Construction Accidents

Construction Accidents

by | Oct 30, 2020 | practice-areas

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), about one in five on-the-job fatalities were in the construction industry. This statistic shows just how dangerous it can be to work on a construction site. Even though construction workers are aware of the risks, that doesn’t mean they are out of luck if they are injured while on the job.

Construction workers who are injured as a result of negligence could be entitled to compensation for their medical expenses, lost wages, future lost wages, and pain and suffering. To learn about your legal options, contact the Trial Lawyers for Justice today.

Causes of Construction Accidents

iowa construction accident lawyerConstruction sites can be dangerous, so there are a lot of ways a construction worker could injure himself while on the job. Here are some of the most common causes of construction accidents:

Falls

Construction workers frequently have to climb up ladders or work on the top of buildings. If you make one wrong move, you could easily fall and injure yourself. The severity of the injury will depend on the height of the fall.

Falling Objects

As a construction worker, you usually have people above and below you who are also hard at work on the project. If a worker above you drops a tool or other object, it could fall and hit you.

Defective Equipment

There are dozens of different tools and machinery present on a construction site. If any of these are defective or begin to malfunction, whoever is operating the tool or equipment at the time could be seriously injured. For example, if a nail gun begins to misfire, the operator could accidentally send a nail shooting through his skin.

Collapses

Construction workers often have to work out of trenches or in buildings that are being torn down or renovated. If a trench or building collapses with workers inside, serious injuries or even fatalities can occur.

Fires

Many construction workers will have to deal with electrical equipment or hazardous chemicals that are very flammable. If someone who is inexperienced with this type of work handles this equipment, a fire or explosion could occur as a result. These injuries are not as common as others, but still pose a great risk to construction workers.

Other Types of Accidents

On a construction site, a worker could be accidentally run over by heavy equipment, or even pinned between equipment and a wall. If you are forced to work in extreme weather conditions, you could suffer heat stroke, frost bite, or even hypothermia while on a construction site.

Who is Held Liable For Construction Accidents?

To determine liability, you will first need to figure out the cause of your accident. General and sub-contractors may be held liable if they did not warn workers of the potential hazards on the construction site. Contractors are also responsible for checking the work that is being done to ensure it meets quality standards. If these checks are not performed and someone is injured as a result, contractors and sub-contractors could be liable.

A construction company could be held liable if they fail to provide employees with the proper safety equipment or don’t properly train all workers who will be on the site.

Property owners could be held responsible if they were aware of a hazardous condition on the property but did not inform the other parties involved in construction. Engineers and architects who have designed the site could be held liable if it can be proven the plan was not safe. Manufacturers could also be held liable in cases where it can be proven the accident was caused by faulty or defective equipment.

Seeking Justice For Victims of Construction Accidents

A construction site accident can happen in a blink of an eye, but the injuries could drastically change a victim’s life forever. If you or a loved one has been injured in a construction accident, don’t hesitate to seek legal assistance from an attorney at the Trial Lawyers for Justice. Call 866-854-5529 to schedule a free consultation today.

Construction Accidents

Serious Injury

by | Oct 30, 2020 | practice-areas

Whether you are involved in a traffic crash, slip and fall, or animal attack, if you have been injured, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against the negligent parties that have caused you harm.

The Element of Negligence

personal injury lawyer best in iowaMost serious personal injury cases involve the element of negligence. This means plaintiffs will typically have to prove the defendants acted negligently and the plaintiff was injured as a result. But, what exactly is negligence? To put it simply, people are required to act in a way that does not put others in danger. If someone does not fulfill this obligation and his or her reckless behavior causes you harm, you may be able to take legal action against him or her.

For example, drivers on the road are supposed to follow all traffic laws and act in a way that does not put other drivers at risk. If someone drives drunk, he is putting other people in danger and is therefore acting negligently, which means he can be held liable in the event he collides with another vehicle and injures someone. If a dog’s owner lets the dog roam free in the neighborhood without supervision and the dog attacks someone, the owner can be held liable for negligently letting the dog loose.

It can sometimes be difficult to prove negligence, but a personal injury attorney will be able to help. Our attorneys can closely analyze your case to identify who should be held liable, and then fight tirelessly on your behalf to recover compensation for your injuries.

Serious Injury Cases

Before you hire an attorney, you should ensure he or she has experience representing victims in cases similar to yours. Our attorneys have handled a variety of personal injury cases.

Types of Compensation

The goal of filing a personal injury lawsuit is to recover compensation for your injuries. Compensation is never a guarantee, but some of the types you may be eligible to receive include:

  • Economic damages is the term used to describe compensation awarded to victims who have incurred expenses as a result of their injuries. Examples of economic damages include compensation for current and future medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage. In wrongful death cases, survivors may also be awarded economic damages to cover funeral expenses, loss of benefits, and loss of the deceased’s expected earnings.
  • Non-economic damages refer to money that is awarded to victims as compensation for non-monetary losses. Examples of non-economic damages include pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium.
  • Punitive damages are only awarded in cases where the court believes the defendant acted with extreme negligence or malice. These damages are not awarded to compensate any loss that the victim has suffered, but rather to punish the defendant and deter others from acting in a similar manner.

Legal Help For Victims

If you or a loved one has been injured because of someone else’s negligence, speak to the experienced personal injury attorneys at the Trial Lawyers for Justice. Call 866-854-5529 to schedule a free consultation to learn more about your legal options.

Construction Accidents

Cerebral Palsy

by | Oct 30, 2020 | practice-areas

It is estimated that almost 765,000 people in the United States currently live with cerebral palsy. This disorder affects a person’s muscle control, movement, coordination, and motor skills. In fact, something as simple as standing still can be very difficult for a person with cerebral palsy.

There are four different types of cerebral palsy, including:

  • Spastic: This is the most common type of cerebral palsy. It is caused by damage to the motor cortex area of the brain, and affects the child’s movement. If your child has spastic cerebral palsy, his movements may be very stiff and rigid.
  • Athetoid: Damage to the basal ganglia results in athetoid cerebral palsy, which affects a child’s coordination skills.
  • Ataxic: Ataxic cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the cerebellum, and will also result in impaired balance and coordination skills.
  • Mixed: If a child has suffered damage to multiple parts of the brain, or if his movements, balance, and coordination are all affected, he may be diagnosed with mixed cerebral palsy.

Although cerebral palsy can be caused by a number of factors, it is often the result of a mistake during labor and delivery.

Cerebral Palsy Caused by Birth Injuries

Cerebral palsy can be caused before or after a child’s birth, but unfortunately, this disorder is often a result of a medical professional’s careless mistake during the delivery. This disorder can occur if a baby is deprived of oxygen for a long period of time during delivery, or if the doctor forcefully removes the baby. It is also common for cerebral palsy to occur when the labor lasts more than 18 hours, which is more likely to occur in multiple births.

If you believe your baby has cerebral palsy because of a doctor’s negligence, you will need an attorney to help you gather evidence and present a strong case against the at-fault medical professional. Birth injury cases can be complex and very difficult to prove—that is, if you don’t have the help of an experienced lawyer.

Treatment for Cerebral Palsy

Unfortunately for birth injury victims, there is no treatment to cure cerebral palsy. This is a lifelong disorder that the victim will always have to live with, however, there are ways to help the victim improve his quality of life.

A team of speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and pediatricians may be needed to help manage your child’s symptoms. These therapists can help your child’s speech, coordination, and emotional development. The goal of treatment is to improve your child’s motor skills and coordination and ensure he is as self-sufficient as possible.

Medication and surgery may also be needed to correct issues with your child’s muscles. For example, kids with extreme muscle pain may be give medication to treat this issue. Other children who develop scoliosis as a result of cerebral palsy may need to have this surgically repaired. Doctors may recommend that your child wear a brace to help him get around if his movements are affected by the disorder.

Because treatment involves the work of so many specialists, medical bills can quickly pile up. If the cerebral palsy was caused by a medical professional’s mistake during labor and delivery, you may be able to recover damages to help you pay these expenses and more.

Help for Birth Injury Victims

A cerebral palsy diagnosis will drastically change the rest of your child’s life. If your child was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a result of a birth injury, you could be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and more. Speak to the team of attorneys at Trial Lawyers for Justice to learn more about your legal options.

Construction Accidents

Medication Errors

by | Oct 23, 2020 | practice-areas

Medical malpractice can include cases of misdiagnosis, errors made during a surgery or other medical procedure, and of course, medication errors. Unfortunately, medication errors are very common and one simple mistake could lead to a lifetime of consequences for the victim.

Victims who have been injured as a result of a medication error may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, and in some cases, punitive damages. When medication errors are fatal, the victim’s family may be able to pursue a wrongful death claim against the negligent party. To learn more about available legal options, contact the Trial Lawyers for Justice today.

Types of Medication Errors

medication error mistake lawyer attorneyA number of different medication errors may occur in the course of treating a patient, including:

  • Administering the wrong medication
  • Prescribing the wrong medication
  • Administering the incorrect dosage of a medication
  • Administering or prescribing a medication that the patient is allergic to
  • Not discussing the potential side effects associated with a medication
  • Prescribing or administering a medication that will interact with another medication the patient is taking

Liability For Medication Errors

The first step in pursuing a medical malpractice or wrongful death claim is determining liability, however this can be complicated when it comes to medication errors because there are so many parties involved. You will first need to figure out what went wrong that led to the error.

If the wrong medication or the wrong dosage was administered to a patient, whoever administered or prescribed the medication would be liable. For example, if the doctor prescribes the wrong medication, he would be held liable. However, if he prescribes the correct medication, but the nurse administers it wrong or gives you the wrong dosage, this would be the nurse’s fault. This often occurs with medications that need to be administered a certain way, such as injected into the muscle as opposed to into the bloodstream.

In rare cases, a pharmacist may give you the wrong medication because the prescribing doctor’s handwriting was so poor, he misread what the doctor wrote. Even though the pharmacist made the mistake, the doctor would be held liable in this case.

Patients may also be victims of mislabeling, which occurs when a manufacturer or retailer puts the wrong label on a medication. In this situation, whoever labeled the medication would be held liable.

Doctors, nurses, or pharmacists could be held liable if a prescribed medication interferes with another medication you are on, if you are not warned about the side effects, or if you are allergic to the medication.

Medication error cases can be complex, so you will need the help of an experienced attorney who can gather the appropriate evidence, call upon expert witnesses, and fight to help you recover the compensation you deserve.

What To Do If You Are A Victim

Some medication errors are minor and harmless, but others can lead to serious injuries or even be fatal. If you or a loved one has been injured because of a medication error, discuss your legal options with the Trial Lawyers for Justice team. Call 866-854-5529 today to schedule a free consultation.

Construction Accidents

Surgical Errors

by | Oct 23, 2020 | practice-areas

Surgeons go through extensive training in order to learn how to safely perform procedures on a patient. However, everyone makes mistakes, even surgeons. If a surgeon makes a mistake during your procedure, you may suffer serious complications or need additional treatment to correct the mistake.

Surgical errors are a form of medical malpractice, which means you could be entitled to compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering if you are a victim.

What is a Surgical Error?

surgical error mistake lawyer iowaComplications that arise during surgery are sometimes out of the doctor’s hands. But, when a mistake is preventable, this is known as a surgical error.

Before you go into surgery, you will probably have to sign a document that states you are aware of the risks associated with the procedure. The surgeon will require that you sign this form in order to legally protect himself if one of these known risks does occur during the surgery. However, this document does not protect the surgeon in cases involving preventable surgical errors.

Some examples of surgical errors include:

  • Administering the wrong dosage of medication
  • Performing the surgery on the wrong body part
  • Performing the surgery on the wrong patient
  • Causing damage to nerves during the surgery
  • Leaving a surgical tool inside the patient’s body after the procedure is finished

Causes of Surgical Errors

Surgical errors can occur for a number of reasons, including:

Fatigue
Surgeons who operate when they are fatigued may not be able to think or react to changes in the circumstances quickly. Surgery requires a lot of concentration and focus, and sometimes this can be difficult for people who are fatigued.

Lack of Experience
Some surgeons simply do not have experience performing certain types of procedures, and a result, they are more likely to make errors than experienced surgeons. However, this is no excuse for making a surgical error and cannot be used as a defense if you choose to file a medical malpractice claim.

Poor Planning
Surgeons and their staff of nurses and assistants must properly prepare for each and every surgery. This includes reviewing the patient’s medical history, going over the procedure in detail, and gathering all of the tools and medical equipment that will be needed to operate. Failure to take these steps may result in surgical errors if someone who is assisting in the operation is not prepared.

Miscommunication
If a surgeon fails to tell his team of nurses and assistants what is needed for the operation, how much medicine to administer, or where the surgery will be performed on the body, errors can occur.

Carelessness
Some surgical errors, such as infections caused by unsterilized equipment or tools that are left behind in the patient’s body, are a result of carelessness. All medical professionals have a responsibility to practice extreme caution when treating a patient, especially when they are performing a complicated procedure. When a surgeon or nurse fails to properly care for the patient, careless errors could occur.

Determining the cause of your surgical error will help you identify which parties should be held liable for your injuries. This can be a tough task unless you rely on the experienced attorneys at Trial Lawyers for Justice.

Our Team Can Help Victims of Surgical Errors

No one ever expects to suffer from complications as a result of a surgery, especially if these complications are a result of a surgeon’s error. If you believe your surgeon or someone on his operating team made errors during your procedure, contact an attorney at the Trial Lawyers for Justice to discuss your legal options. Call 866-854-5529 to schedule a free consultation today.