Common Types of Personal Injury Cases

No one gets through life without the occasional nick and bump here and there, but it’s not unreasonable to expect your health and safety to stay intact when you go about your day to day life. Regular errands and outings like driving, shopping, and working should be harmless and without worry of serious injury. However, for millions of people in the US each year, negligent actions by someone else do lead to a serious injury or illness. The silver lining is that if you are harmed because of someone else, you’re able to pursue a personal injury case.

What is a Personal Injury Case?

Personal injury cases are legal disputes that happen when a person is harmed. This usually happens in an accident, but the injury could also be the result of assault. In a personal injury case, the injured person seeks restitution from the party that’s believed to be responsible for the damages.

Motor Vehicle Accident

Any part of the human body can become injured in a motor vehicle accident, and most of these injuries are avoidable. Human error is a factor in 90%of motor vehicle accidents. Some of the most common negligent behaviors are using cell phones, speeding, and running red lights. Despite the fact that alcohol is widely known to impair drivers, 111 million adults admit to having driven under the influence . These dangerous behaviors can help to establish the other party’s liability in a personal injury case.

Medical Malpractice

Health care providers are required to adhere to a professional standard of care, meaning they must take reasonable measures to ensure that patients do not suffer any harm unnecessarily. Unfortunately, mistakes and oversights do happen, and patients pay for it with their health as well as their finances.

As a patient, if you have been injured due to medical negligence, you can pursue a medical malpractice case against your health care provider or the facility where you received treatment. You will need proof that the injuries you have sustained are a result of avoidable and foreseeable errors. For instance, if a doctor misdiagnoses a condition despite having all of the facts and diagnostic tools available, the afflicted patient likely has a strong medical malpractice case.

If you’ve been prescribed the wrong medication, or perhaps the correct medication in the wrong dosages, and you’ve suffered as a result, it could be grounds for a medical malpractice case.

Surgical mishaps are also common in the area of medical malpractice. When surgeries are botched, patients can leave the hospital with more ailments than when they went in. Mistakes can even be fatal. The act of medical negligence doesn’t necessarily have to happen the day of the procedure. Healthcare professionals must provide pre and post surgical care to make sure operations are safe, and when they don’t, they’re not providing a professional standard of care.\

In some cases, surgeries that aren’t needed are performed. We like to think of nurses, doctors, and other providers as good-hearted professionals that can be fully trusted. While that is true of many in this noble line of work, some do what is best for their pocketbooks. Surgeries typically bring in more money than less invasive alternatives, for instance, C-sections compared with lower-priced natural births. When unnecessarily risks are taken, it is a form of malpractice.

Product Liability

The average American home holds 300,000 items. Considering all of the consumables that are bought and sold, some of them are bound to be faulty. And it’s not just poorly made gadgets disappointingly falling apart – some malfunctions can put you in harm’s way. For instance, defective electronics can overheat and cause house fires. Vehicle parts that weren’t properly tested for safety can lead to car accidents.

In product liability cases, determining the at-fault party is often complicated because they typically involve several people and entities. Say, for example, a crash happens when brakes malfunction. At first glance, it appears to be the driver’s fault, but it could be because of a negligent mechanic or parts manufacturer. Personal injury attorneys are experienced in investigating these complexities on their clients’ behalf.

Slip and Falls

Slip and fall accidents often happen on commercial properties. Patrons of businesses frequently fall because of uneven pavement, unmarked wet floors, and insufficient lighting. Loose or missing hand railings, be they in businesses or residential rentals, are also a common culprit. Property owners, business owners, and management are responsible for keeping these spaces safe. If they don’t, they could face a personal injury lawsuit when someone gets hurt. Similarly, employers who don’t take the proper safety precautions are contributing to workplace slip and falls that lead to over 243,000 injuries annually .

Wrongful Death

An accident victim may die at the scene or in the following days, months, or years after suffering injuries. If you’re the dependent survivor of a loved one, you can seek compensation for the value of the support and services you lost because of your loved one’s fatal injuries.

Contact an Experienced St Petersburg Attorney

If you’ve been injured due to another party’s negligence, the attorneys of Jones Law Group will fight to get you the maximum compensation that you need for your well being. We have overseen personal injury cases of every nature, and we approach each one methodically and differently depending on the unique facts of the case. For a free consultation, contact us online or by phone at 727-571-1333.