Tampa, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/31/2016 -- A Florida appeals court upheld the dismissal of a negligence lawsuit that the court said involved medical malpractice allegations.

The lawsuit was filed by the estate of Michael Taime against a Florida hospital and psychiatrist, alleging that a lack of involuntary commitment procedures led to Taime's fatal overdose. Taime, previously diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, was transported to the hospital by law enforcement after he exhibited strange behavior and expressed suicidal ideas, but he was admitted on a voluntary basis. He was discharged after 13 days, and suffered a fatal overdose the next day.

The lawsuit alleged negligence but did not allege medical malpractice. The trial court dismissed the case after finding that medical malpractice allegations were involved and the estate failed to give the required pre-suit notice. The pre-suit notice requirements do not apply to ordinary negligence cases. The appeals court upheld the dismissal.

"Medical malpractice lawsuits have very strict technical requirements," said Robert Joyce, a medical malpractice lawyer with the Tampa firm of Joyce & Reyes, who is not involved in the lawsuit. "It is very important for injured people or those who have lost loved ones to hire an attorney with extensive experience in such cases."

The lawsuit alleged that the defendant psychiatrist orchestrated Taime's voluntary admission to the hospital to avoid the procedures of involuntary commitment, and that the lack of involuntary commitment allowed Taime to be released with no notice to his family members. The appeals court found that the lawsuit's core claim was one involving medical judgment that would constitute an allegation of malpractice if the doctor's actions were improper.

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-nsf-hospital-lawsuit-20160720-story.html

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Tampa, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/31/2014 -- Five men, including four University of South Florida students, died in an auto accident caused by a wrong-way driver on I-275 in Tampa, Florida.

Daniel Lee Morris, 28, of Tampa was hurtling the wrong way in the northbound lanes just north of Busch Boulevard at about 2 a.m. on February 9, 2014. He was driving a friend's Ford Expedition SUV and collided head-on with a Hyundai Sonata carrying four students. All five men died at the scene.

"This is one of Hillsborough County's deadliest accidents in recent years," said Tampa personal injury attorney Robert Joyce. "It is impossible to imagine what was going through the driver's head in the minutes leading up to the crash."

The four USF students were all members of Sigma Beta Rho, a multicultural off-campus fraternity. The driver was Jobin Joy Kuriakose, 21, of Orlando. The passengers were Dammie Yesudhas, 21; Ankeet Harshad Patel, 22, of Melbourne; and Imtiyaz Ilias, 20, of Fort Myers.

Jada Wright, another driver, captured a video of the moments leading up to the crash on her cellphone and posted it to Facebook. The video, shot from the southbound lanes, shows the SUV traveling south in the northbound lanes. The crash is not clearly shown in the video, but the burning wreckage is shown seconds later.

The crash occurred just after Morris crested a hill, so the Hyundai's driver would have had little time to swerve out of the way. Just after the crash, Wright's video shows her speedometer, which indicates a speed of 70 mph. Before the collision, which occurred in a 55 mph zone, the SUV appears to be pulling away from Wright.

State police will try to determine whether Morris was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but toxicology reports will take six to eight weeks, said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Steve Gaskins.

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Tampa, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/27/2014 -- The grandson of a well-known Florida football coach and another young man were killed in a recent auto accident in Polk County.

Taylor Jeffrey Bowden, 23, grandson of Bobby Bowden, 84, former football coach at Florida State University, died in the early morning hours of the day after Christmas. At about 2 a.m., the car carrying Bowden and two friends plunged into a pond. The trio had been drinking at a bar in Winter Haven. Police said alcohol was a factor in the crash.

"This is a terrible tragedy for these families," said Tampa auto accident attorney Robert Joyce. "The pain of losing a child so young, and right after Christmas, is hard to imagine."

The driver of the car, Rafael Fernandes De Aguiar Valim, 25, was declared dead at the scene, along with Bowden. The third man, Robert Lewis Edwards, 22, survived despite being unconscious for hours in the submerged car.

No one noticed the black Mitsubishi Lancer for about five hours after the crash, when trash collectors saw it and called the police. Drivers from the Polk County Sheriff's Office arrived at about 8 a.m. They peered into the car, but the murky water obscured their view. They pounded on the windows and yelled, but no one answered. They believed that only one person was in the car, already dead.

Finally, just before noon — some four hours after they arrived, and ten hours after the crash — deputies heard someone yelling from inside the car. Edwards was in the rear seat, suffering from hypothermia and trapped in water up to his chin. After he regained full consciousness and was pulled from the car, he told police that a third man — Bowden — was in the front passenger seat.

"The deaths of these two young men should serve as a reminder to everyone to always designate a driver and never drive after drinking," attorney Joyce added.

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Tampa, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/27/2014 -- A pair of state legislators wants to raise the maximum speed limit on some stretches of Florida interstate highways from 70 to 75 miles per hour.

Sens. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, and Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, will introduce a bill during the 2014 legislative session that would permit speed limits as high as 75 mph for those roads where state Department of Transportation (DOT) engineers deem it safe. Tampa auto accident attorney Robert Joyce warned that the proposal might compromise safety.

"Higher speeds generally lead to more accidents and, in fact, more deadly accidents," said Mr. Joyce. "Measures like this are usually very popular with voters, but the state legislators should carefully consider whether to adopt this change."

Mr. Brandes noted that the state has not reviewed Florida speed limits since 1995, when Congress abolished the nationwide 55 mph speed limit.

Nearly 1,500 miles of Florida highways currently enforce a speed limit of 70 mph. Most areas are in North and Central Florida on I-10, I-75, I-95, I-4, the Suncoast Parkway and Florida's Turnpike. Fourteen states already have a maximum speed limit of 75. Utah and Texas allow for 80 and 85 mph, respectively, in some areas.

Mr. Brandes and Mr. Clemens cited reports by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that show a significant decline in the yearly total number of fatal motor vehicle crashes, even as the numbers of drivers and miles driven have risen inexorably.

"It is notable that despite speed limits rising in some states, the nation has enjoyed a years-long decline in fatal auto accidents," added Mr. Joyce. "I think the key here is that some roads can support higher limits, and some cannot. It is important that traffic engineers for the DOT make these decisions free from political pressure. As long as a rules-based and science-based approach is followed, hopefully we will see a continued decline in traffic deaths even if speed limits are raised."

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