Broken Bones
Broken bones and fractures are serious injuries. The most common cause of fractures and broken bones is from trip and fall accidents or a slip and fall accident. Other events like motor vehicle accident, car crashes, fall from a ladder or scaffold, often lead to broken bones and fractures. Many times when the fracture is uncomplicated, like a simple non-displaced fracture in a finger, toe, rib, or clavicle an emergency room doctor or a local general doctor may tell you the bone will heal and everything will go back to normal. In some of these case there may still be long term effects that will permanently effect your lifestyle and quality of life. In the short run a broken bone or bone fracture is painful and is likely to be painful for 6 to 8 weeks. After the bone is completely healed many people continue to report pain while doing certain activities or when the weather changes. In the legal system we call these short term and long term effects “pain and suffering” or “diminished or decreased quality of life.” Our job as New York City accident lawyers working for you is to present the claim to the at fault party’s insurance company in a way that will ensure a maximum payment for pain and suffering and decreased quality of life.
In addition, for many people a broken bone or fracture will keep you from working for a significant amount of time. In that case you also have a claim for lost income and benefits. Many people think they can deal with an at fault party’s insurance company on their own without a lawyer. This is a mistake. The insurance company adjuster will act like they are your friend so they can take advantage of you. One of the most dramatic examples of this happened to a husband and wife we represented. They were in a serious crash that all parties agreed was not their fault. Before they called us to represent them, the insurance company made a “top offer” to them of $5,000.00 dollars each. After we started a lawsuit on their behalf the case settled for a combined amount of $850,000.00 dollars.
Some broken bones and fractures do not always show up on X-ray in the hospital emergency room. After you return home and resume your normal activities you may experience continued pain or an increase in pain and impairment. When you see a doctor and other imaging studies are taken the fracture or broken bone may show up in an MRI or CAT scan. This happens frequently with broken ribs and fractures in the dense hard bones of the hands and feet. In some cases the fracture or a broken bone may not show up at all in the X-rays but your doctor will treat you as though there is a fracture. We know to be on the lookout for instances of injuries like these so that we can present them properly to an insurance company to get the maximum amount of money for you.
Broken bones in children can be particularly serious if the fracture extends through the growth plate of the bone. Medically this vulnerable area of bone in a child is called the epiphysis and physis. These are areas of new bone growth in children and teens. They're made up of cartilage, a rubbery, flexible material (the nose, for instance, is made of cartilage). These growth plates are near the ends of long bones. Long bones are bones that are longer than they are wide such as the bones in the arms and legs. A fracture through the growth plate in a child can lead to very serious long term effects including a shortening of the bone or abnormal bone growth.
The lawyers of Reibman & Weiner are experienced in these kinds of fractures and broken bone lawsuit cases from our combined 70 years of practice in the field of accident and injury lawsuits. Steven M. Weiner is also a medical doctor who is skilled at detecting injuries in medical records when the treating doctors may not have documented the injuries carefully. Call us if you, a loved one, or a friend has been in an accident or a car, bus, or motorcycle crash. We work for you to get you the most money possible and we bring our skill, education, and experience to work for your benefit
Call Reibman & Weiner at 718-522-1743. You will speak with either Marc Reibman or Steven M. Weiner. One of us will personally handle your case.
