Personal Injury Lawsuit
Personal Injury Lawsuit
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Personal Injury Lawsuit
Personal Injury Lawyer
A personal injury lawsuit is a legal action that empowers one to seek compensation for damages, physical injuries, emotional distress, and loss of job caused by another. It addresses a civil wrong where negligence or deliberate malice on the part of one individual results in pain and suffering to another. According to the law, the victim has legal rights to sue the offender, who failed to ensure reasonable care, to recover losses caused by injury or harm to property.
Personal injury comes under the tort law designed to protect individuals from injuries or losses caused by willful act or negligence of another individual, organization, or even the state. The main purpose of the law is to send a strong message to the offender that they are liable for the harm caused to another and discourage them from committing the similar offense. A personal injury lawsuit entitles one to sue another individual or organization for pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of earning capacity, companionship, and amenities, financial losses incurred, medical and legal expenses, and even expected future losses.
Grounds for Personal Injury Lawsuit
The spectrum of personal injury law is quite wide and includes a range of injuries and accidents, including
toxic exposure, car accidents, defective products, slip and fall, medical malpractice, catastrophic injury, product liability and poisoning, among others. Personal injury lawsuit provide recourse to one in the event of injury caused due to somebody else’s wrongdoing, usually by way of accident, slip and fall, or product malfunction. The most common grounds for personal injury lawsuit are:
- Injury due to third party intervention
- Auto accidents leading to injury and hospitalization
- Injury caused by defective products
- Workplace injury due to lack of safety norms
- Accidental injury due to negligence of a shop owner
- Intentional action leading to injury
- Drug injury cases
- Food and beverage contamination
- Negligence by doctors or medical malpractice
Types of Personal Injury Law
The most common types of personal injury lawsuit include road traffic accidents, dog bite, product defect accidents, medical negligence, assault claims, and accidents at work.
Vehicle Accident Injury Lawsuit
Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death in the United States, particularly among Americans aged between 2 and 34. In 2006, over 42,000 people lost their lives in motor vehicle accidents, which occur due to negligence or carelessness on the part of the one side. Drunk-driving, driver error, distractions, poor road condition, and bad weather are some of the causes of car accidents. Currently Hyundai Motor Co is facing a number of lawsuit after accelerator pedal defects in its Elantra vehicles led to serious accidents. Similar product liability cases have been filed against Ford Motor Co following its recalls in 2010, 2009, 2007, 2005, and 2000 over defective design of vehicles, which were blamed for causing accidents.
Industrial Injury Lawsuit
Industrial accidents fall under the category of personal injury. These can become extremely harmful due to exposure to toxic and cancer-causing chemicals. In 2007, there were about 5,488 fatal work-related injuries in the United States. Negligence on the part of manufacturers in industries can lead to fatal accidents, causing permanent disability and sometimes even loss of lives. In 2010, workers injured at the site of the BP oil rig disaster and families of the workers who died during the tragedy filed lawsuit seeking compensation for the injuries and loss of life. Two of the plaintiffs are suing Transocean and British Petroleum for $5.5 million for the injuries sustained during the tragedy, which has left them impaired for life.
Drug Recall Injury Lawsuit
Defective drugs and medical products, including hip implants and knee replacement systems, are linked to adverse events that can severely harm patients. DePuy, Stryker, Biomet, Wright Profemur are some of the hip replacement system manufacturers that are facing lawsuit from patients for manufacturing defective hips that fractured and failed within two years of implantation, causing them extreme pain. Plaintiffs claim that due to hip failure, they were required to undergo revision surgery. Defective drugs include Actos, Paxil, Vioxx, Avastin, Estradem, Humira, Ramicade, and Ambien, among others. Manufacturers of these drugs face numerous lawsuit. Plaintiffs claim that pharmaceutical companies failed to inform them about the possible drug side effects, which caused them a lot of mental and physical suffering.
Product Injury Lawsuit
Defective products have been linked to severe injuries to consumers. Many such consumer products that have been in the news for defects include airbags, toys, seatbelts, appliances, clothing, tires and medical devices. Product manufacturers have to abide by strict liability standards. In such cases, the patients only need to prove that they were harmed by the defective product. Recently, Caterpillar Inc., world’s largest bulldozer manufacturer, paid $9 million to settle a product liability lawsuit filed by a worker, who blamed the company for the tractor accident in which he suffered from serious injuries and is paralyzed. The plaintiff claimed that Caterpillar knew about the serious defects in the tractor, which caused the accident.
Birth Injury Lawsuit Birth Defects Lawsuit
Birth Injury takes place during delivery of a child due to the negligence on the part of the medical staff. Birth injuries can sometimes become fatal and even cause death of either the mother or infant. Recently, an Illinois mother was awarded $5.5 million compensation in a medical malpractice lawsuit, which alleged that negligence on the part of the hospital staff that left her child brain damaged. The plaintiff alleged that the drugs administered by the medical staff at the time of delivery left her child brain damaged. The lawsuit claimed that the injury is so severe that the child has been left handicapped for life.
Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Wrongful death lawsuit seek compensation for the victims who lost their lives as a result of another person's wrongful actions or negligence. Oraganon and Merck face numerous wrongful death lawsuit over defective NuvaRing birth control devices, which have been linked to fatal pulmonary embolism and blood-clot related injuries. The manufacturer faces numerous lawsuit by victims and family members of victims that died due to the NuvaRing defect.
Dog Bite Injury Lawsuit
Animal bites, especially dog bites, fall under the category of personal injury cases. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 4.7 million people are victims of dog bites each year, of which a few even die. Many US states have passed laws to punish negligent owners that endanger other’s lives by keeping aggressive dogs in open. In one of the animal bite lawsuit, the plaintiff claimed that the defendant’s bulldog attacked her to the extent that she had to undergo several facial rebuild surgeries. The jury awarded the plaintiff $900,000 in a civil settlement.
Popular Personal Injury Lawsuit
Personal injury law respects rights of the victim who has suffered physical or psychological harm or injury due to another party that failed to show reasonable care and guarantees protection from the negligence or intentional wrongdoing of others. The following are some of the personal injury lawsuit that got wider media coverage and popular attention.
McDonalds Coffee Spill Lawsuit
The most popular product liability lawsuit to date has been the McDonalds coffee spill case. Stella Liebeck, the plaintiff, alleged that she suffered third-degree burns when the “dangerously hot” coffee that she ordered at McDonalds drive-thru spilled over and burned her thighs and buttocks. The plaintiff claimed that she remained in pain for over two years and even had to undergo many skin grafting surgeries. Describing McDonals behavior as “willful and reckless,” the jury awarded the plaintiff $480,000 as punitive damages and $160,000 as compensatory damages.
Avandia Lawsuit Settlement
GlaxoSmithKline paid $460 million compensation in July 2010 to settle 10,000 Avandia lawsuit. The plaintiffs, who received $46,000 each, had sued the drug major for deceptive marketing practices and failure to warn them adequately about its fatal side effects.
Iowa Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
On September 6, 2007, a court in Iowa ordered Broadlawns Medical Center to pay $13.5 million compensation in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Debra Gardner, a single mother, had filed a birth injury lawsuit against the hospital where her son was born. The plaintiff blamed the hospital for negligence and medical malpractice, which caused cerebral palsy in her son. The lawsuit alleged that the plaintiff was given spinal anesthetic by doctors that choked oxygen supply to the fetus and caused the disorder.
GM Product Liability Lawsuit
In 1999, a California jury ordered General Motors to pay $4.8 billion in punitive damage and $100 million for medical costs to six people who suffered burn injuries due to faulty design and placement of car gas tank. The court agreed with the plaintiff’s contention that the injuries would have been avoided if the design would have been safe. This was the biggest ever compensation awarded in a personal injury lawsuit.