Negotiations

Much of a personal injury claim involves negotiations. The insurance company will generally start with an offensively low offer, and an experienced attorney will know their strategies for reducing payouts. They will better understand how to negotiate these types of cases and where to identify and utilize leverage that leads to higher payouts. 

Understanding of the Legal Process

A Berman & Simmons personal injury attorney only handles personal injury cases, allowing them to regularly engage with injury cases and develop a robust understanding of the process. This allows us to more readily keep up with deadlines and follow the appropriate processes for filing paperwork, motions, or documentation. When people attempt to navigate the system independently, they may often miss some of these requirements, which can, in some cases, cause them to lose their case. 

Causes of Amputation

You suffer an amputation for many reasons, whether it be surgical or traumatic. The Amputee Coalition estimates that nearly 5.6 million Americans live with limb loss or limb difference. The majority of amputations that Americans experience are surgical interventions for a disease, though many cases of limb loss can be related to trauma. 

Medical Intervention

According to the American Diabetes Association, 160,000 Americans have a limb amputated due to diabetes. Many of these patients experienced an infection before amputation, and the limb loss tends to be linked to vascular disease. Amputation, especially in the lower extremities like the toes, may be required to manage symptoms of a disease or save your life. When it comes to a civil lawsuit, though, we must ask whether this progression was preventable. 

Medical Negligence

The diseases that may prompt amputation are often organic and cannot be attributed to negligence. Still, failure to treat or diagnose you appropriately may lead to the type of disease progression necessitating this kind of action. We must consider whether the infection was due to negligence, such as a hospital-acquired infection or a result of otherwise negligent practices. For instance, surgical errors or failure to respond to important signs and symptoms can result in an amputation that could have been avoided. 

Car Accident

A car accident can be a source of significant physical trauma that results in amputation. This may be due to shrapnel that amputates a limb during the accident. Accidents where you are crushed or pinned for a prolonged amount of time may also lead to tissue death and damage that requires surgical amputation.

Defective Products

Defective products cause injuries and lawsuits every day. Many companies self-monitor and will issue voluntary recalls if they suspect something is wrong with their goods. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes someone getting hurt for manufacturers to become aware of a problem. The United States Department of Energy defines a defective item as one that does not meet the required guidelines or whose parts demonstrate random failures outside of accepted numbers. Sometimes, these errors are annoying but relatively harmless. Other times, they result in devastating injuries, including amputation. 

Workplace Accident

Workplace accidents can result in amputations at alarming rates. While retail and office workers may be relatively safe, an OSHA report states that 55% of their nearly 20,000 amputation reports in the reporting period were in manufacturing. Like car accidents, heavy machinery can cause significant injuries through lacerations and crushing. Manufacturing and construction may be fields where you expect to see higher injury reports, but amputation injuries can happen in any field. When an amputation occurs as the result of a defective product used on the job or the negligence of a third party, a Berman & Simmons attorney may be able to obtain compensation for your injuries. 

Animal Bites

Dog and animal bites affect countless people every year. Physical trauma from an animal or dog attack can lead to limbs that are so damaged they cannot be saved. Additionally, according to the CDC, dogs and cats can carry a bacteria known as capnocytophaga, which can have devastating consequences, including gangrene so severe that amputation is needed. Maine has a dog bite statute that allows for recovery from an animal’s owner when one is injured by an animal. 

Complications of Amputation

Amputation under the best circumstances is still a major surgical intervention. Whether it is a planned procedure or an emergency to save your life, there are many complications you may experience. 

Functional Adaptation

Learning to live without a limb is a challenge, regardless of how small that limb may be. This is true for something like a single toe or an arm. The physical and emotional adjustment to something like a prosthetic limb can be incredibly taxing, requiring weeks or months to return to your normal activities, if you can at all.

Mental Health 

Physical disability and amputation can take an unimaginable toll on your mental health. Recent research describes the psychiatric complications you can experience while you adjust to your new physical ability and, often, sense of identity. While it is possible to adjust well, it can often be a painful process where more than half of individuals experience depression or anxiety in the first six months to two years. Additionally, some people experience amputation similar to the loss of a person, experiencing grief and often needing to mourn what happened. 

Nerve Pain and Damage

Neuropathic pain can be a common result of an amputation. A recent study on neuropathic pain reports that nerve pain occurs in 37% of cases of lower extremity amputation. Some factors identified in developing nerve pain include age and comorbid health conditions. This pain may be experienced as a shooting or stabbing pain within days of surgery. 

Infection

Any broken skin provides an avenue for infection.  If you have experienced a traumatic amputation, it may be unavoidable, but in a planned surgical procedure, it can often be prevented. A minor infection may be easily resolved with a course of antibiotics. However, if left untreated, it can lead to further hospitalizations, organ damage, or even death. 

Pain Management Medications

Most surgical procedures require pain management through medication. Some may feel relief with over-the-counter management, like ibuprofen. However, amputation can often require the use of stronger pain medications and narcotics. When your physician prescribes these medications appropriately, the risk of dependency can be minimized, but there is always a risk. Pain management through medication is often necessary for the immediate postoperative period, but it may also be a necessary treatment for phantom limb pain. 

Phantom Limb Pain 

Phantom limb pain is a well-documented experience that more than 25% of people report following amputation. Some suggest that this pain is due to your brain still containing wiring for the limb, even though it is not physically there. Phantom limb pain may mean you experience sharp or shooting pain, aching, burning, or cramping pain. This experience can be exacerbated by things like inflammation in the part of the limb still present, exhaustion, stress, infection, or other factors. Over time, you can expect the symptoms to lessen, though some may always have them to some degree. 

Foundations of a Civil Lawsuit

The foundation of any civil lawsuit, whether it be medical malpractice, damages for a car accident, or otherwise, is negligence. Questions surrounding how we establish negligence is one of our frequently asked questions. The specific information your attorney may use to support your claim will vary depending on the specific situation. However, the primary components of successfully establishing your case for a civil lawsuit. 

Duty of Care

You must first establish that the defendant has a legal duty to the client. In the case of medical malpractice, it is your physician’s duty to abide by the standard of care, which is the action any other qualified, reasonable physician would take. For something like a car accident, the responsible driver has the duty to follow traffic laws to ensure basic safety. If your amputation was from a traumatic injury, the duty may belong to the employer or property owner to ensure the environment is safe, thus preventing your injuries. 

Breach of Duty

Eligibility for a lawsuit begins with the breach of duty. This is a failure to comply with the defendant’s duty to you regarding your safety and well-being. This can be deviating from the standard of care, violating traffic laws that cause an accident, or failing to maintain a safe environment that causes your injury. 

Direct Consequences of the Breach

Further, you must show that the breach of duty directly relates to the injuries you sustained. For example, you must provide evidence that your condition escalated because your physician failed to diagnose or adequately treat it. You must establish that the person running a red light caused them to hit your car and injuries from the accident caused your lost limb, or that the property owner’s negligent upkeep caused the accident that resulted in the damage requiring amputation. 

What to Expect in an Amputation Injury Claim in Portland

The uncertainty of a court case is sometimes the most stressful part of it. Knowing what to expect can provide you with peace of mind and allow you to better prepare for what is to come. The basic components and stages of a case include:

• Investigation: you and your attorney work to investigate what happened, gather documentation, and build your case
• Negotiation: Most cases will begin with negotiations outside of court to determine an appropriate settlement amount. This process can be one of the longest parts of your case based on the strength of your argument, how much you are requesting in damages, among other factors
• Settlement: If negotiations are successful, the insurance provider offers an agreeable amount, and this is paid out according to the settlement terms 
• Lawsuit: If you cannot agree on a settlement amount, you and your attorney may choose to pursue a lawsuit and take the case in front of a judge or jury. This step will start a more formal process where you file the paperwork with the court and notify the other party of your intentions, formally request documentation, and present your case in court, but the insurance company may continue to negotiate settlement offers at any point before the judge or jury makes the decision

Compensation in an Amputation Injury Case

When it comes to life-changing injuries like amputations, you often pursue compensation to simply keep yourself afloat. The time and money required to manage such an injury is extensive. Some of the damages you may claim in an amputation injury case include:

• Medical bills
• Therapy bills
• Transportation costs to and from appointments
• Cost of medical devices
• Pain and suffering
• Lost wages
• Loss of income 
• Permanent impairment

These injuries are rarely inconsequential in how they affect your daily functioning, and that adjustment will significantly affect your life professionally, personally, and emotionally. You may miss out on work for time in the hospital, medical appointments, and recovery at home. Additionally, your injury may prevent you from returning to your previous line of work, forcing you into a lower-paying position or field. Berman & Simmons attorneys are passionate about the fact that you should not have to shoulder the consequences of someone else’s negligence, and we will fight for your right to recover the maximum compensation available. 

Call an Amputation Injury Attorney in Portland, ME, Today 

An amputation is a significant physical injury and can cause long-term psychological issues. At Berman & Simmons, we will fight for your right to compensation, allowing you the time and space to focus on recovery while we handle the legal logistics. It is essential to act quickly when you think someone else’s negligence caused your amputation injury.