Catastrophic Injury Law Firm Medford, OR

Passenger vehicle and truck accidents alike can be devastating, which may be a reason to call upon a catastrophic injury law firm in Medford, Oregon. There can be serious and catastrophic injuries, damages, and other hardships that come along with all crashes. When talking about truck accidents, however, these are often spoken about in even more serious terms. This is because truck accidents tend to be even more devastating or catastrophic on average. Andersen & Linthorst, Attorneys at Law, is a Medford, Oregon catastrophic injury law firm ready to help you. 

What makes trucks so dangerous? Are they dangerous on the roadways, in general, or are there more factors involved in trucking accidents? Here is what you need to know about the dangers of a trucking accident and why it can be so much more catastrophic than passenger vehicle wrecks.

Truck Size

Trucks can weigh 80,000 pounds. The average passenger vehicle, on the other hand, weighs around 5,000 pounds. That the weight difference alone is enough to tell you that the outcome could be horrendous for the passenger vehicle. When a loaded semi-truck on the highway collides with a much smaller vehicle, the smaller vehicle simply has less of a chance of exiting the accident with minimal damages or injuries. The truck, instead, can inflict much more harm on the smaller vehicles. Even when there is a solo accident with a truck, it can block freeways causing additional crashes to spring up after.

Truck Precautions

A lack of truck safety precautions can also make the accident a lot more devastating, which may require the guidance of a catastrophic injury in lawyer Medford OR to take legal action. One of the leading causes of fatalities when it comes to passenger vehicles and trucks is shearing. Shearing occurs when a car hits the side of a commercial truck and winds up underneath the truck instead. This can take the entire top of the car off and seriously injure or kill those who are inside. This is an extremely large risk with trucks that do not have side guards to prevent vehicles from ending up underneath the truck.

It can sometimes be hard to compare two different types of car accidents. Our Medford OR catastrophic injury law firm knows that passenger vehicle wrecks can also be devastating–we work with those families too. The sheer size of a commercial truck makes it the most dangerous kind of vehicle to collides with a passenger vehicle. This is essentially why trucking accidents are frequently worse than others. There is more to consider than just size alone–there are a lot of contributing factors to how serious an accident is. Recklessness, speed, and road conditions can completely alter the danger when it comes to a car accident. 

Types of Malpractice Leading to Catastrophic And Fatal Injuries

There are many ways to suffer harm in a medical setting. Here are some of the most common:

•         Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis – leading to delayed treatment or incorrect treatment
•         Failure to diagnose or failure to treat
•         Birth Injuries – including cerebral palsy, brain damage caused by lack of oxygen, bone and spinal cord injuries, etc.
•         Surgical errors – operating on the wrong body part, leaving surgical instruments inside the body, etc.
•         Medication errors – giving the wrong medication, the wrong dose, or prescribing drugs known to interact dangerously with one another
•         Anesthesia errors
•         Failure to monitor patients after surgery or during other critical periods
•         Emergency room errors

The Three Elements Needed to Bring a Malpractice Claim

Not every bad outcome in a medical setting could be considered malpractice. There are times when medical professionals do everything right and the results are nonetheless negative or devastating. There are three elements you must demonstrate in order to successfully bring a medical malpractice lawsuit. Our Medford, OR catastrophic injury law firm can explain how these elements may impact your unique situation:

1. There was a doctor-patient relationship: The doctor directly treated you and it was understood by both parties that this doctor viewed you as his or her patient (and vice versa). Insofar as there was a doctor-patient relationship, that physician owed you a duty of care.
2. Medical negligence occurred: The doctor breached the duty of care owed to you by making a serious mistake or exercising bad judgment. Typically, you need to show that most other doctors faced with the same information would have acted differently.
3. Medical negligence resulted in patient injuries or death: After showing that the physician was medically negligent, you need to show that the medical negligence directly led to harm, injury or death.

The Important Work of an Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney

If you’ve suffered a catastrophic injury (or a loved one has been killed) in a medical setting, it seems like filing and settling a medical malpractice claim should be obvious and easy. Unfortunately, that’s almost never how it works. Med Mal cases require extensive preparation and research about complex medical topics.

Lawyers who do this work must have the knowledge, skills and resources to conduct such research and preparation. They must also have connections to expert witnesses, often medical professionals who can testify about what reasonable doctors would have done differently. When you hire our firm, this is exactly what you can expect from us.

Not every bad outcome is grounds for a medical malpractice claim; sharing your story with our Medford, OR catastrophic injury law firm is a great way to learn if you might have an actionable claim. To better understand your legal options after a catastrophic injury, contact our caring and attentive attorneys to schedule an initial consultation. 

If you have been seriously injured in a trucking crash, set up a consultation with Andersen & Linthorst, Attorneys at Law, a Medford Oregon catastrophic injury law firm you can rely on.