A broken bone is no minor injury. A fracture can be highly painful, and your recovery from the injury could take a long time. Despite multiple surgeries, the bone may never heal right. Additionally, you may experience complications such as infections, punctured organs, and nerve damage.
If you have suffered a broken bone due to another person’s negligence, the personal injury lawyers of Marks & Harrison want to help you. We understand the tremendous impact that a fracture can have on your ability to work and enjoy your life. We will pursue just compensation for your medical treatment, lost wages, pain, suffering, and more.
Marks & Harrison serves clients from eleven offices located throughout Virginia, including Richmond. Call or contact us online today to schedule a free consultation. We will get to work on your case right away.
Common Types of Fractures
After you have been involved in an accident, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible. To determine whether you have suffered a fracture, the doctor can examine you and order X-rays, MRIs, and other tests. As we have seen at Marks & Harrison, the types of fractures that commonly occur in accidents are:
- Greenstick – When the bone is bent or cracked on one side, but the break does not go entirely through the bone. Because their bones are softer and more flexible, children tend to suffer these fractures.
- Bowing – When the bone bends but does not break. This type of fracture is common among children as well.
- Stress – When the bone cracks due to repeated pressure or overuse instead of due to a sudden traumatic incident.
- Stable – This fracture occurs when the bone breaks all the way through or is “complete,” but the ends remain aligned.
- Compound/open – When at least one end of the fractured bone breaks through the skin. These fractures carry a high risk of infections.
- Simple/closed – When the fracture is complete, but the bone does not pierce the skin.
- Impacted / buckle – When the bone breaks but does not separate. Instead, the ends of the bone drive into each other.
- Comminuted – When the bone breaks in multiple places or shatters.
- Complicated – When complications such as nerve, muscle, ligament, or tendon damage accompany the fracture.
Any type of fracture potentially carries serious consequences. Even if a broken finger, thumb, toe, wrist, elbow, knee, or hip appears to heal quickly, you could later experience difficulties such as arthritis.
Causes of Broken Bone Injuries
In many cases, broken bones do not result from “accidents.” Instead, they are products of the careless or reckless acts of another. The personal injury lawyers of Marks & Harrison often work with clients who suffered broken bones due to:
- Slip and falls – When a property owner fails to take reasonable steps to repair a dangerous condition or warn about hazards on the premises, visitors can suffer falls that result in hip, wrist, knee, arm, or leg fractures.
- Car, truck, and motorcycle crashes – A broken bone can occur due to the force exerted on one’s body in a collision. Broken ribs that puncture organs and skull fractures that cause brain damage are major concerns in motor vehicle crashes.
- Construction / workplace accidents – Fractures can occur when construction workers fall from ladders, scaffolding or roofs, or when they suffer same-level falls on slippery or cluttered surfaces. Some workers suffer broken bones after they get caught in machinery.
- Nursing home abuse and neglect – Many elderly nursing home residents suffer from osteoporosis, which makes them highly susceptible to broken hips and other fractures if they fall. Medication errors, poor living conditions, and improper handling of residents by nursing home staff members often lead to falls in nursing homes in Virginia.
You should contact a lawyer right away if you or a loved one suffers a broken bone due to the suspected negligence of another. An attorney from Marks & Harrison will review your case and determine whether you have the grounds for a personal injury lawsuit. Our law firm can also explore other options that may be available to you such as filing a workers’ compensation claim.
Please note, the state of Virginia has a time limit on how long you have to file a lawsuit for a personal injury. This law is known as the Statute of Limitations. For the state of Virginia, that time limit for your claim is two years.
What Compensation Can You Recover If You Suffer a Fracture Injury?
Depending on the severity of the injury, a fracture can lead to extensive medical treatment. For instance, the first step that a doctor will take to treat a broken bone will be to realign it or set it. The doctor’s goal is to stabilize the bone and allow it to heal properly. Doctors typically use casts, splints, or braces to provide stability.
However, in some cases, an orthopedic surgeon may need to implant plates, pins, screws, or rods. This procedure is called internal fixation. If a surgeon attaches a metal frame on the outside of the skin at the fracture site, it is called external fixation.
As the bone grows stronger and more capable of supporting a patient’s weight and movement, the patient can move on to the next treatment step – rehabilitation, or physical therapy. This stage consists of a series of exercises that are aimed at improving strength and flexibility.
A lawyer from Marks & Harrison will help you to seek a full recovery of all past and future medical costs related to your fracture as well as compensation for your lost wages and your pain and suffering.
As we prepare your case, we will review medical records that document your fracture and the treatment you have received. We also will gather evidence such as:
- X-ray, MRI, or other test results
- Your cast, splint, or brace
- Any plates, pins, screws, or rods used in your treatment
- Assistive devices you have needed such as a cane, walker, or wheelchair.
These exhibits can serve as powerful evidence of the seriousness of your fracture and of the pain and suffering you have experienced. They can be used when we seek a settlement from the at-fault party’s insurance company or when we present your case in court.
Our Richmond Broken Bone Lawyers Can Help You
At Marks & Harrison, we believe in working as efficiently as possible to resolve our clients’ cases. We know that an injury such as a broken bone can wreak havoc on your life. We want to help you to move forward as quickly as possible and with full and fair compensation for the harm you have suffered.
To learn more about our approach to personal injury cases and to discuss how we can help after you have suffered a fracture due to another person’s negligence, call or reach us online today. We serve clients in Richmond and throughout Virginia. Our consultations are always free.
