a pacemaker put in to stimulate his heart to beat regular. After the surgery the medication error was finally discovered. His doctor concluded the wrong medication he was receiving caused the irregular heart beat and as a result he underwent unnecessary surgery.
Nursing Homes and Adult Living Facilities
$1,700,000.00 settlement | Manatee county, Florida | Bradenton
An elderly woman was admitted from the hospital to a nursing home. Her admitting diagnosis included dementia, difficulty swallowing, the need for supervision while eating, and the need for a ground or pureed diet. The nursing home staff testified the facility was understaffed, that they did not have time to supervise the residents while eating, and that they had complained to management about the problems, and that management did not provide more help. The lady was not given a ground or pureed diet and she was left unattended while eating. As a result, she choked on her food the first three meals she received. On the evening of day one, a family member found her gagging on a hotdog that was not ground or pureed. On the second day at lunchtime a nurse found her unattended in her room choking on food that was not ground or pureed. The nurse actually saved the women’s life by performing the Heimlich maneuver. That evening she was found dead in her room. An autopsy revealed she choked to death on a large piece of meat that was not pureed.
$750,000.00 settlement | Polk County, Florida | Lakeland
An elderly gentleman that lived in a nursing home began complaining of pain in his leg. The family noticed his foot was warm and notified the nursing home staff. Although the nursing home records document the doctor was called, she never came to evaluate the leg. The doctor testified her office never received the call. Over the next two weeks the nursing home documented red streaks running from the foot to the knee, increasing pain in the foot and leg, and black rotting skin on the toes. Although he was finally sent to the hospital, it was not in time. The man was severely dehydrated and the lack of blood flow to the foot had caused severe gangrene. His leg was amputated and he died from the stress about a month later. Nursing staff testified the facility was understaffed, they did not have time to provide quality care to the residents, they had complained to management about the situation, and management had refused to increase staffing. The nursing home claimed that providing care earlier would not have made a difference to the man’s outcome.
$450,000.00 settlement | Polk county, Florida | Lakeland
An elderly woman living in a nursing home needed a wheelchair to get around. If someone in her condition is not turned and repositioned every two hours, the pressure prevents blood flow from getting to the skin and muscles. As a result, pressure sores can develop. Because the woman could not turn and reposition herself in bed and the wheelchair, she relied on the nursing home staff to turn her and relieve the pressure on her skin. She and her family indicated the nursing home staff failed to turn and reposition her. As a result, the lack of blood flow caused the skin and muscles on her buttocks to die. She developed a stage IV pressure sore on her coccyx with rotting tissue all the way to the bone. Nursing home records failed to document turning and repositioning on a consistent basis. The nursing home claimed her condition was unavoidable because of her other medical conditions.
$450,000.00 settlement | Orange county, Florida | Orlando
An elderly woman with dementia living in a nursing home relied on a wheelchair to get around the nursing home. Her nursing home chart documented many falls from the wheelchair. No additional safety precautions were put in place as a result of the falls. Although her chart documented frequent and increasing complaints of shoulder pain and an inability to raise her arm, the complaints were not relayed to her doctor for several months. By the time the woman was sent to a shoulder surgeon her shoulder was froze and could not be repaired. The surgeon had to permanently fuse the woman’s shoulder so she could not move her arm at the shoulder. She also developed stage II pressure sores.
$225,000.00 settlement | Hillsborough county, Florida | Tampa
A woman with dementia that was confined to a wheelchair was living in a nursing home. She had fallen out of her wheelchair in the nursing home multiple times without serious injury. To prevent future falls, her doctor ordered a special seat belt with a Velcro release to keep her in her chair. The records from the nursing home documented the Velcro lap belt was not consistently used. In addition the family testified they would often find their mother in her wheelchair without the belt. Several months after the belt was ordered, she was found at the base of her wheelchair with a broken femur at the hip.
Boating Accidents
In excess of 7 million dollar verdict | Pinellas county, Florida | Clearwater Beach
A Seadoo boat owner took her friends out for a pleasure trip in the ocean off of Clearwater. Dolphins began jumping around the boat while it was in a channel. The boat owner stopped the boat so everyone could watch the dolphins. Our client thought the boat was in deep water because the dolphins had to have enough depth to jump. He therefore dove head first into the water as he had done on several other occasions in the presence of the boat owner. Unfortunately, several minutes had gone by before he decided to dive off the boat. During that time a strong current caused the boat to drift into shallow water. The murkiness made it look like it was still in deep water. Our client hit his head on the bottom causing burst fractures in his neck and spine. His spinal cord was permanently damaged. As a result he is a quadriplegic. We retained an expert on boat safety. He testified at trial that the owner of the boat was negligent because she did not teach her passenger the proper way to enter the water from a boat is feet first, she did not anchor the boat, she did not keep a look out for the drift of the boat, and she did not warn that the boat had drifted out of the channel markers.
Automobile Accidents
1 million dollar settlement | Tampa, Florida | Hillsborough County
Our client was driving her car in the lane closest to the curb. There were three lanes of travel in her direction. Traffic blocked the view of her car by oncoming vehicles. A truck driving in the lane next to our client stopped and waived a driver going in the opposite direction to turn in front of it. The driver turned in front of the truck, continued through our client’s lane without stopping, and collided with our client’s car. The car accident made our clients pre existing back injury much worse. Her physicians testified her back pain after the accident was caused by the car accident. She underwent spine fusion surgery for her lower back. The surgery was not completely successful because she was still in pain and needed a fentanyl pain patch on a daily basis. The case settled on the second day of trial after our experts testified.
In excess of $480,000.00 dollar verdict | Pinellas county, Florida | Tarpon Springs
Our client stopped her Ford Explorer SUV behind a school bus so children could cross. A woman driving over 60 miles an hour in a van failed to stop for the school bus and slammed into the back of our client’s vehicle. Our client herniated a disc in her neck at C5-6, tore the rotator cuff and labrum in her shoulder, developed a hemotoma on her thigh and damaged the TMJ joint in her jaw. She underwent neck surgery to repair the herniated disc and fuse her spine, two shoulder surgeries to repair her shoulder, and a surgery to drain the blood from the hematoma on her thigh. The jury awarded her damages for lost wages, past and future medical expenses, and pain and suffering.
$125,000.00 settlement | Sarasota County, Florida | Sarasota
Our client was stopped in traffic when the car behind him failed to stop. The collision caused a herniated disc in our clients neck. He ultimately underwent spinal neck fusion surgery. The defense claimed he had a pre existing degenerative condition in his neck and that the auto accident did not cause the need for neck surgery.
Negligent Security
$12 million verdict | Hillsborough county, Florida | Tampa
The husband of our client was shot and killed outside a bar. He was trying to stop a fight that began in the bar parking lot. We filed a wrongful death suit against the bar alleging that previous problems on the property put the bar on notice it should have had better security, and it should have prevented and or broken up the fight. The damages awarded in the verdict to the man’s wife and young child included pain and suffering and economic damages.
Work Place Accidents
3 Million dollar settlement | Pinellas county, Florida | Clearwater
Our clients wife was working in a factory that makes batteries. When the battery paper was running out, her supervisor taught her to thread the machine with new battery paper while the machine was running. While threading the machine with new battery paper, her hair became entangled in the moving parts of the machine pulling her scalp off her head causing her death. A wrongful death lawsuit was filed alleging the machine was negligently designed, the guard gates were recklessly left off the machine, and the machine was recklessly allowed to run while changing paper in order to produce more batteries. The company had been cited in the past for having the guard gate off in the exact location where the woman’s hair became entangled in the machine. In addition, employees testified the guard gate had been off on this occasion for quite some time and that management knew it. Lastly, the supervisor testified that he taught the employee to keep the machine running while changing the paper so there would be no down time and he could meet quota for the number of batteries to be produced each day. The damages sought included economic damages for the estate and pain and suffering damages for the woman’s husband and three children.
Premises Liability
$225,000.00 dollar settlement | Polk county, Florida | Lakeland
Our client was sitting in a chair in a restaurant eating her lunch when her chair suddenly collapsed. An examination of the chair revealed it was so old the joints had rusted away causing them to fail. The other chairs in the restaurant were in a similar condition and were wobbly due to the failing joints. A lawsuit against the restaurant was filed for negligently failing to routinely inspect the chairs and replace them as they aged. Our client’s injuries included rotator cuff damage to her shoulder and neck disc herniations. She underwent shoulder surgery and neck fusion surgery. The defense claimed the restaurant was not responsible for finding defects in the chair, that the chair was negligently made by the manufacturer and that our client’s injuries were caused by wear and tear on her body over the years of her life and not the fall from the chair.
$135,000.00 dollar settlement | Hillsborough county, Florida | Tampa
Our client was walking down the steps of the outside stairwell of his apartment complex when the last step gave way. He injured his low back and underwent laser discectomy surgery. An examination of the broken stair revealed the bolt holding it in place had rusted out due to old age. A lawsuit against the apartment complex was filed because the stairwell was not properly maintained. The apartment complex claimed falling only one step could not cause a disc herniation and that our clients injuries were caused by lifting and bending at work. A mistrial occurred during the second day of trial. A settlement was reached just before the beginning of the new trial.
$135,000.00 dollar settlement | Sarasota county, Florida | Sarasota
Our client was walking down the stairs of a chair rental hut on the Sarasota beach when she fell. She experienced immediate neck pain. An examination of the stairs revealed they were in violation of the building code because the height and width of the stairs were not uniform throughout. Our client was diagnosed with a herniated disc in her neck that required her to undergo neck fusion surgery.
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*Not all results obtained by the Distasio Law Firm are provided here. These results are not necessarily representative of results obtained by the firm in all cases and we cannot promise any specific outcome of a case. The individual facts and circumstances of your case may differ from the facts and circumstances described in the representative cases. Some of the results were obtained while Attorney Scott Distasio was a partner at another firm.