In this Issue: Failure to Treat Leads to $2 Million Pre-suit Settlement by David Sampedro Mitch Panter Becomes United Way Miami Executive Member Mitch Panter Talks to Medium.com About Advice He Wishes He Got Before Becoming an Attorney 10 Tips for Online Holiday Shopping Safety 3 Common Questions About Wrongful Death Claims in Florida Ask the attorney: FAQ Videos | | Caring and sharing about our community. Follow us here: | Reply and let us know if we should feature your local business. | | Failure to Treat Leads to $2,000,000 Pre-suit Settlement by David Sampedro | | Sally Nantala* was a young mother and only 23 years old when she began to complain to her family of frequent headaches. After repeated medical investigations and diagnostic testing, doctors determined Sally had a growth close to her brain that was causing the headaches. After discussing it with her family, Sally decided to have surgery to remove the benign tumor. Surgeons at the University of Miami successfully removed the benign tumor. Consequently, Sally’s headaches were a thing of the past. Because of an unfortunate side effect of the surgery, Sally would suffer from epileptic type seizures for the rest of her life. Five years later, Sally met the love of her life. Ignacio courted Sally for the next 22 months until he convinced her to elope and get married. After a romantic wedding with only their most intimate friends and family, they began a new life together. It was difficult for Sally to hold down a job because of her seizures. Sally, unfortunately, also battled mental illness which plagued her family. Nonetheless, Ignacio was ready, willing, and able to work as hard as possible to provide for their family. Ignacio and Sally settled down in South Florida to raise their family. In addition to Sally’s two children from a previous relationship, they had two children of their own. Sally would continue to fight her mental illness and periodic seizures. She was prescribed Keppra. However, she found it difficult to have those prescriptions filled when she lost her health insurance. Fifteen years after her initial surgery, Sally was at home on the evening of July 21, 2018 when she suffered a seizure. The approximately 30 second seizure was witnessed by Sally’s family. She was rushed to a local hospital in South Florida, where her past medical history for epilepsy and bipolar disorder were documented. Upon arrival at the emergency department, she was treated by the emergency room doctor who noted her history. That doctor even documented the fact that Sally had been unable to continue taking Keppra “due to problems with insurance.” Doctors admitted Sally to the telemetry unit and ordered a CT of her brain, lab work, and other diagnostic testing. In addition, they ordered a neurological consultation. While waiting in the emergency room, Sally experienced another seizure, this one witnessed by the nursing staff. Unfortunately, the attending physician failed to give much importance to her condition and relied upon the consulting neurologist. The following morning, a neurologist provided to the hospital by an outside healthcare staffing company, reviewed Sally’s chart and conducted a quick examination. Critically, the neurologist dismissed Sally’s episodes of seizures and identified them as an episode caused by her psychiatric condition. Approximately three hours later, Sally suffered another seizure and was found unresponsive on the floor. Nurses called a code rescue and tried to resuscitate her. Meanwhile, Ignacio and Sally’s children had just returned to the hospital to visit Sally. Upon arriving at Sally’s hospital room, they were horrified to find a team of physicians surrounding Sally and attempting various lifesaving procedures. Despite efforts to save Sally, she passed away at the age of 41. Diagnostic results confirmed that Sally was experiencing epileptic seizures when she passed. Ignacio came to David Sampedro from Panter, Panter & Sampedro to find what happened to his wife of 16 years and the mother of their children. David investigated the case, contacting experts in internal medicine and neurology. David served notices of intent to file a lawsuit upon the attending physicians, neurologist, and hospital. After conducting pre-suit discovery, as required under Chapter 766 of the Florida Statutes which governs cases for medical malpractice, the prospective defendants requested to mediate the case. David was able to convince the attorneys and insurance carriers for the prospective defendants that their respective clients failed to recognize Sally’s high risk for seizures and respiratory compromise. He was able to explain that their failure to recognize and properly diagnose and treat Sally contributed to her death. At the conclusion of pre-suit, David was able to resolve the matter for the sum of $2 million. While Ignacio and his family would trade all the money in the world to have Sally back, Ignacio has been able to use the settlement funds to provide some safety and stability for his family and purchase their first home. He has also used the funds to purchase a fund to pay for their children’s future educational needs. *The party’s names have been changed to protect their identity. | | Happy Holidays from our Panter, Panter, & Sampedro Family! | | Thank you for your reviews! | | Brett A. Panter, Panter, Panter & Sampedro, and Barry Stein Win Trial for Millions of Dollars in Benefits | When you do not know who to lean on, we hope you can trust the law firm of Panter, Panter & Sampedro to help you and your family with any and all of your legal needs. Learn more about Isaac Aelion and how we were able to help him, here. | | | Panter, Panter & Sampedro’s Mitch Panter Becomes United Way Miami Executive Member | We’re excited to announce that Mitchell Panter, managing partner, has become a Small Business United 2020-2021 Executive Committee member for United Way Miami. His involvement with the Small Business United Executive Committee will include fundraising to provide for families in need around South Florida and engaging with the community to distribute information about United Way Miami’s mission and ways the community can support their cause. One such recent example occurred on Giving Tuesday on Tuesday, December 1. Panter advocated to help the United Way Miami to exceed its goal of raising $26,000 to help 500+ local families with infants and toddlers in need in low-income areas in South Florida to receive essential supplies, like diapers, formula and wipes. Upcoming events include the Happy Healthy Holiday Drive, which aims to provide 520+ low-income families in United Way’s Early Head Start programs with a gift for their holidays as well as the 20th Annual Women United Breakfast, which will be a hybrid event including both virtual and small, socially distanced virtual watch parties. “I am honored to become a member of United Way Miami’s Small Business Executive Committee,” says Mitch Panter. “It has always been a great pleasure of mine to give back and help members of the community throughout various efforts such as scholarships and sponsorships. Joining the the United Way of Miami-Dade aligns perfectly with our vision and values of putting family and community first.” | | 10 Tips for Online Holiday Shopping Safety | | 3 Common Questions About Wrongful Death Claims in Florida | | These days, we can click a few buttons on our phone or computer and have products delivered directly to our front door within hours of purchasing. Because many will be shopping online this year, unfortunately, scammers are also keeping up the pace. However, there are a few tips that can prevent online scammers from taking advantage of you such as avoiding phishing emails, shopping familiar stores, and reading reviews! | | The top 3 common questions most clients want to know are: - What types of damages can be recovered in a wrongful death claim?
- Who can sue for a wrongful death claim in Florida?
- What is the statute of limitations for a wrongful death claim in Florida?
| | Mitch Panter Talks to Medium.com About the 5 Things He Wishes Someone Told Him Before Becoming an Attorney | “Develop a positive reputation. Your reputation is everything. Amazing how many judges, insurance adjusters and juries sense a good person. Bad reputations stick with you and good reputations do as well.” | | | Ask the Attorney: Your FAQs answered! | | | | What should I do if the other driver doesn’t have car insurance? There are several layers of insurance that are available in the state of Florida. Florida is what we call a “no-fault” state, which means if you are involved in a car accident in the state of Florida, your car insurance company is responsible for your medical bills. Learn more in this video with Mitch Panter of the Miami personal injury law firm of Panter, Panter & Sampedro. | | | | Can a pedestrian be at fault in a motor vehicle accident? Panter, Panter & Sampedro return with another Pedestrian and Bicycle FAQ. Another one of our commonly asked questions when dealing with Pedestrian accidents is: Can a pedestrian be at fault in a motor vehicle accident? Learn more in this video with attorney Brett Panter. | | | | ¿Puede ser responsable un peaton por un accidente si un caro lo golpea? Otra de las preguntas más frecuentes que recibimos en Panter, Panter y Sampedro que se trata de accidentes de peatones es: ¿Puede ser responsable un peaton por un accidente si un caro lo golpea? Obtenga más información en este video con abogado David Sampedro. | | Panter, Panter, & Sampedro | 305.662.6178 | PanterLaw.com * Advertisement * | | Panter, Panter & Sampedro is accepting pharmaceutical and medical device cases. Call us for more information: (305) 662-6178 | | Abilify (Pathological Gambling) ACTOS, ACTOplus met, ACTOplus Met XR, and Duetact (Bladder Cancer) Bair Hugger Warming Blankets (Infections) Bard IVC Filter (Heart and Lung Perforation Hemorrhagic Pericardial Effusion) Benicar (Chronic Diarrhea Nausea and Vomiting Sprue-Like Enteropathy) Bisphosphonates – Boniva and Fosamax (Femur Fractures) | | Fluroroquinolone Antibiotics – Levaquin, Cipro, Tequin, and Avelox (Peripheral Neuropathy) Januvia, Janumet, Byetta, and Victoza (Pancreatic Cancer Thyroid Cancer) Laparoscopic Power Morcellator (Uterine Cancer) Lipitor (Diabetes) Metal-on-Metal Hip Implants – DePuy, Zimmer, Biomet, and Wright Medical (Device Failure and Loosening Inflammatory Response Metallosis) Mirena IUD (Device Migration, Organ Obstruction, Organ Perforation, Peritonitis, Device Erosion) | | Propecia and Proscar (Sexual Dysfunction, Male Breast Cancer) Risperdal (Gynecomastia) Stryker Rejuvenate, ABG II, and Accolade Hip Implants (Premature Device Failure, Metallosis, Inflammatory Response) Testosterone (Blood Clots, Heart Attacks, Stroke) Transvaginal Mesh, Bladder Slings, and TVT Tape (Tissue Erosion and Device Failure) Viagra (Melanoma) Xarelto and Pradaxa (Uncontrollable Bleeding Death) Zofran (Birth Defects) | | | | | | |
