Broken Bones and Fractures Injury Lawyers
While bone fractures and breaks are common, it's crucial not to underestimate their severity. They can result from a variety of causes and often heal with time and treatment. However, it's vital to grasp that they are serious injuries with the potential for long-term impacts that can significantly alter your life. This understanding is crucial, as it highlights the importance of not overlooking these injuries and underscores the need for legal action.
A severe fracture not only disrupts your daily routine and causes pain, but it also brings with it long-term recovery and unexpected financial burdens. When such injuries result from someone else's negligence, the need for compensation becomes even more pressing.
The financial burden of these injuries can be overwhelming, and our law firm is here to help you navigate this challenging situation and alleviate this financial stress.
If you suffered a broken bone due to someone else's negligence, you might face mounting medical bills, missed work, and disruptions to your daily routine. These injuries can leave you wondering how to cover your expenses and get the justice you deserve.
Legal Options
Broken bones vary in severity and complexity, but they can have a profound impact on the life of the person who has been injured. Understanding the types of fractures, their causes, and how they affect individuals in California can provide important context and empower anyone seeking compensation.
This knowledge can give you a sense of control in challenging situations and help you make informed decisions about your legal options.
If your bone injury occurred because of another party's carelessness, California law gives you the right to pursue compensation to help you recover and move forward. At Injury Justice Law Firm, we understand the toll these injuries take on victims and their families, and our personal injury attorneys will work to get you the compensation you need and deserve.
Disrupting Daily Life
Even the most minor of accidents can result in a broken bone or fracture, a painful and debilitating consequence that disrupts your day-to-day life. In accidents or situations where someone's negligence or irresponsible behavior contributed to the injury, you might be entitled to monetary damages.
California law protects victims who have been harmed by defective products, faulty equipment, negligent drivers, and hazardous workplace or property conditions. To safeguard your legal rights, you need a Los Angeles personal injury attorney who is well-versed in broken bone claims and who can fight for fair compensation and will not settle for less than you deserve.
Our catastrophic injury lawyers at the Injury Justice Law Firm have experience representing residents who have suffered bone fractures in slip and fall accidents, car crashes, and cases involving negligence. The terms "fracture" and "broken bone" are used interchangeably in the medical community. This type of injury is caused by blunt trauma or excessive force and can range from a tiny fissure to a complete, exposed break.
A bone can splinter lengthwise or crosswise and pose a medical emergency, especially in compound fractures where the bone protrudes through the skin. Also known as an open fracture, this type of injury increases the risk of infection. A clean break that does not tear through the skin is called a closed or simple fracture.
Bone injuries, particularly those that involve multiple fractures, can seriously hinder your ability to perform your normal work duties and support your family. Medical expenses and physical rehabilitation can be incredibly costly, and some fractures may even require reconstructive surgery. Skull fractures are especially dangerous because they can lead to brain hemorrhaging, which can prove fatal.
Types of Bone Fractures
Bone fractures can occur at any age, but are more common in those aged 50 and older. Bone elasticity decreases over time, making seniors more vulnerable to serious harm in the event of a slip and fall. The different types of bone fractures include:
- Hairline fracture. A small, thin crack that is often difficult to detect.
- Displaced fracture. The bone is fractured into pieces that don't align.
- Stress fracture. Repeated forces cause a hairline fracture along the bone.
- Comminuted fracture. The bone is shattered in three or more places.
- Crush fracture. Occurs in the vertebral bones that compress over time.
- Impacted fracture. One part of the bone goes into another.
- Greenstick fracture. Common among young children, the bone partially fractures on one side and bends on the other.
- Avulsion fracture. This is an injury that often happens to the ligament, where a bone fragment pulls away from the bone.
Intense pain is typically the first symptom of a broken bone, accompanied by redness and inflammation in the affected area. X-rays and CT scans can accurately diagnose the exact location and severity of a broken bone, which may result in long-term disability for some patients.
Typical causes of broken bone injuries include herniated discs, skull and facial fractures, as well as broken hips and legs that require lengthy recovery and specialized medical attention. The majority of patients are unable to work while recuperating from a more severe bone fracture.
Common Causes of Bone Fractures
Bone fractures typically result from forces that exceed the bone's natural ability to withstand impact, pressure, or stress. Common causes include:
- High-impact trauma: Accidents, such as car collisions or motorcycle crashes, can subject bones to tremendous force, often resulting in serious fractures.
- Falls: A slip and fall on an uneven surface or a fall from a significant height can easily result in broken bones, particularly in vulnerable areas like the wrists, hips, or ankles.
- Repetitive strain or overuse: Stress fractures, common in athletes or labor-intensive professions, occur over time when repeated strain weakens a bone's structure.
- Direct force: A hard blow to a specific part of the body, such as during an altercation, sport, or workplace incident, can lead to fractures.
Accidents Causing Bone Breaks
Bone fractures can stem from various types of incidents, many of which are preventable. Some of the most common accident scenarios include:
- Vehicle Accidents: Car, truck, and motorcycle accidents often involve extreme force, which can snap bones or cause complex fractures. Pedestrians and cyclists struck by vehicles are also at high risk for severe breaks.
- Bicycle Accidents: Cyclists are especially vulnerable to injury in collisions with vehicles or falls caused by hazardous road conditions, such as loose gravel or potholes.
- Slip-and-Fall Incidents: Unsafe property conditions, including wet floors, uneven surfaces, or poorly maintained staircases, are leading causes of falls that frequently result in fractures.
- Sports-Related Injuries: Contact sports, such as football or rugby, as well as high-intensity activities like skiing or gymnastics, put individuals at risk for broken bones due to forceful impacts.
- Workplace Accidents: Construction sites and industrial settings often present hazardous environments, with falls from heights, accidents involving heavy machinery, and dropped equipment contributing to significant fractures.
Falls and Bone Fractures
Whether on private or public property, indoors or outdoors, falls are a common cause of bone fractures in all age groups, especially the elderly.
Half of all adults age 65 and older who were hospitalized for hip fractures cannot return home or live independently after the injury. Falls account for almost 90% of all fractures among people 65 and older, and are one of the leading causes of spinal cord and traumatic brain injury.
Property owners are required to maintain their premises in a safe manner for the benefit of residents, guests, shoppers, and passersby. If a dangerous floor condition caused a broken bone injury, you may seek compensation for medical bills, rehabilitation, lost income, and more.
Our legal team works diligently to see that you receive full compensation for economic and non-economic losses related to your bone fracture injuries. This often includes negotiating an insurance settlement or taking your case to trial.
Possible Complications of Fractures
While the physical pain of a fracture is undeniable, the complications that may arise in its aftermath can be equally distressing. Some of the potential consequences include:
- Reduced mobility: Serious fractures, particularly those affecting weight-bearing bones like the femur or pelvis, may inhibit movement for weeks, months, or longer.
- Chronic pain or stiffness: Even after initial healing, some individuals endure lingering discomfort or stiffness, requiring ongoing treatment or rehabilitation.
- Delayed or improper healing: Certain fractures, such as those occurring in the arms or legs, may heal incorrectly if not promptly diagnosed and treated, potentially leading to long-term functional issues.
- Nerve damage: Breaks near nerve-dense areas (e.g., the spine or wrist) could result in numbness, tingling, or loss of sensation.
- Infection: Open fractures, where a bone pierces the skin, significantly increase the risk of developing infections that may complicate recovery.
These complications often come with financial strain, ranging from mounting medical bills to lost income. That's why holding negligent parties accountable is essential to alleviate the financial burden caused by another's recklessness.
Proving Liability and Damages
To seek compensation for a fracture or break caused by negligence, it's crucial to establish liability and quantify the damages you've suffered. Personal injury claims typically involve the following steps:
- Proving negligence: Establishing liability requires demonstrating that the at-fault party owed you a duty of care, breached that duty through negligent actions, and directly caused your injury.
- Documenting injury and impact: Collecting detailed medical records, photos of the injury, accident reports, and witness statements can support your claims. Evidence of temporary or permanent disability should also be included.
- Calculating damages: Compensation assessments typically cover both actual costs, such as medical expenses and lost wages, as well as non-economic damages, including pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment, and other intangible losses.
Types of Available Damages
Plaintiffs in a broken bone civil lawsuit in California may be eligible for the following types of damages:
- Past and future medical expenses,
- Cost of treatments and hospitalization,
- Lost wages and loss of future earnings,
- Physical pain and emotional suffering,
- Rehabilitation costs.
Additionally, California extends legal remedies to individuals who have suffered "great bodily injury," a type of significant physical harm that is determined on a case-by-case basis. Significant bone fractures generally constitute great bodily harm and may warrant further consideration relating to a monetary award.
Consult with an LA Injury Lawyer
While filing a personal injury claim over a broken bone injury can seem straightforward, proving your claim and obtaining compensation can be a long and winding road. Proving fault is rarely cut-and-dried, and insurance companies typically resist paying the full amount of what the true recovery costs.
Our personal injury attorneys have extensive experience with bone fracture cases, and we know how to navigate these complex issues to get generous settlements for our clients.
Whether your serious injury was caused by a careless person or a negligent driver who slammed into your car, your case needs to be reviewed to determine civil liability.
Contact our Los Angeles personal injury lawyers at the Injury Justice Law Firm to discuss your options for legal recourse. We offer a free, no-obligation consultation and work on a contingency basis, meaning you don't pay any fees unless we win your case. Our law firm is located in Los Angeles, CA.
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