The case is Silkworth v. Boca Raton Regional Hospital. The South Florida woman alleges her injuries were caused by failure of the hospital staffers to adhere to appropriate medical guidelines in immediately immobilizing her spine in the wake of a horrific car accident. She had been a passenger in the backseat of a taxi late one night when the vehicle was T-boned by another motorist. She was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. She concedes she was in serious condition when she arrived at the hospital, but the standard of care in her case dictated that medical workers immediately immobilize her spine. But they didn’t do that, and now, she says, she is permanently paralyzed from the waist down.

Medical reports indicate plaintiff didn’t have any symptoms of paralysis until long after she got to the hospital and underwent treatment – without her spine first being immobilized.

An attorney for plaintiff alleged the hospital breached the standard of care by repeatedly moving her around without protecting her spine. This resulted in complete paraplegia, something he opines was preventable. According to Courtroom View Network, the hospital’s own internal policy instructed emergency medical staffers that if they were in doubt about whether immobilization was necessary, they should do so anyway as a precautionary measure. Doctors could always from there work to rule out an unstable spinal fracture, but there is no going back if the spine isn’t protected from the moment of injury.

Plaintiff says her spinal injury has upended her life, resulting in millions of dollars in damages in medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering. It has affected her ability to be a good parent to her son, to work and to care for herself day-to-day.

Defendants don’t at this point deny the extent of her damages. However, they contend the spinal cord injury and paralysis were caused solely by the crash. Expert witnesses for the defense testified during depositions that the impact of the collision “obliterated” plaintiff’s spine, resulting in her permanent paralysis before she ever entered the hospital doors. They allege she was not wearing a eat belt at the time of the crash. She was reportedly intoxicated (hence, why she was taking a taxi that night) and, according to defense, was unable to give a full and proper accounting of the events or her injuries in the immediate aftermath of the car accident.

Defense attorneys added that emergency responders in depositions characterized their own post-crash reports as “unreliable,” adding that none conducted a neurological assessment of plaintiff’s lower extremities. This was a mistake, and one that muddied the record, which should have reflected that plaintiff was a paraplegic by the time those vehicles came to rest.

Although the facts of this case are unique, causation is a commonly disputed issue in medical malpractice lawsuits. That’s why it’s imperative to have an experienced attorney advocating on your behalf.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

Hospital Negligence Paralyzed Car Crash Victim, Attorney Says as Med Mal Trial Begins, Nov. 30, 2016, By Arlin Crisco, CVN

More Blog Entries:

Davis v. Baez – Florida Negligence Claim Against School Bus Driver Gets Green Light, Dec. 2, 2016, Fort Lauderdale Spinal Injury Lawyer Blog

But will it actually put them at risk?

That’s the claim by some critics, who say the $18 million project will put thousands of lives in peril if they continue to press forward with the measure.

Traffic department officials say the purpose of the guardrails is to keep motorists from careening off the roadway and into the deep canals that line the sides of the Everglades.

But there’s a big problem, say the Florida State Highway Patrol representatives: There is not enough room to pull people over. They say the positioning of the guardrails do not allow for a trooper to safely stop a vehicle and get out of the vehicle to approach it.

On top of that, there is concern about response to accidents. For firefighters or tow truck drivers who are responding to an accident scene, there is little means for them to safely return to traffic. As it now stands, these workers can use the grassy area to turn around and get more safely back into traffic. They also use that area to get to an accident scene quickly if traffic is backed up. They will no longer be able to do that, authorities say.

One towing company operator was quoted by NBC-2 as saying that firstly, there will be more accidents because word will soon spread that officers aren’t able to stop reckless motorists for speeding and other infractions. And then on top of that, the response to those accidents is going to cause significant – and potentially life-threatening – delays. Those who use the east-west corridor across Florida every day can expect to see their risk of a car accident increase, he said.

“I don’t care to jeopardize my people with this safety infringement,” he said.

The company has penned a letter to FDOT, but there has yet been no response.

Truck drivers who use the stretch of highway frequently say they can’t understand the point of putting them in, calling it a “waste.”

Meanwhile, FDOT did issue a brief response to the news outlet, saying that while the agency is “sensitive to concerns,” it has a legitimate interest in keeping drivers out of the canal at the side of the highway. The water in that swampy body of water can reach up to 40-feet in depth.

There is evidence to suggest FDOT might be right. The Sun Sentinel reported in 2013 that the number of fatal canal crashes on Alligator Alley (which is a portion of I-75 and Florida’s Turnpike) fell dramatically after the installation of cable barriers.

Over the course of a decade, more than $100 million was spent to make the road safer. Before the barriers were installed, 14 people were killed in 56 canal crashes along Alligator Alley between 1995 and 1999.

But in looking at the same kind of crashes between 2007 and 2011, only two canal crashes reportedly occurred.

Of course, these systems aren’t foolproof. FDOT concedes there are situations in which the cable barriers haven’t worked, but overall, it has saved lives.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

Critics say alligator alley guardrails will dent safety records, May 3, 2016, NBC-2

More Blog Entries:

Snapchat Named in Car Accident Injury Lawsuit, May 3, 2016, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyer Blog