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Orthopedic Injury Lawsuit

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Injuries to the bones and muscles (orthopedic injuries) can be expected, especially as we get older. Sometimes, these injuries result from our lifestyle, like an old sports injury, and sometimes these injuries are due to no fault of our own, such as a slip and fall from a careless puddle of water.

These injuries can often result in surgical interventions using prosthetic implants to alleviate pain and attempt to fix the problem. In the case of negligence, such as slip and falls or defective medical devices, these injuries may lead to a personal injury lawsuit against a business, hospital, or medical device manufacturer.

Causes of Orthopedic Injuries

Many factors can cause injuries to the bones, muscles, tendons, and joints. Activities like exercise, contact sports, and working can put you at risk for injury. This type of injury causes pain and can often require a person to have surgery, increasing their risk for additional health problems.

Common orthopedic injuries are usually caused by everyday life and activities. A fall on an outstretched hand can lead to a wrist fracture, while activities like contact sports can put a person at risk for many orthopedic traumas — knee injuries, ankle and foot sprains, meniscus tears, and more.

Even though everyday activities put the body at risk of orthopedic injuries, it shouldn’t stop you from getting out and moving. Exercising and building strong bones and muscles can prevent injuries from happening in the first place. But you should always talk with your doctor before starting any type of exercise or program.

Most Common Orthopedic Injuries

There are many different types of orthopedic injuries, just as there are many different bones, muscles, tendons, and joints in the body. Some orthopedic injuries, however, are more common than others.

When it comes to the bones and muscles in the body, the most common injuries include:

  • Stress Fractures
  • Foot And Ankle Sprains
  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
  • Shoulder Dislocation
  • Rotator Cuff Tear
  • ACL Tear
  • Plantar Fasciitis
  • Tennis Elbow

Stress Fractures

These are tiny cracks in the bone caused by overuse of muscles. When muscles become fatigued, they no longer absorb shock and transfer that shock to the bone. This creates a small fracture that is treated with rest and sometimes surgery.

Foot And Ankle Sprains

Foot and ankle sprains are extremely common—an estimated 2 million people sprain their ankle each year. Usually, rest and compression take care of the injury in time, but some sprains may require surgery.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when one of the main nerves to the hand is squeezed and compressed. It is common in people who work long hours in an office typing at a computer or making a repetitive motion with their hands for long periods of time such as on an assembly line. The injury causes pain, numbness, and tingling in the hand and arm that typically gets worse over time; therefore, early detection and treatment are essential.

Shoulder Dislocation

A dislocated shoulder is often the cause of a sports-related injury or other trauma. One dislocated shoulder means another dislocation is likely.

Rotator Cuff Tears

The rotator cuff is located in the shoulder and allows the joint to move in a circular motion. Stress on the rotator cuff increases the risk for tears, which cause severe pain and limited mobility. Depending on the severity of the injury, rest and a shoulder brace may be the only treatment required, but some tears do require surgery.

ACL Tears

The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, is the main ligament on the knee and it can tear when making any sudden or abrupt movements. ACL injuries are a common injury among athletes and frequently require surgery.

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is the leading cause of heel pain. The plantar fascia is the ligament that attaches the toes and heel of the foot and can cause severe pain and swelling when it is stressed. Rest, better shoes, and decreased activity are the first line of treatment when addressing plantar fasciitis.

“Tennis Elbow”

When tendons around the elbow are stressed, it can cause severe pain. This injury is known as “tennis elbow” and is caused by repetitive, weight-bearing motions of the wrist and arm. Rest is usually the best option for treatment.

Treatment Options and Risks

Treatment of orthopedic injuries will depend mainly on the kind of damage and the patient’s overall health. Treatment will often include various methods, consisting of rest, surgery, physical therapy, and pain management.

Your doctor or orthopedic surgeon will discuss your options with you. Together, you should make an informed decision about your treatment. It is essential to know the risks and benefits of each treatment option as some can put patients at increased risk for other issues.

Surgical treatments can mean the use of prosthetic implants. Many lawsuits are now pending in state and federal courts across the country against various hip and knee implants manufacturers. In addition to the risks of surgery, which include infection and adverse reactions to anesthesia, faulty implants may put patients at risk for device failure and the need for a second surgery.

Pain management using Vicodin puts patients at risk for drug abuse and overdose. The epidemic in the United States paints a clear picture of the potential dangers of taking these kinds of prescription drugs for chronic pain.

What Steps Should You Take after Suffering an Orthopedic Injury?

In the moments following an accident, you may feel disoriented. It’s possible to suffer an orthopedic injury without knowing it. Pain due to an orthopedic injury may not be immediately noticeable, but can be very serious nonetheless. You must take the following steps to protect yourself in the moments following an accident.

  • Dial 911 to get an ambulance or emergency medical personnel on the scene. If the accident involved other individuals or caused by someone else, you should call the police.
  • Make a detailed report of the accident for your records. If the police visit the accident scene, have them give you a copy of their report. You can store it in your records. It is possible that your memory will become unclear, and you may forget what you said while under stress.
  • Never accept fault or admit liability at the scene of the accident.
  • Get the contact information of other individuals involved in the accident.
  • Take as many photographs as you can. Try to get contact information from as many witnesses as possible. This will serve as evidence that you can use during your civil case in the future.
  • Talk to an orthopedic injury lawyer to help you determine how to take legal action.

How Can an Orthopedic Injury Lawyer Help?

Depending on the cause of an orthopedic injury, a person may choose to take legal action against a doctor, hospital, or medical device manufacturer. Typically, lawsuits against medical device manufacturers are personal injury cases in which a person accuses the company of manufacturing a defective product and failing to warn about its risks.

Lawsuits for orthopedic injuries are time-consuming and require attention to detail. Experienced orthopedic injury lawyers can simplify the process for injured individuals and their family members. An attorney can gather photographic evidence and get statements from witnesses. They look over surgical plans and charts and talk to medical experts when determining if a surgeon breached their duty of care.

In the context of orthopedic personal injury cases, an orthopedic specialist is sometimes brought in on behalf of the plaintiff and their attorney to determine the extent and potential cause of the injury. Attorneys use these doctors on liens to help identify the severity of the injury, and they may even perform surgery to correct the patient’s lingering injury. These types of doctors are an essential part of orthopedic injury lawsuits.

How to File an Orthopedic Injury Lawsuit

If an orthopedic medical professional breached their duty, an attorney could help the injured individual recover compensation to which they might be entitled. It takes a qualified orthopedic injury lawyer to provide an accurate assessment of the injury accident claim’s value.

Our law firm uses expert medical personnel, accident reconstruction, and other professionals to help us identify the actual cost of damages suffered in an orthopedic injury accident.

When a person is a victim of an orthopedic injury, it may be possible for them to recover damages like:

  • Therapy
  • Loss of consortium
  • Pain and suffering
  • Current medical expenses
  • Future medical expenses
  • Future and present lost wages

What Is Required When Proving Orthopedic Malpractice?

An orthopedic injury lawyer working for you will need to establish four things to prove that your injuries resulted from medical malpractice.

  • Duty of Care – This means that there is an obligation under the law to give medical care in harmony with accepted standards in the medical community. Your orthopedic surgeon should provide you care similar to what would have been given by another surgeon who has similar training and faces a similar situation.
  • Violation of Duty of Care – Your attorney will need to show specific examples of where the surgeon who treated you did not provide care that met accepted medical standards. For example, a surgeon may not respond to complications that arose in a way that harmonizes with their training or what a similarly trained medical professional would have done.
  • Breach of Care Led to Your Injury – There must be a link between the breached duty of care and the injuries you sustained. This is where an orthopedic malpractice lawyer will need to show that your injuries were caused by the breach of care and not by something else. The other side will argue that your injuries resulted from a pre-existing medical condition or something you did.
  • Injuries Resulted in Damages – Finally, we will need to show evidence that proves your injuries’ negative impact on your life. This could include your personal accounts of the suffering and the pain you have experienced. Other pieces of evidence could consist of medical bills or proof of lost wages.

If an orthopedic injury lawyer can prove these four things, it may be possible to get compensation for the damages you have suffered. Our law firm understands how to prove these four elements and prove that malpractice took place. We know the steps needed to get the required evidence.

Statute of Limitations for Orthopedic Injury

Medical malpractice cases face a statute of limitations. It is two years from the date a person dies or is injured. If you don’t file a lawsuit within that time, you could lose your right to do so. 

Even if you do not immediately discover that you have been the victim of medical malpractice, you have two years from the date you were injured or from the date when you reasonably should have discovered your injury to file. All medical malpractice lawsuits need to be filed within five years of the date of injury, regardless of when you discovered it.

Other orthopedic malpractice cases involve items being left inside a patient, including surgical instruments or scalpels. There is a different statute of limitations that applies here. With these cases, you have one year from the time you discover your injury to file your lawsuit.

The Eichholz Law Firm has orthopedic injury lawyers knowledgeable in the laws that apply to these cases. If we accept your case, we will help you identify the laws and time limits applicable to your case, allowing us to file your lawsuit on time.

Contact The Eichholz Law Firm

If you have suffered an orthopedic injury or suffered an injury because you believe your surgeon acted negligently, you may have legal options. Talk to our orthopedic injury lawyers about your case and let us see how we can help you.

References

Please seek the advice of a medical professional before making health care decisions.
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