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Types of brain injuries caused by medical malpractice
June 29, 2021 / Catastrophic Injuries

Types of brain injuries caused by medical malpractice

It is devastating when you take your loved one to the hospital to be treated or to a nursing home to be cared for only to have them be seriously injured or die due to medical malpractice. The very doctors, nurses and medical personnel charged with healing and protecting your loved one wind up harming them due to negligence or insufficient skills. The types of medical malpractice that can result in brain injuries include: Surgical mistakes Misdiagnosis or a missed diagnosis Anoxia (a lack of oxygen) Anesthesia errors Birth trauma that harms newborn babies Tissue or blood infections, including septicemia Hydrocephalus Medication errors, such as wrong medicine or dosage Cerebral palsy Abuse (a common cause of injury in nursing [...]


What is the average settlement for a spinal cord injury?
May 19, 2021 / Catastrophic Injuries

What is the average settlement for a spinal cord injury?

If you or a loved one has suffered a spinal cord injury, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Spinal cord injuries can be serious, and even catastrophic, which means significant medical bills, lost wages and other unanticipated expenses. You should not have to bear these costs alone, especially if you were injured in an accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence. Because every case is different, there is not an “average” settlement for a spinal cord injury.  Depending on the level of injury and/or disability, settlements can range from tens of thousands to millions of dollars.  Each case is fact-dependent.  In determining a settlement amount, several factors come into play.  Some o[...]


What to Do if a FedEx Truck Hits Your Car
March 4, 2021 / Truck Accidents

What to Do if a FedEx Truck Hits Your Car

With the increase in online shopping and home delivery, we see more and more of the orange and purple FedEx trucks on the road. Whether 18-wheelers or smaller delivery box trucks, they are out on the roads and highways loaded with letters and packages. But what happens when one of these FedEx trucks crashes into your vehicle? You can be seriously injured and there can be thousands of dollars in property damage. You may feel overwhelmed with hospital visits, mounting medical bills, and even calls from insurance representatives urging you to settle for small sums of compensation. If you’re wondering what to do if a FedEx truck hits your car, then let Stephenson Rife, an experienced Indiana car accident attorney, be your guide. Our [...]


How to Pay Medical Bills During a Brain Injury Lawsuit
February 3, 2021 / Catastrophic Injuries

How to Pay Medical Bills During a Brain Injury Lawsuit

If you’ve sustained a brain injury as a result of a car crash, serious fall or workplace accident, you likely have mounting medical bills. To add insult to injury, you may also be off work while receiving treatment, which means your wages have dwindled. It can be really scary to see all of that debt mount up while wondering how you will ever pay for it. Obviously, health insurance can pay for some of your medical care, though there can still be some hefty co-pays. And in some cases, the treatment you’re receiving may not be covered. If this is the case, it’s important that you talk to a Indiana personal injury lawyer right away to find out your legal rights and determine whether you may be entitled to damages. The sooner you i[...]


How Much is a Second-Degree Burn Worth?
November 30, 2020 / Catastrophic Injuries

How Much is a Second-Degree Burn Worth?

If you or a loved one has been burned, not only is there a lot of pain involved, but you also likely have mounting medical and hospital bills. Whether red, a pallid white or blistering, the skin is damaged and often scarred after being burned, which means there can be lasting damage. The pain and suffering of this experience is made even worse if the burn was caused by someone else’s negligence. Whether you were burned in a workplace accident, car crash, chemical spill, or household accident, you may be entitled to compensation. This is especially true if your burn was due to malfunctioning equipment or a careless driver. A skilled and experienced personal injury attorney can explain your legal options to you and represent you in f[...]


How Much Does A Semi Weigh?
August 31, 2020 / Truck Accidents

How Much Does A Semi Weigh?

If you’re wondering how much does a semi weigh, then the answer depends on whether or not the truck is pulling a trailer and how much cargo is in it. A fully loaded tractor trailer typically weighs about 80,000 pounds. A semi pulling an empty trailer weighs roughly 35,000 pounds. Loaded tractor trailers can take 20% - 40% more distance to stop than cars do – about the length of two football fields. 4,136 people died in U.S. large truck accidents in 2018, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI). When a car or motorcycle collides with a semi-truck, passengers in the smaller vehicle typically sustain the most catastrophic injuries. In fact, big truck accidents [...]


Can You Sue a Hospital for Wrongful Death?
August 14, 2020 / Wrongful Death

Can You Sue a Hospital for Wrongful Death?

If you’ve put your trust in a hospital and agree to have your loved one receive medical care there, it’s a horrible shock when they die unexpectedly. You believed you were taking them to a safe, responsible environment only to discover that they died needlessly because of someone else’s negligence or carelessness. This could be a case of wrongful death, and your grieving family could be entitled to financial compensation. We know that no amount of money could ever replace your loved one, but a financial payout could help with medical bills, lost income that you relied on, and the opportunity to provide for family members in the future. Indiana’s General Wrongful Death Act is found at Ind. Code 34-23-1. The statute reads, in [...]


How Do You Prove a TBI?
July 31, 2020 / Personal Injury

How Do You Prove a TBI?

As part of an insurance claim or lawsuit, how do you prove that a TBI (traumatic brain injury) happened? You have the burden of proving you have a TBI and the other party caused it if you want compensation for your injury. There are many ways the harm you suffered can be established through documents and testimony. If you’re a veteran seeking benefits for a service-related TBI, you would need to show its effects to the Veterans Administration (VA). A TBI is usually caused by a violent blow or jolt to the head or body. An object penetrating the skull, entering into the brain, can also create a TBI, according to the Mayo Clinic. A mild TBI may affect you temporarily. More severe injuries can result from bruising, torn tissues, bleeding a[...]


Does Insurance Cover Wrongful Death?
April 21, 2020 / Wrongful Death

Does Insurance Cover Wrongful Death?

If someone you love has been killed in an auto crash, medical malpractice event, at-home accident or other tragic circumstances, you not only have to endure the shock and grief of their death, but you might also have to pay medical bills, funeral costs and other expenses.  If this is the case, you may be wondering, “does insurance cover wrongful death?”  If the death occurred as a result of another person’s or company’s negligence, then there’s a good chance that their car insurance, home insurance and other kinds of insurance may provide a financial payout. There are many ways that a wrongful death can happen, and each case has its own unique set of facts.  Whether it’s a car crash on an interstate, death during a hospita[...]


Concussion Settlement Amount
March 9, 2020 / Catastrophic Injuries

Concussion Settlement Amount

If you’ve been injured in a fall, workplace accident or car crash, you may be wondering what your concussion settlement amount might be. This can be a challenging question because a concussion settlement amount depends on a variety of factors, including the seriousness of an injury, the number of people injured, whether anyone died, whether the defendant was grossly negligent in causing the accident, and the skill level of your concussion injury lawyer. Generally, the more serious and life-threatening the injury, the higher the settlement amount. To learn more about what your concussion claim might be worth, call a concussion injury lawyer today to discuss the particulars of your case. The attorneys at Stephenson Rife have handled h[...]


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