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Broken Bones Are a Costly Injury
Broken bones require immediate attention and medical care. A serious injury like this takes weeks to recover. In the best cases, serious injuries like these take weeks to recover with thousands of dollars in medical expenses. In the worst cases, broken bones never heal properly, leaving you with a lifetime of permanent disabilities and tens of thousands or more in medical expenses.
Often, insurance companies refuse to cover these injuries due to the sheer expenses involved. The right legal advice from a law firm with years of experience dealing with these types of injuries can make all the difference.
What Are the Most Common Types of Broken Bones?
There are several types of broken bones, all with their own complications. Broken bones can occur almost anywhere in the body. Here are some of the most common types of broken bone injury cases that personal injury lawyers see:
Open Fractures
Open fractures are breaks in which the bone punctures the skin, and an open wound is present. Without prompt medical attention, you can die from blood loss due to open fractures. Some people confuse open fractures and compound fractures, but while most compound fractures are open, the two do have subtle differences. Open fractures can result any time the bone suffers lateral pressure that it is not able to withstand. Some slip-and-fall accidents result in these sorts of injuries.
Closed Fractures
Closed fractures are breaks in which there is no open wound or skin puncture. In some cases, the bone may be visibly pushing against the skin without piercing or penetrating it. These injuries can be serious because it is hard to see whether internal bleeding is present.
Compound Fractures
Compound fractures are full bone breaks with clear bone fragment separation. Most of the time, these fractures are also open fractures, where the bone pierces the muscle and skin and is visible outside. With these types of fractures, there is a significant risk of a deep bone infection.
Impacted Fractures
Impacted fractures are often seen in car accidents, motorcycle accidents, and other types of motor vehicle collisions in South Carolina. They occur when the ends of bones drive into one another.
How Long Will It Take a Broken Bone to Heal?
When you or a loved suffers broken bones, it is natural to wonder how long they will take to heal. If the injury is a minor hairline fracture, it could heal in a matter of weeks. In more serious cases, the injury can take twelve weeks or more to heal. More serious cases may also involve weeks of physical therapy and doctor visits to ensure the bones are healing properly.
In the worst cases, where infections occur, and extensive reconstructive surgery is required, healing can take months, and some patients are left with lifelong effects from this type of injury. Every injury is different, and side effects vary from patient to patient.
If you suffer a broken bone due to someone else’s negligence, whether it involves premises liability, a car accident, or other circumstances, you may have a personal injury claim. Contact HawkLaw at 888-HAWKLAW or fill out our contact form to discuss your potential to receive a settlement for broken bones. We offer free consultations* to begin your case right away.
Types of Incidents That Cause a Broken Bone
Some common accidents that can result in a broken bone are as follows.
Car Accidents
Car accidents often result in impacted fractures as the body is jammed against itself, causing bones to crash into one another. Different types of motor vehicle accidents can result in different types of bone breaks. Side-impact crashes can result in clean breaks and open fractures, for example.
Construction Accidents
Construction accidents result in all sorts of broken bones, from compound fractures to hairline fractures, as a result of falling from ladders or scaffolding at the worksite or even crushed bones from heavy equipment accidents. Construction is one of the most dangerous occupations, and personal injury attorneys see various serious injuries, including spinal cord injuries from broken backs to fractured skulls resulting in traumatic brain injuries and many other types of harm. Sometimes these accidents are covered by workers’ compensation. Other times, you must prove negligence.
Slip-and-Fall or Premises Liability Accidents
When you visit someone else’s home, store, office, or any public or private place, the property owner, tenant, or manager has a duty of care to provide a relatively safe environment. When you trip or slip and fall due to a hazard the owner should have known was there but failed to address, you may suffer a broken bone that entitles you to compensation.
In South Carolina, personal injury cases from broken bones can get very complex and tricky to pursue. The worst cases involve wrongful death. Whatever the extent of your injury, the experienced South Carolina accident attorneys at HawkLaw are ready to listen and go to battle for you. HawkLaw fights to win!
Compensation For Your Bone Fracture
Broken bones can be an expensive injury, leaving you struggling to recover from your accident. Unfortunately, those expenses and your other, less tangible losses can be overwhelming. You will want to secure full compensation for your claim.
For example, your economic damages should cover all the expenses you have suffered from your accident. You might need to miss work because of your injury, for example, or you may need future medical treatment to reset the bone. These damages can get expensive quickly and should be compensated.
However, a broken bone is also a traumatic event. It can be extremely painful, and the trauma of an accident can affect your emotional state. These damages may be more difficult to calculate, however, so you may need a South Carolina personal injury lawyer to help you find these damages.
When seeking compensation, make sure you seek funds for all your damages, which may include:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
Does a Broken Bone Qualify for Disability?
If you have a fracture in one of your larger bones, such as the tibia, pelvis, or femur, you may qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). This benefit, however, is very rare for broken bones due to the nature of the injury. Most of the time, bones will heal, even if it takes some time.
Qualifying for disability coverage means we will need to prove that your injury caused a lasting disability that interferes with your ability to perform day-to-day tasks and work. Furthermore, the Social Security Administration often denies claims for disability benefits the first time, meaning you will have to fight to get the benefits you need. This should not, however, stop you from applying. It simply means that it is even more essential for you to seek representation from a qualified, experienced personal injury attorney like those at HawkLaw.
Laws Affecting Your South Carolina Broken Bone Claim
When dealing with a broken bone claim, it can be difficult to deal with the laws surrounding your claim. You may know what your claim is worth, but if you don’t the South Carolina laws affecting your case, you may be left with little or none of your compensation.
For example, you need to act in time to get your compensation. South Carolina residents will have three years following their injury to file a lawsuit and get their compensation. If they do not act in time, their claim may be dismissed, barring them from recovery. This is called the statute of limitations.
You may also need to ensure your compensation is not reduced by claims of shared fault. If the defense claims that you were partly responsible for the accident, South Carolina laws dictate that your compensation be reduced by the amount of fault for which you are found responsible.
Reach Out To A Broken Bone Attorney In South Carolina
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you are dealing with a broken bone. Someone else left you seriously injured, and now you’re struggling to recover from your accident. You need compensation, but you may be unsure how to fight for it. Fortunately, a dedicated lawyer from HawkLaw can help you get your compensation.
The accident injury attorneys at HawkLaw have won settlements* for many clients like you all over South Carolina, from Charleston to Columbia, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, and beyond. We build trusting and compassionate attorney-client relationships that are the core of everything we do. Check out our testimonials to see what our satisfied clients have to say.
If you are struggling with a broken bone claim, reach out for a free consultation* with our South Carolina broken bone lawyers. We’ll discuss what we can do for your claim before you sign anything. When you are ready to begin, seek us out by calling 1-888-HAWK-LAW (429-5529) or by completing the online form below.
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Greenville, SC 29615
John Hawkins is the Founder and CEO of HawkLaw He has been licensed to practice law in South Carolina since his graduation with honors in 1994 from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he was on the Law Review and Order of Wig and Robe.
