Panama City Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Never in the history of man has a manmade environmental disaster as tragic in its scope as the BP Gulf oil spill been seen. Cleanup of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska 20 years ago continues to this day. Only 8% of the oil has been recovered. The amount of oil in our Gulf of Mexico is expected to be 400% of the Alaskan spill. What happened, what don't you know yet about what happened, and if your property or business has been damaged by the oil or news of it in the Gulf, what is the best course of action for you to follow? Also, what dangers exist if you don't get it right? Wes Pittman at The Pittman Firm, P.A., Panama City, Florida, answers these questions below and will continue to update information and make recommendations in the weeks to come.

On March 20, one month before the blowout and ensuing explosion, BP was behind its drilling schedule. That day, it ordered faster drilling. The drilling operation had only one blowout preventer which was made by Cameron International Corporation in 2001. A huge machine with roughly 260 moving parts, it had been tested onshore but not fully at the 5000' depth at which the drillers hoped it would work. And it had been damaged a couple weeks before the blowout when a worker on the Deepwater Horizon accidentally bumped a lever. A rubber part from the preventer was seen floating beside the Deepwater Horizon and was reported to a supervisor who said, "No big deal." Also, the drilling site was not equipped with an acoustic switch to terminate the flow of oil in the event a blowout occurred. Acoustic switches are used throughout the world in places like Norway where governments require them. The U.S. does not. The only switch to end oil flow from the drill pipe below the Deepwater Horizon was a manual switch, requiring a human hand for activation, at the site of the explosion. Neither the manual switch or the blowout preventer had a backup system in place.

Where are we now? We have BP setting up claims offices along the coast, but are they baiting people to settle cheaply? They were found to be untrustworthy in Louisiana where they hired fishermen for cleanup but buried releases in the contracts. Various claims mechanisms exist for victims to follow outside the BP offices. The best and fastest mechanism, no matter where the damage occurred, may be through the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to avoid years of delay. People and businesses in a panic to file class action suits in various states will likely get bogged down in federal multidistrict litigation with stays and then get pennies on the dollar.

Continue reading "Gulf Oil Spill Tragedy Eclipses Other Manmade Disasters" »

The following is guest post by the Chicago personal injury attorneys, Dolan Law Offices:

Currently, 39 states plus the District of Columbia have some sort of ban on cell phone use and driving. Six states and Washington D.C. prohibit all handheld cell phone use. Other states have more limited bans and prohibit texting and driving or limit the bans to certain high risk groups such as novice drivers or school bus drivers, for example.
Florida currently has no ban on talking or texting while driving. To make matters worse, Florida prohibits localities from passing their own ordinances to deal with the threat of cell phone use while driving.

How Big a Threat are Drivers Who Use Cell Phones?

Drivers who are talking on their cell phones while driving are diverting their eyes from the road, their hands from the steering wheel, and their concentration from the serious responsibility of driving safely. According to the federal government's website, www.distraction.gov, approximately 6,000 people died and more than a half a million were injured by distracted drivers in 2008.

What Can Floridians Do About the Problem of Distracted Driving?

Floridians can do three important things to combat the serious problem of distracted driving accidents. First, we can pressure our state lawmakers to enact laws that prohibit cell phone use while driving. Second, we can drive defensively and anticipate that other drivers may be distracted because they are talking or texting and driving. Finally, we can hold people legally accountable if they cause an accident because they were distracted from driving safely.

Continue reading "The Dangers of Using a Cell Phone for Talking or Texting While Driving" »

Identify Theft is on the rise in record proportions. My Panama City firm recently partnered with WMBB, a local TV station, in a Shred-It© event where we offered free shredding to the community. The response was overwhelming and the gratitude that many expressed for offering such a service was even greater. Many people understand the impact identity theft can have on your sense of personal safety. If your wallet is stolen, that thief now has your home address from your driver's license, knows the car you drive if you carry your insurance card, they have your credit cards and maybe even your social security card.

We can educate the public on how to protect themselves or at least reduce the impact they may experience simply by not carrying unnecessary documents in their wallet. But how do you protect yourself against a thief getting your information in a method you would never imagine?

You go to the local copy center to make copies of papers you need to refinance your mortgage or you are applying for a loan. Maybe you need copies of medical records to send to a doctor for a second opinion on a diagnosis.

Copy machines today are multi-function digital machines. They have replaced many old style copiers. These new machines, which are actually computers, can copy, scan, print and fax anything you want with great image quality. Why should you care? Because anything you copy is stored permanently on its hard-drive.

I came across this You Tube video story recently and after viewing it felt an obligation to share this with as many people as I could.

We all need to make copies at any of the convenience copy centers but you need to ask them how they manage the hard-drive of their copies once they are replaced with newer models. This may even apply if you copy your personal items at your office. Office Managers need to be aware of this and take the proper steps to destroy or "wipe clean" the hard drive once an office machine is replaced. As you can see from the video, many of these copiers are sold for a few hundred dollars and sent overseas. This would be a gold mine for any thief waiting to steal as many identities as they could. Don't let it be yours.

The unprecedented Gulf Coast disaster resulting from the underwater explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off Louisiana's coast on April 20 will destroy many jobs, businesses, and property values. As the rig burned nightmarishly for two days before it sank, oil spewed from beneath the Gulf of Mexico where the capping or cementing of a pipe had gone awry. Businesses and individuals affected by the spill are entitled to collect damages for loss of income and profits, and property owners who suffer devaluation of their property are entitled to compensation for the diminished value.

Commercial fishing has already been shut down in parts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Tourism is expect to drop dramatically as a result of which businesses that cater to tourists, like hotels, restaurants, water sports vendors, charter fishing vessels, scuba shops, and others will suffer. Businesses and individuals who have already had these losses or expect to have them, should immediately seek the advice of negligence attorneys whose knowledge is applicable to oil spill cases.

In this firm, Wes Pittman is an experienced mass catastrophe attorney who is representing clients in this disaster. As a part of his services, he offers free initial consultation and evaluation of oil spill claims.

As the massive oil spill moves through the Gulf of Mexico closer to shore, it is imperative that businesses and individuals know their rights and how to avoid common defenses advanced by defendants, like BP and Transocean, in similar cases. The magnitude of the problem is certain to be monumentally costly as over a million gallons of crude oil are released daily to kill fish and other wildlife. It is likely that commercial fishing and shrimping will be damaged for decades as oil damages the reproduction abilities of fish and shrimp and pollutes their breeding grounds. Property owners who rent their coastal condominiums and houses are in for substantial losses of income.

Under federal and state laws, individuals and businesses are entitled to monetary compensation for their losses. For example, under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, those deemed responsible for the losses are liable to make these payments. Anyone, not just the owners of property, who loses profits or income as a result of the oil spill may make such a claim. You may call Mr. Pittman at (800) 784-9001 or locally in Panama City, Florida, at 850-784-9000 for assistance with this process.

Please read the press release published if you have children or grandchildren and have given them any of the medicines listed in the article. Also check your medicine cabinets to see if you have any of these medication on hand. For your families safety, follow the FDA advise and stop using these medications as a precaution. For more information, call the number listed at the bottom of the article.

The Associated Press
Saturday, May 1, 2010
WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration said Saturday it was investigating a health-care company for possible other problems following its recall of more than 40 over-the-counter infant's and children's liquid medications.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, based in Fort Washington, Pa., issued the voluntary recall late Friday in the United States and 11 other countries after consulting with the FDA. The recall involves children's versions of Tylenol, Tylenol Plus, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl, because they don't meet quality standards.

The FDA said it was reviewing procedures at McNeil, which appears to be the sole source of the problems. "We are following through with the facility to make certain that everything has been checked," said FDA spokeswoman Elaine Gansz Bobo.
According to McNeil and the FDA, some of the products recalled may have a higher concentration of active ingredient than is specified on the bottle. Others may contain particles, while still others may contain inactive ingredients that do not meet internal testing requirements.

The FDA called the potential for serious medical problems "remote," but it advised consumers to stop using the medicine as a precaution. It said a health care professional should be consulted if a child has recently taken any of the recalled products and is exhibiting unexpected symptoms.

The FDA also says parents in the interim should consider substitute child medications, such as generic versions. It does not recommend that children be given adult-strength Tylenol or Motrin because they are not intended for younger age groups.
The medicines were made and distributed in the United States, and exported to Canada, the Dominican Republic, Dubai, Fiji, Guam, Guatemala, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago and Kuwait.

Details are available by telephone at 1-888-222-6036 or on the Web at www.mcneilproductrecall.com.