We have been blessed with record results for our clients. Our achievements include a $30 Million Jury Verdict in a highly publicized case, recognized as one of the Top 100 Verdicts in the United States in 2004. Ward & Caggiano, P.A. tried that case in Orlando, Florida, where our offices are located.

While past results do not guarantee future success, we provide personal attention and every ethical advantage to our clients who choose to be represented by a law firm specializing in personal injury and medical malpractice. We proudly represent individuals and their families with small or large claims. If we can help, we will. We offer examples of cases that we have handled in the field of personal injury and medical malpractice law:

Medical Malpractice - Antibiotics - Failure to Monitor - Death
A 10 year old Apopka boy stepped on a nail and received a lengthy treatment of antibiotic coverage. His doctors failed to monitor the blood levels of a very powerful antibiotic they chose to treat the suspected infection. Despite calls from the boy's mother reporting new and dangerous symptoms, the doctors failed to see the child. Tragically, the antibiotic treatment, left unmonitored, caused the boy's kidneys to shut down. He died a grievous and needless death on Mother's Day. His family continues to visit with us and remains determined to get the word out to parents to remain vigilant about their children's medications.
Jury Award:  $30 Million, Orlando, Orange County, Florida.

To read news articles regarding this award, click here.

Medical Malpractice - Eye Surgery - Failure to Treat Complications - Loss of Vision
A senior producer at Disney World underwent eye surgery. Despite multiple calls to his doctor's office over several days, he was reassured that his complaints were "normal and nothing to worry about." The following day he experienced a sudden loss of vision-his retina had become detached. Emergency efforts were undertaken to correct the damage, however, those efforts were too late. Our client has courageously continued working and has continued to keep us informed of his efforts to assist sight-impaired artists with a portion his award.
Jury Award:  $4.5 Million, Deland, Volusia County, Florida.

Automobile Collision - Death
Three teenage boys were walking in the early evening in their Miami neighborhood. A careless driver struck one of the teenagers, killing him almost instantly. His devastated family worked with our firm to bring the wrongdoer to justice. The driver and the company owner of the vehicle tried, without success, to avoid responsibility by blaming the young man for walking along the side of the road.
Award: Amount withheld, Miami, Dade County, Florida.

Premises Liability - Swimming Pool - Death
A major hotel chain was sponsoring a July 4th celebration on one of its Miami Beach properties. Great music, food and beverages were provided for guests. Regrettably, the hotel chose to save the few dollars necessary to provide a lifeguard or to properly maintain the pool safety devices. With the enormous crowds, the loud music and all the distractions, a child had slipped into the deep-end of the pool unnoticed and drowned. Her parents worked with our firm to challenge the practices of this hotel chain and forced them to take responsibility for its actions.
Award:  Amount withheld, Miami Beach, Dade County, Florida.

Product Liability - Exploding Soda Bottle - Loss of Eye
One of the two largest soft drink companies in the world regularly put profit over people and bottled their cola products in small, thin-walled, glass bottles. Despite the alternative of plastic, this bottler and distributor chose to use the material that provided profit advantages. Unaware of the hazards, the mother of a small child purchased a six pack of soda at a neighborhood grocery store. When she returned home and started to put her groceries away, she allowed her young son to have a soda and go out on the porch. She later heard a scream she will never forget. When she ran outside, she saw her son frantically holding his blood-covered eye. Despite the best available medical and surgical care, her little boy lost his eye. Puzzled, confused and not knowing where to turn, his mother reached out to our firm. We were able to explain the hazards of similar, glass soda bottles and the fact that when they break, the carbonated soft drink inside causes the tiny glass fragments to be propelled at high speed, damaging and lacerating anything in their path. Our firm later squared off against the manufacturer, bottler and distributor and obtained a just result. Today this remarkable young boy has become an outstanding high School football player despite having only one eye. This young man and mom truly believe this testimony provides strength to others who are facing adversity.
Award:  Amount withheld, Miami, Dade County, Florida.

Automobile Collision - Rollover - Spinal Injuries
Our client, a single mother, was excited about her new job and spending the rest of her day with her family.  Tragically, another driver failed to yield the right of way and struck her car.  The impact caused our client's care to roll over multiple times, until it came to rest against a tree.  Fire rescue had to "cut her" out of her vehicle.  She was taken to the hospital, was seen by an orthopedic surgeon, and treated conservatively for her spinal fractures.  Although she endured a period of immobilization with a back brace and discomfort, she continued to provide for her family.
Award:  Amount withheld, St. Cloud, Osceola County, Florida

Automobile Collision - Missouri - Drunk Driver - Death
In a tragedy so great, our firm agreed to lead the fight and two Missouri law firms against a drunk driver and the owner of the vehicle he was driving in St. Louis, Missouri. Three young people needlessly lost their lives. Working with the other families that lost children, our clients pursued not only a civil action in Missouri, but also maintained close contact with the St. Louis prosecutor handling the criminal proceedings. In the most passionate display of love for their children, following the successful civil action, all parents appeared before the criminal court and testified that the drunk driver's punishment should include speaking engagements in local high schools warning students of the dangers of drinking and driving. The judge agreed! We all pray that these efforts have saved lives in Missouri and elsewhere.
Aggregate Award to the Survivors:  $2 Million, St. Louis, Missouri.

Medical Malpractice - New Mexico - Failure to Diagnose Coronary Artery Disease - Death
In another tragedy that caused our firm to bring an out-of-state action--this time against the largest HMO in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  A middle-aged mother of 3 adult children  failed to receive a timely cardiac work-up. Despite going to her HMO doctors and complaining of symptoms of chest pain, shortness of breath, and a rapid heart rate, no one seriously considered her condition. Unfortunately, we have found that when a woman complains of cardiac symptoms, doctors are more likely to decide those symptoms are caused by anxiety than if it were a man making the same complaints. In this case, despite weeks to complete a full, cardiac work-up, none was done. When she did not respond to telephone calls, family members went to her home, to find her dead body.
Jury Award:  $1.5 Million, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Medical Malpractice - Failure to Diagnose Vitamin Deficiency - Spinal Cord Damage
In another case of medical neglect, we represented a hard-working man and his wife from Ocala. What began as simple tingling and numbness and his fingertips, spread to his arms and legs. Despite his doctor acknowledging the need to check his vitamin B12 levels, this was not done. A Vitamin B12 deficiency is easy to treat, with only periodic injections; however, left undiagnosed and untreated, this can lead to spinal cord and nerve damage. After months of medical neglect and a error by a local medical laboratory, this man became confused, debilitated, and unable to walk. By the time his condition was properly diagnosed by other doctors, his disability became permanent. He must always use assistive devices and narcotic medications for his constant pain syndrome.
Jury Award:  $1.5 Million, Ocala, Marion County, Florida.

Medical Malpractice - Incorrect Surgery - Short Bowel Syndrome - Malnutrition
A Lake City woman had a condition which led to the formation of polyps in her abdomen and her intestinal tract. A local doctor and surgeon, unskilled and inexperienced with this condition, recommended that she have exploratory surgery. While doing the exploratory procedure and without informing his patient beforehand, the surgeon removed one of the large polyps. Unfortunately, along with the polyp, the surgeon removed several feet of small intestine which was wrapped around the polyp. This left the woman with too little bowel to absorb the nutrients from the food she eats to survive. This condition is called short bowel syndrome and requires this woman to be feed by a tube for the rest of her life.
Jury Award:  $4 Million, Lake City, Columbia County, Florida.

Premises Liability - Lack of Security - Apartment Complex - Sexual Assault
A young woman returned home to her South Florida apartment to be surprised by an intruder. She was sexually assaulted and beaten. While she had overcome the physical injuries, the emotional trauma remained when she came to our firm. Amazingly, her concerns were for other unsuspecting tenants who filled the large complex. Investigating the crime in the area and the lack of adequate security measures, we were able to demonstrate responsibility on the part of the apartment complex and management company which will hopefully lead to safer measures being taken. As our client shared with us if a single person has been protected from suffering what she endured, that would be a significant victory.
Award:  Amount withheld, Ft. Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida.

Automobile Collision - Complex Accident - Disc Injury - Surgeries - Federal Tort Claim
A hard-working young woman was driving on I-95 in South Florida when traffic quickly slowed and stopped. When she had come to a stop, she was rear-ended. The cause of the rear-end collision began several cars behind her. Through investigation, the first offending driver was discovered, and it was learned that he was an on-duty FBI agent, simply not paying attention to the road ahead. In accordance with Federal Law, claims were brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and the case was tried in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Judge Awarded:  $500,000.

Medical Malpractice - Failure to Diagnose and Treat Heart Attack - Death - Federal Tort Claim
In another claim which had to brought against the United States in accordance with Federal Law, a client was delivering Pepsi Cola products to an Air Force base when he experienced shortness of breath. He went to the base hospital, received some testing and was released with a bottle of antacids. He was told he was just suffering from indigestion. Unfortunately, he was having unstable angina pain preceding his heart attack and died later that afternoon. He left a wife of over 35 years and 3 older children. Claims were brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act where trial is held before a United States District Court Judge sitting without a jury. In this case, the Judge, a former United States Attorney, found the evidence we presented on behalf of this family convincing not only of the medical malpractice, but also of the grievous loss to this close-knit family.
Judge Awarded:  $2.1 Million.

Premises Liability - Slip and Fall - Major Department Store - Spinal Injuries
While shopping at the Florida Mall, our client was in a major department store and slipped and fell on signs that were left or dropped on the floor. While the store clearly did not intend to create such a hazard, its policies increased the likelihood of this occurrence. At first, the store sought to blame our client for not seeing the hazard. However, it proved unwise to blame a customer for not seeing what should not have been on the floor, and a just conclusion resulted.
Award: Amount withheld, Orlando, Orange County, Florida.

Medical Malpratice - Endoscopic Sinus Surgery- Eye Muscle Injury
Plagued by years of sinus congestion, our client underwent endoscopic sinus surgery.  The surgery is performed using an endoscope, or tiny telescope with a camera on the end, inserted into the nose to permit visualization of the sinuses cavities and allow for removal of obstructions.  Unfortunately, the surgeon failed to keep his instruments within his field of view and inadvertently entered the eye orbit.  While that alone would not have caused permanent injury, the surgeon then failed to check and ensure that he was in the proper location.  As a result, he completely severed one of our client's eye muscles, leaving him with loss of eye movement, double vision, and loss of peripheral vision.
Having recently tried this case in August 2006, we can share that doctors and insurance companies continue to try to get away with committing medical malpractice.  In this case, the insurance company offered only $10,000 to settle the case.  That amount did not even cover our client's medical expenses, and obviously, that amount was inadequate to compensate him for his injury.  We recommended that the case be tried, and we were able to obtain a fair jury to listen to the evidence.
Jury Award:  $1.28 million, Orlando, Orange County, Florida