Mobile Broken Bones Lawyer
If you suspect you have a broken bone as a result of a car accident or fall in Mobile, AL, you should seek immediate medical attention, even if you don’t feel like you can afford it.
If your injury was caused by someone else’s fault or negligence, that person, or their insurance company, may be responsible for paying your injury-related expenses, including your medical bills and pain and suffering.
The experienced Mobile broken bones lawyers at Lattof & Lattof, P. C., are ready to help you fight to maximize your financial recovery. Give our law office a call to arrange a free case evaluation today.
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How Our Mobile Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help You With Your Broken Bones Case
If you are going to pursue compensation for your injury, you will need an experienced Mobile personal injury attorney in your corner. At Lattof & Lattof, our experienced attorneys have handled broken bones in a wide variety of cases, including slips and falls, truck accidents, pedestrian accidents, and more.
Unfortunately, insurance companies can treat accidents and broken bones with skepticism. It is important to have personal injury attorneys who have experience proving these kinds of cases.
When you think about establishing an attorney-client relationship, you need to know what to expect from your attorney. During and after our free consultation, we will treat your case with confidentiality.
If you hire our Mobile, Alabama firm to represent you in your personal injury case, here’s how our lawyers can help you:
- We create an attorney-client relationship based on communication. We keep our clients in the loop throughout their personal injury case.
- We provide all-around guidance. Whether you need to know what to do after a car accident or whether you should talk to an insurance adjuster, we can give you solid advice.
- We manage deadlines and prepare paperwork. Our skilled staff keeps on top of these overwhelming administrative tasks.
- We work with trusted medical experts. It is the burden of the plaintiff, or injured person, to prove their injuries and the consequences of their injuries. We have working relationships with premier Alabama medical experts to support our cases.
- We investigate the details of the accident that caused your fracture. The determination of fault is a critical component of a personal injury case. We determine fault and use that information to hold the responsible party accountable.
- We negotiate the best settlements for our clients. At some point in every personal injury case, an insurance company sends out an initial offer that favors the insurance company over the injured person. We recognize that lowball offers are only a starting point to maximize compensation for our injured clients.
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of choosing an experienced personal injury attorney. It’s also important to establish an attorney-client relationship as soon after your accident as possible. Contact our office today for a free case evaluation.
What Damages Are Available If I’ve Suffered a Broken Bone in a Mobile Accident?
Since broken bones require extensive treatment and multiple appointments, healing from a broken bone can be costly. During recovery, a patient may have limited or non-existent use of the limb in which the broken bone is located. Moreover, it may simply be impossible to work.
We seek both economic and non-economic damages for our personal injury clients.
Economic damages are those that can be distinctly valued by a dollar amount, such as:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Ongoing medical rehabilitation and physical therapy costs
- Medical equipment, like crutches, scooters, or wheelchairs
Non-economic damages are hard to value, but they are equally essential to recovery.
Non-economic damages include:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Disability
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
These non-economic quality of life factors are compensable under Alabama law.
One important thing to know about recovering damages is that the law of contributory negligence applies in Alabama. This means that you cannot recover if you were in any way responsible for the accident or later injuries. Since the responsible party or their insurance company may try to blame you, it is important to have an attorney who will stand up for you and defend you against accusations of blame.
Broken Bone Injuries: An Overview
Each year, millions of people in the U.S. suffer from bone fractures, more commonly called broken bones. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons categorizes a bone fracture by the pattern of the break. When a broken bone is diagnosed, it is first categorized as open or closed.
- Closed Fracture: Also called simple fractures, these happen when the bone is broken but the skin remains intact.
- Open Fracture: This type of injury is also called a compound fracture. Think of a compound fracture as the gory movie scene injury where the bone breaks the skin or a deep wound exposes bone. These injuries usually have jagged-edge breaks. The bones are often extremely displaced.
In addition to being classified as open or closed, there are several types of fractures, each characterized by a unique break pattern.
- Comminuted Fractures. Although less visible than compound fractures, comminuted fractures are no less gory. In these injuries, the bone is shattered into three or more pieces, with or without breaking the skin.
- Compression Fractures. In these injuries, common in spinal vertebrae, the bone collapses on itself.
There are many other, less common, types of fractures. The first step of recovery from a broken bone is to diagnose the kind of broken bone injury you’re facing.
How Are Broken Bone Injuries Diagnosed?
Doctors use various methods to diagnose broken bone injuries. Some diagnostic methods include patient-reported symptoms, medical history, and diagnostic tests, like X-rays.
The patient-reported symptoms following a broken bone injury will depend on which bone was broken.
Symptoms often include:
- Edema, or swelling caused by inflammation and fluid buildup
- Severe pain in the area of the broken bone
- Difficulty using the limb in which the broken bone is located
- Obviously noticeable or unusual bends or twists in bones
Many of these symptoms are also commonly accompanied by heat and redness near the area of the break.
To confirm a suspected broken bone diagnosis, a medical provider may order an X-ray, MRI, or CT scan. These medical imaging devices allow doctors to view the bone inside the patient’s body.
What’s the Treatment For Broken Bone Injuries?
Depending on the age and health of the injured party, the severity of the fracture, and the type of fracture, the treatment for a broken bone can vary.
Proper healing of broken bones requires ongoing medical care.
In addition to the initial evaluation and diagnostic labs, treatment for a broken bone often requires repeated appointments for evaluation of healing.
Patients may have pre-op, surgical, or post-op appointments as well as physical rehabilitation or physical therapy appointments.
Casting or splinting are two conservative treatment protocols for broken bones. Traction is occasionally indicated. Rarely, a doctor may recommend surgery.
Complications from Treatment of Broken Bones
Complications can arise during the patient’s treatment and recovery from a broken bone injury. Complications related to broken bones can include:
- Sores (ulcers) caused by cast-wearing
- Joint stiffness
- Blood clots
- Swelling of the muscles near the fracture
- Hemarthrosis (swelling caused by bleeding directly into a joint)
You may be entitled to compensation for any expenses related to these complications if you are entitled to compensation for the original broken bone injury.
What Causes Broken Bone Injuries?
Broken bones are most often caused by motor vehicle accidents or falls. However, these are not the only catastrophic or traumatic events that lead to broken bones.
Some other circumstances in which broken bones may result include:
Childbirth
Since a newborn must travel down the birth canal during vaginal birth, and in some cases where a Cesarean procedure is indicated, there is a risk for broken bones. Whether your child suffered a birth injury or you suffered a pelvic fracture, our personal injury attorneys can help you get the compensation you deserve.
Medical Procedures
If you suffered a broken bone in a procedure and you believe that a broken bone was not a risk of that particular medical procedure, you may have a medical malpractice claim.
Battery or Other Trauma
If you were injured in a violent attack at a place of business, your broken bone may be the basis of a negligent security case. In Alabama, business operators have a duty to maintain their customers’ safety from third-party bad actors while on the business premises.
Nursing Home Abuse
Sadly, there are instances in which elderly or infirm residents of nursing homes experience nursing home abuse. One red flag of this type of abuse is a broken bone in a bedridden or limited-mobility patient.
Each of these particular kinds of cases is governed by different kinds of laws. Personal injury attorneys who dedicate their practice to injured victims will have the most comprehensive knowledge of the laws surrounding each type of case.
What’s the Statute of Limitations For Filing a Broken Bone Lawsuit in Alabama?
In Alabama, a person must file a lawsuit within two years from the date of a personal injury. This two-year deadline is called the statute of limitations. If an injured person fails to file a lawsuit within the deadline, they may lose their legal right to recover compensation forever.
Note, the rules can differ, depending on how you got hurt and how you decide to pursue compensation. If you were injured in a workplace accident, you may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. There are different timetables in place to pursue those types of financial awards. Our attorneys can help.
Contact Our Mobile Broken Bones Lawyer Today
If you suffered a broken bone as a result of someone else’s fault or negligence, reach out to the experienced Mobile broken bones lawyers at Lattof & Lattof. We offer a free consultation and would be more than happy to help you understand the legal options that might be available to you.
