Common Types of Personal Injury Cases and How They Are Handled

Any injury that interrupts your life and causes pain, suffering, and economic hardship can be grounds for a personal injury claim. The most common injuries include car accidents, medical malpractice, and defective products.

A personal injury case can be based on negligence or recklessness, but it can also stem from intentional misconduct such as road rage or the pursuit of revenge. Compensation for a personal injury can include general and special damages.

Auto Accidents

Most personal injury claims originate from car accidents. With millions of commuters, taxi drivers, and rideshare workers hitting the streets every day, serious car crashes are all too common.

In addition to covering medical expenses and recouping lost wages, these claims also award compensation for future wage losses based on permanent or long-term injuries. Non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, may also be considered.

Aside from collisions between motor vehicles, other crashes that can produce severe injuries include those involving pedestrians and those where a vehicle strikes fixed objects like fire hydrants or walls. In these cases, the at-fault party might use comparative or contributory fault laws to reduce how much they must pay in compensation.

Medical Malpractice

While any injury caused by another person’s wrongful conduct can lead to a personal injury claim, medical malpractice claims are particularly complex. Unlike a car accident case where the injured party can use evidence like witness testimony and photos of damage to their vehicle, a successful medical malpractice case requires proof that the physician failed to provide a standard of care in treatment and that this failure resulted in harm or injury. Attorneys at wilklawfirm.com can help you with your medical malpractice case.

The patient must show that the physician violated a professional duty, that this breach directly caused the injury or harm, and that the injury or harm was considerable. In addition, the patient must demonstrate that the doctor’s error has impacted their quality of life. Medical malpractice cases are often time-consuming and emotionally charged.

Defective Products

Defective products are handled in personal injury lawsuits or mass tort cases, depending on the number of people harmed by one specific product. These claims involve either a defectively manufactured product or a design defect. The former is where something went wrong during the manufacturing process, and only a limited number of products are affected, such as an all-terrain vehicle with loose handlebars or a line of electric blankets that can electrocute users if turned on high.

Many product liability cases are based on faulty power tools used in construction, agriculture, and landscaping; pharmaceutical drugs with undisclosed adverse side effects; and food contaminated with bacteria that leads to sickness. Manufacturers, retailers, and other parties in the supply chain may be liable in these kinds of cases.

Workplace Injuries

There are several issues to deal with after an employee suffers a workplace injury. This involves caring for the injured worker, reporting the incident in compliance with regulations, investigating the cause of the accident, and preventing future workplace injuries.

A workplace injury can include illnesses or injuries that occur at the office while traveling for work and even in their time away from the job, such as if they are meeting a client and get into a car accident on their way there. As with other personal injury cases, medical treatment should always be sought immediately.

Willful Violence

Personal injury claims that stem from violence are often very complex. They can involve a wide range of different parties, including multiple defendants. They can also result in damages that total millions of dollars.

A person’s negligence can cause them to injure another party, and that harmed victim may be entitled to compensation from the negligent party. Whether that negligence occurs because of an auto accident, medical malpractice, or something else, the negligent party could be responsible for paying the injured parties’ damages.

The wrongful death of someone by gross negligence is another common personal injury claim. Other personal injury cases under this category include libel, slander, and defamation. These are false statements presented as facts that harm a person’s reputation.