Broken Bones in Personal Injury Cases
Broken bones are common injuries; if you break a bone because of someone else’s negligence, however, you deserve compensation for your injury. The Law Firm of Aaron A. Herbert, P.C. can help you hold the guilty party responsible and get compensation for your medical bills.
A
bone fracture, the medical term for a broken bone, occurs when more force is put on a bone than it can withstand. Most people have an average of two bone fractures in their lifetimes and occur most commonly in small children and senior citizens.
Types of Bone Fractures
Displaced, nondisplaced, closed, and open fractures are the four main types of bone fractures.
A displaced fracture is when the break is severe enough that parts of the bone fall out of alignment. Sometimes displaced fractures can break a bone into multiple pieces. A nondisplaced bone fracture is when the bone breaks but is still in place inside your body.
A closed bone fracture is when the bone breaks in some way but stays beneath the skin. An open fracture is when the break is serious enough that the bone punctures the skin and sticks out of the body.
Certain fractures, if not treated properly, can lead to a serious infection. Depending on the age and severity of the fracture, healing can take between a few weeks and a few months.
Broken Bone Personal Injury Lawsuits
The person who suffers a broken bone is not always the one responsible for the incident. If someone else caused your fracture, you may want to file a lawsuit against them.
Showing the court that another party acted negligently is an integral part of any personal injury case, including broken bones.
In Texas, you must typically prove four different things to win a broken bone personal injury case: duty, breach of duty, cause, and damages.
Duty
A person has a
duty of care if he or she has any type of legal responsibility to keep you safe. For example, the manager of a store has a duty to make sure that all customers are reasonably safe on the store’s property.
Breach
A breach of duty occurs when a person fails to uphold his or her responsibility to keep someone safe. If someone injures themselves slipping on a wet spot in a store, the store manager breached his or her duty of care by allowing an unsafe condition to exist.
Causation
Proving cause involves showing the court that the injury would not have happened if the defendant had not been acting negligently. For example, the customer would not have slipped and broken a bone if the manager had upheld his or her duty to keep the store safe.
Damage
The final necessity is proving that there was damage. You must show the court that your damages are significant and costly. When recovering damages, the court could award you:
- Medical expenses
- Wages you lost due to missed days of work
- Pain and suffering
Comparative Fault
Texas follows the comparative fault rule. The court considers the percentage that each party was at fault for the incident when awarding damages. For example, if you were 25 percent responsible for your broken bone, the court would reduce your compensation by 25 percent.
If the court determines that you were 51 percent or more at fault, you will lose your eligibility to receive compensation from the defendant.
Broken Bone Personal Injury Attorney
If you have suffered a broken bone because of another person’s negligence, you may be eligible to file a claim. The
Law Firm of Aaron A. Herbert, P.C., can help you get the compensation you need to begin recovering from the injury.