I have been asked by friends and family: “how do you pick a trial lawyer?”

I even have those calls about my friend needing a lawyer and wanting the “meanest, nastiest lawyer you know”.

So, how do you pick a lawyer or law firm?

Should you base it on a law firm’s commercials? Do you base it on how much the lawyer says they can get you? Do you base it on a firm’s website or their print materials? Do you ask around to friends and people you trust?

A law firm may advertise on television, but let’s be honest, that is largely to keep their name in your mind or in the mind of the public as a whole. If the law firm “promises” something in the ad, ask yourself if it is really something they can promise.

What was the case about?

These are all meaningless and statements of utter nonsense without the really important information:

• What were Bill’s injuries?
• How much were Bill’s medical bills and lost wages?
• How long did it take to settle Bill’s case?
• Would it have been smarter and more beneficial to Bill if he had gone to trial and had an experienced trial lawyer in the courtroom?

After over 35 years working for insurance companies and lawyers, I can tell you with absolute certainty that settling someone’s case for $361,000 when it is actually worth $750,000, for example, is easy. Any neophyte can settle a case for a fraction of its value and insurance companies love dealing with law firms and lawyers who settle their clients’ cases for only a fraction of the real value.

It requires attorneys with special skills and loyalty to clients to recommend cases not be settled for dimes on the dollar. It requires lawyers skilled in the courtroom with real trial experience to recommend a client take their case to a jury to receive fair compensation for their loss or injury.

When you need a competent attorney who will look out for your best interests first, you should have the following information to consider:

Education. Where did the attorney go to school and where is that school rated in terms of other law schools. What grades did the attorney receive? Where the lawyer received their degree is an important piece of information, but much like any other professionals; I have known unqualified lawyers who went to Harvard and highly competent lawyers who went Youngstown State Law School.

What types of law have you practiced? Hiring a lawyer to handle a matter that may go to trial when she has been doing real estate closing for the past 10 years is probably not the best selection. Ask what other firms they have practiced with and what made them come here to their present firm.

Are you “board certified”? Have you received any awards for superior practice? Are you included in “Best Lawyers”?

How much experience have they had with a case like yours? Experienced lawyers can usually rattle off several similar cases. They can also, usually, provide descriptions detailed enough while avoiding disclosing client confidences.

Who works with them? Do they have a secretary dedicated only to them? Do they have a paralegal? Do they have research attorneys? What other resources do they have at their disposal for which they will not charge you an additional cost?

How much in settlement or verdict did you get for your clients in those cases. Sometimes cases are settled with confidential settlements and in those cases the attorney may not discuss amounts; but qualified attorneys typically have plenty of case examples.

Who, besides the attorney, can you speak to about your case?

How long will my case take to conclude? The majority of cases are settled for amounts fair to all concerned, but some cases have to be taken to trial. Some defendants are not reasonable. Most experienced attorneys will give you a range of months to years.

What is your fee? Find a competent firm willing to handle your personal injury case on a “contingent fee” basis and who will pay the costs in the case until you make a recovery. Find one that will agree, in writing, to charge you a fee and costs only if you make a recovery.

Ask anything else you think will help you feel the attorney is competent and can help you with your case. Check out the firm’s website and see if they and the attorney seem to have the experience they claim.

Then…make your best judgment; but never stop asking questions.

For the tenth year, at 8:30 in the morning on Sunday, December 16, 2012, Jack Hairston III, affectionately known as “Jack the Bike Man”, opened the large overhead door of his warehouse to welcome a large crowd of families. They had all been gathered there before sunrise for a chance to receive one of 1000 new or refurbished children’s bicycles. Jack’s bicycle charity for kids has given the gift of “freedom”, which only a bike can give to so many needy children in our community.

As we gathered to help Jack distribute his bikes, those new to this tradition tried to make sense of the chaos of people gathered outside Jack’s nondescript warehouse in West Palm Beach. Families and their young children dutifully formed a line and received a numbered ticket which they could redeem for a bicycle; indeed, some families received as many as six tickets!  The parents or older siblings clutch these tickets in their hands, some for a couple of hours, until they reached the front of the line. There, they were met by volunteers who fitted the children with bicycle helmets, mandatory for children in Florida. Once fitted, they proceeded to the next line, where they were greeted by Santa and had their pictures taken. After that, additional volunteers ushered them through finding just the right bike. This process was at times difficult. In fact, at times it was nothing more than controlled chaos as volunteers handed small bikes over the heads of families anxiously awaiting this moment. Finally, the moment of truth, as a glowing smile appeared on the face of a young boy or girl as they sat on their new bicycle. On this day, Jack and his volunteers would experience at least 750 of these magical moments, one for each bike given away.

As we collected our thoughts at the end of the day, we all experienced the true meaning of giving – making a direct impact on our community for those less fortunate. In a world in which we know all too well that tragedy and sadness can strike without warning, Jack took the sadness away and gave us all a new view on what is really important.

“Now I’ve been crying lately,

thinking about the world as it is

why must we go on hating,

why can’t we just live in bliss”

-Cat Stevens

‘Peace Train’

While I certainly share in the singer/songwriters desire for peace and am moved when I hear this song, it is the above passage from his song that too often jumps to the forefront of my mind in the current day and age.

A few days ago, I read of the poignant story about a child who was permanently brain damaged after he was struck by a line drive off a metal bat while he was playing in a Little League Baseball game in New Jersey.

One second he was pitching; the next second he had stopped breathing – and for the next 15-20 minutes his brain was deprived of oxygen.  Good Samaritans tried CPR until paramedics took over.  His life was saved, but the oxygen deprivation left the boy permanently brain damaged; a condition that leaves him unable to perform any functions of daily life on his own and one that will require full time care for as long as he lives.

Tragic.  Devastating.  Consult the thesaurus for synonyms, and all would apply here.

I was able to read this story, as I do most of the news stories I read now, online. But I also did something that I normally do not do, and that is, to continue on to the comment section to see what folks had to say about this sad story.

Appalling.  Nauseating.  Consult the thesaurus for synonyms, and all would apply here.

Fortunately, at the time I read the article, there were only 7 comments.

And here are some of the things that people – fellow human beings (although based upon what these people said that certainly is now debatable) – had to say:

• “the boy wasn’t fast enough to catch the ball …”
• “I feel bad for the kid, but that’s just sports …”
• “sorry for the kid, but that is sports …”
• “it’s sad that this boy was injured.  It’s more sad that the manufacturer and retailer settled and are paying out such a large sum of money.”

And while it is true that the focus of the story was the fact that the boy and his family received $14.5 million dollars in settlement of their lawsuit against the makers of the metal bat and the retail store that sold the metal bat, and while lawsuits as a topic in this current age of tort-reform mania no doubt elicits strong feelings, hate-filled comments such as these follow just about every on-line news story that appears.

Naturally, this is not an indictment of freedom of speech and an individual’s right to say what he is thinking.  Rather, this is the memorialization of a realization that dawns on me anew nearly every day -   we live in a world, and an age, filled with hate.  And the hate is intense, and the haters are vocal.  And the intensity of their hatred is increasing daily, and the legion of haters is  growing exponentially by the day too.

And while inside I weep when I read sad story after sad story, day after day, about misfortunes that befall our fellow human beings, I also weep for the state of our world.  A world that is consumed with hate, a hate so extant that people would actually feel more sorry for the manufacturers of a metal bat who settled a lawsuit than for a boy who is now permanently brain damaged, and have no reservations about saying so.

On Friday, June 15, 2012, President Obama announced a two year reprieve from deportation for young adults who were brought to the United States as children. Annually, 3 million students graduate from US high schools; 65,000 are undocumented. I was one of them. I was born in Honduras and brought to the United States by my mother as a child when I was ten years old. Since I was 14 years old, I dreamed of becoming an attorney. I graduated high school with a 3.4/4.0 GPA, a Criminal Justice Certificate and fifteen college credits, but I could not go to college because I was undocumented.

Fortunately for me, in 2007, I was granted Temporary Protective Status which allows immigrants to remain in the United States temporarily because it is unsafe for them to return to their home country. I was able to work legally and to attend college with Temporary Protective Status. Still, I was not eligible for any federal aid therefore I worked full time and went to Florida Atlantic University full time, graduating in 2010.  I will be starting Law School this August.

President Obama’s new change in immigration policy will temporarily benefit more than 800,000 young adults nationally. It will temporarily benefit 200,000 young adults in Florida. But, it will not grant a pathway to permanent status. Consequently, Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois has been urging the U.S. Congress for the last decade to pass the DREAM Act which would allow a select group of undocumented students who have proved themselves as well as students with great potential to contribute more fully to America.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNkhv7rZRpE&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

The DREAM Act would give these students a chance to earn a pathway to citizenship if they:

• Came to the U.S. as children (15 or under)
• Are long-term U.S. residents (continuous physical presence for at least five years)
• Have good moral character
• Graduate from high school or obtain a GED
• Complete two years of college or military service in good standing
• Be under the age of 29 years old when the bill becomes law.

The DREAM Act has broad bipartisan support in Congress and from United States citizens. In the 111th Congress, the DREAM Act passed the House and received a strong bipartisan majority vote from 55 Senators. But the bill failed to reach the 60-vote threshold necessary to end debate on the Senate floor on December 2010.

My experience with the immigration system has inspired me to pursue a career as an immigration attorney. I desire to help others to pursue their passion, to fight for their dreams, and to make a positive difference so we may find a pathway to citizenship.

Approximately 308,000 Florida kids miss out on free meals during the summer.  Fewer low-income children across the country received free or discounted meals during the 2011 summer break than a year earlier despite steady increases nationwide in the number of children dependent on subsidized meals.

Reduced participation could be because too few parents and families know the meals are available when school lets out.  Because of a lack of marketing, Florida – which got $23.3 million in federal funding for children’s summer meals in 2011 – leaves $20 million more unused.  Almost twice as many needy children could get free or discounted meals if their parents knew about the program.

Summer meals are available to any child 18 or younger.  Unlike the school year lunch program, which requires a child to meet federal poverty guidelines, any child who visits a designated meal distribution site can be served.

In the Palm Beach County area, here are just some of the schools who participate:

1:  Westgate Elementary
1545 Loxahatchee Drive West Palm Beach, FL 33409
PALM BEACH
(561)684-7110
Dates: 06/11/2012 – 08/03/2012
Breakfast: 08:00 am – 08:30 am
Lunch: 10:30 am – 11:00 am
Supper: -
Eligibility: Open Site

2:  Bear Lakes Middle School
3505 Shendoah Drive West Palm Beach, FL 33409
PALM BEACH
(561)615-7713
Dates: 06/11/2012 – 07/26/2012
Breakfast: 08:30 am – 09:00 am
Lunch: 11:30 am – 12:00 pm
Supper: -
Eligibility: Open Site

3:  Gold Coast Community School
4260 West Gate Avenue West Palm Beach, FL 33409
PALM BEACH
(561)687-6310
Dates: 06/11/2012 – 07/26/2012
Breakfast: 08:45 am – 09:15 am
Lunch: 12:30 pm – 12:45 pm
Supper: -
Eligibility: Open Site

4:  A Taste of Love
4260 Westgate Avenue West Palm Beach, FL 33409
PALM BEACH
(404)993-1701
Dates: 06/11/2012 – 08/09/2012
Breakfast: -
Lunch: -
Supper: 04:00 pm – 05:00 pm
Eligibility: Open Site

5:  Westgate Community Center
3691 Oswego Avenue West Palm Beach, FL 33409
PALM BEACH
(561)694-5455
Dates: 06/18/2012 – 08/10/2012
Breakfast: -
Lunch: 12:00 pm – 01:00 pm
Supper: -
Eligibility: Open Site

6:  Our World Learning Center
1650 North Military Trail West Palm Beach , FL 33409
PALM BEACH
(561)460-8779
Dates: 06/11/2012 – 08/17/2012
Breakfast: 08:30 am – 09:30 am
Lunch: 11:30 am – 01:30 pm
Supper: -
Eligibility: Open Site

7:  Word of Life
2749 Exchange Court West Palm Beach, FL 33409
PALM BEACH
(561)502-0853
Dates: 06/11/2012 – 08/10/2012
Breakfast: -
Lunch: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Supper: -
Eligibility: Open Site

8:  Academy For Little People
4639 North Military Trail West Palm Beach, FL 33409
PALM BEACH
(561)684-7772
Dates: 06/11/2012 – 08/10/2012
Breakfast: 08:30 am – 09:30 am
Lunch: -
Supper: -
Eligibility: Open Site

Searcy Denney Attorney, Brenda Fulmer and her family helped the Palm Beach County Food Bank feed more than 800 families this past weekend at Village Baptist Church in West Palm Beach.

Several times each month, volunteers spend their Saturday processing hundreds of pounds of produce that have been donated or obtained through the charity’s gleaning operations at various farming locations in the area. The volunteers are also involved in loading vehicles with meat, bread, fruits, vegetables, and non-perishable items.  In the first 12 days of May of 2012, the PBC Food Bank collected and distributed more than 400,000 pounds of food to local families and charities.

According to the Food Bank, the need is much greater than anyone realizes and the numbers prove it:

Recent data tell us why hunger in Palm Beach County is today at record levels:

• 10% unemployment for the last several years
• Close to 30,000 foreclosures filed between 2010-2011
• More than 2,000 homeless residents
• 165,000+ residents currently receive supplemental nutrition assistance benefits (food stamps). This represents nearly a 200% increase from 2007-2011
• 50% of Palm Beach county students receive free or reduced-price lunch (closer to 90% in western Palm Beach County)
• The 211 Helpline has seen a 30% jump in calls for food over the past 12 months
• According to Feeding America, almost 17% of Palm Beach County residents often don’t know where their next meal will come from.

In 2011, the Community Food Trucks program rescued and collected 4.1 million pounds of food worth about $6.4 million, which was distributed for free to 124 local soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and other food pantries.

It is estimated that it will take more than 40 million pounds of food to satisfy the current needs of this community, so the Palm Beach County Food Bank is expanding its efforts with the addition of refrigerated trucks, and is looking for a warehouse facility.   The food bank is also involved in distribution of meals at Thanksgiving and a Food Recovery Program, which collects unused, prepared food from restaurants, hotels, festivals, and other events.

For more information about or donations of money or time at the Palm Beach County Food Bank and its needs, please contact Perry Borman, Executive Director, at info@pbcfoodbank.org.

Foie Gras is said to be a delicacy. I have never had it, but I am sure there are real foie gras lovers out there. I am, however, hoping to dissuade you of this particular craving.

What is foie gras? Liver. Not just any liver, but the liver of a duck or a goose.

Before we proceed, let’s understand that this is not a vegetarian issue I am writing about; this is a humanity issue. This is an issue about us humans actually acting humane.

The mass production of foie gras has been a subject of heated debate; not because ducks or geese are killed for their liver, but the methods used to supposedly “improve” the delicacy of foie gras.

To produce foie gras, ducks and geese are force fed by shoving a tube down their throats two or three times per day. The pipes severely damage the esophagus in the duck and the goose. As you can imagine, the birds are terrified and simply wait for this abuse to be inflicted each day. This process induces a very painful condition called fatty liver. This condition is intentional and supposedly “improves” the quality of the foie gras.

Fatty liver in ducks and geese undergoing forced feeding is a condition that often ultimately results in the animal being incapable of moving, induces respiratory distress, seizure, depression, unconsciousness and death. This process of force feeding also leads to bacterial infection, fungal growth, and pneumonia.

Because the liver acts as a filter for the blood and screens toxins, dangerous buildup of streptococcus, E. coli and dangerous toxins can be found in livers of these ducks and geese.

A number of plaintiffs have recently filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture alleging that the agency is violating several sections of the Poultry Products Inspection Act. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs maintain that:

“Force-fed foie gras, which consists of the pathologically diseased livers of force-fed ducks or geese, is by definition an unwholesome, adulterated poultry product that is unfit for human consumption under the PPIA. Foie gras is created by a force-feeding process called gavage, which is engineered to induce acute hepatic lipidosis, or fatty liver disease, in ducks or geese. Overwhelmed by fat deposits, the livers of force-fed birds begin to degenerate and their capacity to filter toxins from the circulatory system diminishes. Toxins accumulate in the blood, causing serious systemic diseases that require condemnation under the 25 PPIA, 21 U.S.C. § 451 et seq., its implementing regulations, and USDA agency policy.”

A recent study from the National Academy of Science has linked the consumption of foie gras with the development of amyloidosis in humans. Amyloidosis can be a deadly disease with symptoms including: heart failure, arrhythmia, pulmonary bleeding, enlargement of the spleen, rupture of the spleen, hemorrhaging of the gastrointestinal system, and serious neurological damage.

Many countries in the world have outright banned the force feeding of animals, including: the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Austria, Holland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Once the fourth largest producer of foie gras, Israel banned forced feeding of animals in 2003.

If animal cruelty is an insufficient reason for you to refuse to consume foi gras, perhaps the fact that more than 14 modern countries have banned the cruel treatment is enough.

Or if you simply do not mind the fact that by consuming foie gras you are probably sucking down dangerous toxins and bacteria, maybe the below video will change your feelings. Fair warning though, the video is not for the faint of heart and really is as shocking as the inhumane abuse being inflicted upon these animals each day:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojvu7qHWqoM[/youtube]

Politics and political influence has no business within the courthouses and courtrooms of Florida. The rule of law should be just that, rules that are followed regardless of one special interest groups views or another. Our judicial system is the last great guardian of the rights of individual citizens in our state.

This is why our firm is a proud host of a program occurring on May 17^th, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, and held at The Harriet Himmel Theater, located at 700 S Rosemary Ave., West Palm Beach.

This program is a wonderful opportunity to receive information about promoting an impartial justice system and how each of us can be a part of defending justice in Florida.

The speakers will include guest panelists Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente, 4^th District Court of Appeal Judge Martha C Warner and City of Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler.

This forum is not a fund raiser; it is, rather, an excellent opportunity to hear from these intelligent and insightful panelists about the importance of keeping politics out of the courts and out of the judicial process.

For more detailed information, go to the Defending Justice website or call our law firm.

Do you believe that before you pay for a service or a product that it is acceptable to ask for what exactly you are being charged?

I would never have thought to ask that question yesterday. The answer seems reasonable and straight forward, right? Of course, if you are buying something you get to ask exactly what you are receiving for the money you are going to pay.

Well, apparently hospitals in North Carolina and, in fact nationwide, do not feel that way. I read this in a case of a North Carolina man, Robert Talford, who had the temerity to question the Carolinas Medical Center about a bill for a three day hospital stay.

Mr. Talford received a hospital bill totaling $19,975 for his three day hospital stay. He disputed it and wanted to know the basis for the charges. Carolinas Medical Center sued him and a state appeals court ruled that because “…the hospital bill submitted into evidence by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority doesn’t itemize the charges, and the only evidence that the costs were reasonable come from hospital employees… a trial should weigh whether the hospital’s price was right.”

It seems unreasonable to pay an unitemized bill in the amount of over $19,000 and, if the Carolina’s Medical Centers can not substantiate the bill, it seems reasonable that Mr. Talford should be permitted to go to court. Mr. Talford reports that the hospital once charged him 24 times the actual retail cost of a pill, which may be the reason for his questions.

Now, even though the bill is not itemized and they apparently will not provide Mr. Talford with the proof to substantiate the amounts charged, the hospital’s lawyer says:

“If every single contested hearing becomes not an hour or two but days, there will be a significant impact on the court system, as well as on doctors and hospitals,” Fuller said.

“The fact that medications delivered at a hospital are pricy is no secret and no surprise, since charges must cover the overhead costs for nurses, doctors, equipment, meals, and constant cleaning, Fuller said. But it’s also true that a plate of chicken piccata might be $20 at a Davidson restaurant he frequents, and Fuller said he’s willing to pay though the cost of the ingredients may be ten times less because of the value of the eatery’s atmosphere,” Fuller said.

Let’s try to put this all in some perspective and do a “chicken piccata” analysis.

The hospital must charge for the overhead of a nurse delivering me a pill. Okay, but in Mr. Talford’s case, for example, the hospital charged him $14,000 for the stay and $5500 for the bed. So, the bed apparently cost around $1,800 per day and the over $4600 per day was for overhead, like pill delivery. I mean the doctors all charge separately, so we know the hospital charge was strictly for hospital services.

Now, when you break the costs down on a per day basis that sounds a little pricey to me. I will give you that we do not have the details for the charges relating to tests and similar costs, but that is what Mr. Talford is trying to understand, so we are left with the above, primitive, analysis.

I think many of us have had the experience of receiving a bill from a hospital and having to be revived after reading it. Personally, I have never slept in a bed I thought was worth $1800 a night, but that is just me.

I was hospitalized for three days myself. When I received a bill from the hospital for over $30,000, I nearly required hospitalization again, but wasn’t I relieved when the hospital agreed to accept less than $10,000 in payment of all those charges from my insurance company.

Mr. Talford is clearly in the right to have “asked” for a detailed explanation of what he was paying for. After all, there apparently can be as much as a 66% deviation in costs depending on who is paying the bill.

So, if you would ask for a detailed explanation of what is included in the box for a TV before you pay for it, let’s say, I think you are well within your rights to ask about a hospital bill.

The new Personal Injury Protection (PIP) legislation being trumpeted by Rick Scott and Kevin McCarty (insurance commissioner) is simply a series of methods to attack a problem by saddling honest consumers with more regulation and less benefit. The claim is that the PIP system is so filled with fraud that more laws must be passed to combat it.

Let me say that I am opposed to fraud of any kind.

I believe that someone who actually commits a fraud should be prosecuted and punished.

I believe that people actually do stage accidents with the intent of profiting from it. Those people should be found and punished.

I suspect that, much like other professions, there are unscrupulous lawyers and doctors who may be involved in these types of fraudulent activities. Those professionals should be found and punished.

I do not believe that passing legislation that may have a chance to limit fraud, but also acts to limit innocent consumer rights while further increasing bottom line profits of insurance companies is the best way to fight fraud.

We do not need new laws on the books to police fraud in the insurance industry. What we need is aggressive enforcement of the already existing laws and an active investment in that enforcement by the industry that profits most – the insurance industry.

Florida’s politicians have done little to alter a fundamental problem with Florida’s regulation of insurance companies, which we have been writing about for years. Insurance companies in Florida have developed a strategy for tricking the system and limiting insurance coverage while maintaining high premium rates. The industry was successful in last year’s legislature by removing certain coverage from homeowner’s policies; while consumers received no corresponding consideration on the premium side.

This new proposed legislation requires that in order to be eligible for PIP to pay for medical treatment, the injured person must seek emergency medical care at an emergency care facility within 72 hours. First, not all injuries develop in a 72 hour window and, second, many honestly injured people try to “tough it out” for days and weeks before seeking medical treatment. For those honest people who have real injuries, but who have not run to the hospital within 72 hours, the insurance company is going to be permitted to deny PIP claims. So, who will pay for those bills?

Based upon a Florida Senate Bill Analysis, the following factors are set forth as the motivation for new legislation and a reduction in consumer rights:

• PIP payouts have increased from approximately $1.5 billion in 2008 to approximately $2.5 billion in 2010.
• From 2006 to 2010, the number of lawsuits pending at year-end increased by 387%, while the number of settlements increased 315%.
• Florida PIP claims involve approximately 100 medical treatments at an average total cost of $12,000, well above the national average excluding Florida of approximately 50 treatments at an average total cost of $8,000
• The PIP pure premium in Florida, which is the amount of premium needed to cover losses, has increased 50 percent, from just under $100 per car in the 4th quarter of 2008 to over $150 per car in the 3rd quarter of 2010 (the most recent period for which data was collected).
• The rise in PIP payouts and the corresponding increase in premium costs are occurring despite the fact that the number of crashes and crashes with injuries decreased from 2005 to 2009, according to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

These bases for the new legislation ignore the following influential facts:

• PIP payouts increased by 40% in three years, but rising health care costs overall have increased those costs by as much as 10% to 28% without fraud.
• Lawsuits may have increased under PIP laws, but no lawsuit can be filed without a denial of full benefits by the insurance carrier. So, who is driving the increase? If these lawsuits have no merit, why are courts not sanctioning lawyers and parties under current frivolous lawsuit laws?
• Insurance companies and legislators can work to control the rising medical charges from physicians and hospitals by going to the source of those charges and without attacking consumers’ rights.
• Premiums for personal injury protection (PIP) coverage may very well have increased 50%, but what has the state done to examine the very suspect accounting practices used by insurance companies writing coverage in Florida?
• If health care clinic ownership is too easy to obtain and maintain, there already exists plenty of laws not being aggressively applied by state agencies. Those agencies are well equipped legally to police any charlatans who may operate sham facilities.
• If law enforcement officers are failing to identify all occupants of motor vehicles in crashes, provide them with methods to accomplish it. Allow videos of accident scenes and witnesses. Provide a technology solution for law enforcement officers to capture license and ID information at the scene.
• Create alliances between insurance companies and law enforcement to pursue and prosecute fraud. Require insurance companies to reactivate the “special investigation units” that most of them had in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Without aggressively enforcing laws already on the books, I suggest it is most likely that those trying to defraud the system will simply adapt. They will take up the time and expense of emergency medical units to be shuttled directly to the hospital so they can make the 72 hour window and will find ways to work the new system. This will do nothing but increase overhead and time for emergency medical personnel and local governments.

Although this new legislation, if passed, might have some impact on fraud; it will do so at the cost of honest consumers. If government’s approach is to continue not enforcing laws already in existence, why should anyone believe that this new legislation will have any impact on fraud?

I think it is more likely, as with similar laws, defrauders and insurance companies will maintain or improve their bottom line profits; while honest consumers will be the ultimate losers.