- Eddie Farah | November 28, 2007 11:16 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsThanksgiving is one of the busiest times of the year for highway travel and unfortunately also for accidents.27 people never made it to their destinations this holiday. The Florida Highway Patrol investigated 26 accidents that led to fatalities. Half of them involved alcohol or a suspicion of alcohol use.Half occured at night. And it's difficult to believe that many people still don't wear...
- Eddie Farah | November 27, 2007 11:47 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsIt is already happening in Europe--fewer nighttime accidents due to a new green technology.SolarLite Smart Studs are being installed on some dark roads in England.They appear as the little white reflectors but are powered by solar energy.Inside they have a miniature solar ray catching panel as well as LED lights and a reflecting surface.The early reports are good. Drivers seems to have ten times...
- Eddie Farah | November 24, 2007 3:24 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsFlorida Highway Patrol Trooper Brian Lucas was just doing his job.He was travelling west on Wildwood Drive in St Johns County. He had his lights and siren on.Suddenly a car travelling southbound on A!A struck the cruiser.Altogether three people were injured, luckily none seriously. The car that hit the cruiser was driven by 80-year-old David Fox of Palm Coast.According to a reconstruction of...
- Eddie Farah | November 23, 2007 11:04 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsIt was 3:30 in the morning and the entire family was driving north on the Florida Turnpike near the Osceola county line.Apparently the woman driver fell asleep and the Ford Explorer rolled several times. Eight passengers, including five children were thrown from the vehicle. No one had on a seat belt the Highway Patrol reports. The children ranged in ages from eight to 14. The were all from the...
- Eddie Farah | November 21, 2007 6:33 PM |
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Workplace InjuriesThe day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday- the day for stores to open their doors to bargain shoppers looking for holiday discounts.Two years ago it was more than a discount that Cecelia Brannen found. She and her husband were at the Wal-Mart in Starke trying to buy a laptop computer for their daughter.Cecelia was second in line, things looked good. Then she was pushed and pushed...
- Eddie Farah | November 21, 2007 1:29 PM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsWe've been told that tasers are a useful tool for law enforcement to subdue agitated people.But in the last two days in Jacksonville, tasering has resulted in two deaths.In the latest case, a man got into a wreck in the Springfield area Tuesday afternoon. The driver then got out of his vehicle and began fighting with another man. The sheriff's office now says the man, Conrad Purvis Lowman, 35,...
- Eddie Farah | November 17, 2007 10:30 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsIf you are in the market for a new vehicle you will want to check out the auto industry's latest list of safest vehicles.The troubled Ford Motor Company may see some turnabout financially because of an emphasis on safety. You recall that the Ford Explorer had a problem with stability and all too often in a minor accident a it would roll often killing the occupants.Ford and Honda both have he...
- Eddie Farah | November 16, 2007 8:38 AM |
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MiscellaneousIt is a great business model if you can achieve it. Keep your profits up and keep your costs down.And that is apparently what Florida's largest medical malpractice insurance companies have been doing. They have been paying out less in claims. With a cap of $500,000 and medical malpractice lawsuits expensive to bring, many just aren't filed. And many patients who are hurt by hospitals and...
- Eddie Farah | November 15, 2007 10:42 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsIt is a story we report here all too frequently.As SUV's get bigger, children stay little and difficult to see near the road. That's what happened to Shykeria Bynes.Last month she was crossing the street with her brothers to go to a nearby Gate gas station to buy candy with $1. The 6-year-old was holding their hands near 45th Street and Moncrief Road in Northwest Jacksonville. Shyshy as she...
- Eddie Farah | November 14, 2007 9:51 AM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsChristina Bell says she had seen ads for a vaccine called Gardasil. The "One Less.." campaign by drugmaker Merck has been very effective and aggressively placed to reach all adolecent girls and their families encouraging them to be injected against Human Papillomavirus or HPV with Gardasil, the drug approved by the FDA in June 2006.So after consulting with her doctor, her 12-year-old, Brittany...
- Eddie Farah | November 10, 2007 7:39 PM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsJanis Roberts is only 56-years old but already she's had several heart attacks, heart by-pass surgery, a dozen stents inserted in her arteries and a stroke. She's on oxygen and disability living with her sister in St. Nicholas. For her the news Friday morning that drug maker, Merck had agreed to a $4.85 billion settlement over Vioxx meant, "I can finally see some light at the end of the...
- Eddie Farah | November 09, 2007 12:09 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsJust the night before she died, Principal Kimberly Sue Brannan was at a program honoring Baker County's veterans where she commended her students.Friday morning, 44-year-old Brannan was driving on I-10 just west of I-295 on her way with three other teachers to a continuing education meeting in St. Augustine. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Brannan, who was not wearing a seat belt, was...
- Eddie Farah | November 08, 2007 8:46 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsIt used to be you couldn't wait to get behind the wheel as a teenager.But if state statistics tell an accurate story, today teens are waiting to get their driver's license.The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles statistics show that among sixteen-year-olds, 40 percent have their license. Compare that with 60 percent more than 20 years ago. And older teen drivers, 18 and...
- Eddie Farah | November 07, 2007 11:26 PM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsWal-Mart thought Aqua Dots were so cool that the toy made the Top 12 List for Christmas.The Canadian distributed toy has been on store shelves since April.Now about four million Aqua Dot toys are being recalled because they contain a chemical that can, if ingested, lead to coma or seizures.You guessed it- the chemical beads are made in China.The toy is a craft item and comes with small dots or...
- Eddie Farah | November 03, 2007 12:07 AM |
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Automobile Accidents15-year old Schaunell Bryant loved animals. She wanted to work with them someday. In fact, her mother was driving her to their Yulee home from Schaunell's job cleaning out stables, when they heard a thud. The van had hit a dog.Schaunell's mother pulled over and the girl was crouched near the dog on Blackrock Road. It was just beginning to get dark around 7p.m.23-year-old Christopher Peeples told...
- Eddie Farah | November 02, 2007 12:14 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeHere are the latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau.They tell us that Floridians are increasingly opting to go without health insurance. The latest count -- one in four residents, under age 65, did not have health insurance coverage last year. In terms of numbers, that translates to almost four million Floridians. Back in 2002, one in five Floridians lacked health coverage. Those numbers...
- Eddie Farah | November 01, 2007 8:45 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeThese are not stories we report every day, but they are stories that happen every day, unfortunately.In this case the wife of Senator Stephen Wise of Jacksonville, and her sister are suing a nursing home claiming negligence killed their 89-year old father, Glenn Beeman in 2005.The place in question - West Jacksonville Health and Rehabilitation Center.What's fascinating are the comments that...