In reflection, one might legitimately ask the question:” has the adoption of the Florida Motor Vehicle No Fault Law in 1971 really achieved the goals it was intended for?”

If we simply accept the decision to do away with what we familiarly know as “PIP” (personal injury protection), then the answer is a resounding “no”. When the hatchet was to have fallen in October 2007 on PIP it was abruptly placed way back on the back burner.

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A recent survey found a decline in the number of Florida drivers and passengers buckling up. This trend concerns me since I know from first hand experience that safety belts save lives. One saved mine.

When I was a twenty-year old college student, I was in a horrific crash. A tire blowout caused the van I was traveling in to flip rear-over-front six times, taking out 30 feet of guardrail before hitting a bridge. The roof sheered off, littering the highway with the entire contents of the van. I remained inside the vehicle, strapped in by my safety belt.

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First it was the Engle case. You may remember that this is the case in which the Florida Supreme Court vacated a punitive damage verdict against Big Tobacco in the amount of $145 billion. The Supreme Court, however, also ruled that thousands of Florida smoking victims could file individual lawsuits against Big Tobacco and made some significantly damaging findings. The Florida Supreme Court found as a matter of fact and probably as a matter of law that smoking cigarettes causes:

• Lung cancer
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Coronary artery disease
• Bladder cancer
• 12 other known disease

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There are few things we as people endure that are worse than losing a member of our family. The sense of loss, hurt, and anguish, however, is only magnified when a family member’s death was due to the negligence of someone else. What all-too-often causes even more heartache is the surviving family member’s discovery that the loss they have endured may not be recognized, i.e. compensable, under Florida law. Many people who have lost close family members as a result of the negligence of someone else have been surprised to learn that Florida law only allows for a financial recovery on behalf of certain surviving family members.

In Florida, the recovery of money damages by the surviving relatives for the death of a family member as the result of the negligence of another party is governed by Florida’s Wrongful Death Act (“Act”). According to the Act, the recovery of money damages is limited to the “survivors” of the deceased family member. The Act offers what would seem to be a fairly straightforward definition of who will constitute a deceased family member’s “survivors.” The Act defines survivors, in part, as “the decedent’s spouse, children, parents, and, when partly or wholly dependent on the decedent for support or services, any blood relatives and adoptive brothers and sisters.” Although the identification of a decedent’s survivors is ordinarily an easy enough task, it is critical for the lawyer representing the bereaved family to have a firm understanding of the relationship between family law principles and the Wrongful Death Act.

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There has been a significant amount of press about recalls of toys that contain illegal levels of lead paint. These recalls have hit a chord with the public, because it underscores the fact that products for our children made by even the most well known companies are being manufactured in China without appropriate oversight. Obviously, any toys that are subject to the recall should be returned. However, if the paint is not removed from the toy, generally there is no substantial danger. The litigation related to lead paint cases generally involved children that were exposed to homes and buildings that had deteriorating paint or paint that was intentionally scraped off during construction, so that its particles were inhaled by the children. Thus, hopefully these toys will not ultimately cause any significant personal injury to young children.

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According to an October 1, 2007, USA Today article, federally funded health centers are piloting a program that allows pharmacists more “hands on” patient care. In fact, in this program, the focus of the pharmacist is not limited to the actual filling of prescriptions, but now has expanded to ordering lab work, monitoring lab work and actually writing prescriptions.

Testing this program on primarily indigent and homeless patients at the JWCH Medical Clinic at the Weingart Center on Los Angeles’ Skid Row certainly has some dispassionate appeal. This expansion of a pharmacist’s role is a bi-product of Congress’ Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which created a drug benefit for Medicare patients. However, the phrase “sounds good on paper” comes to mind. In the wake of recent cases and media reports of serious injuries and deaths (Hippely and Gerhke cases) arising out of prescriptions filling errors, one wonders whether expansion of a pharmacist’s role is wise. We need a clearer picture as to just how effectively the industry is managing its current responsibilities.

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