People go to hospitals to get better, but that’s not always what happens. Sometimes, a slip and fall accident at the hospital can cause serious injuries for you. Then you might have significant medical bills and be unable to work at the same time.
When your injury is due to their negligence, either because of a dangerous condition or failure to provide good medical care, you deserve compensation. Fisher & Talwar are experienced slip and fall attorneys, helping people across California to get compensation for their injuries.
What to Do After a Slip and Fall Accident in the Hospital
After a slip and fall accident, both your health and your rights are at risk. Taking the right actions can help you get the care you need while preserving your rights.
- Contact Help on the Floor Where the Fall Happened: To get care as quickly as possible after your slip and fall accident, contact help on the floor where you had your fall. It doesn’t matter if you’re in an oncology or cardiology ward, the nurses on that floor are in the best position to respond and get you the help you need. If you can reach one, use a nurse call button or pull cord. Otherwise, yell for help or send someone to get help.
- Document the Scene: While you are waiting for help, do what you can to document the conditions that caused your fall. Get a picture of the cords you tripped over or the liquid you slipped on. Get a picture of where you fell and any injuries you sustained. If there are witnesses to your fall, make sure you have their contact information.
- Seek Additional Medical Care If Appropriate: Nurses and doctors at the hospital typically deliver quality care, but sometimes they might be dismissive of your injuries. If you didn’t get care that you felt was appropriate to your injuries, visit the emergency department or another doctor.
- Secure Additional Evidence: The shoes and clothes you were wearing when you fell could be vital evidence, especially if you slipped on a spilled liquid. Don’t wash them. As soon as you can, put them in a plastic sealable container.
- Report Your Accident to the Hospital: If you got help on the floor where you had your accident, the hospital technically already has a record of the accident. However, a hospital is a big bureaucracy, and information doesn’t always reach the people it needs to. Contact the hospital directly to make sure the right people are informed of your accident.
- Talk to a Slip and Fall Lawyer: Soon after you report your slip and fall accident to the hospital, they or their insurance company will start contacting you to offer settlements and “help.” A lawyer can help you protect your rights to make sure any settlement you accept is what you need to cover your expenses.
After your slip and fall accident, contacting a lawyer is the most important action you can take to protect your rights.
How a Slip and Fall Lawyer Can Help
When you are facing an uncertain situation after your slip and fall accident, a lawyer can be just the help you need to get your life under control again. A slip and fall lawyer can help you:
- Understand your options: A lawyer can explain all the factors surrounding your accident so you can find the right answers to these difficult questions: Can you sue after a slip and fall at a hospital? Does it make sense to sue? Should you accept a settlement?
- Evaluate your damages: The consequences of your slip and fall accident can be complicated and uncertain. The hospital and their insurance company might try to make your injuries look simple so they can get you to accept a settlement before the full extent of your injuries is known.
- Investigate your accident: A lawyer knows how to do the necessary research to find out the truth about your accident. This can include discovering whether other people have had similar accidents at the hospital, and what procedures could have been used to prevent your accident.
- Build a strong case: An experienced premises liability lawyer knows how to prove all the aspects of hospital slip and fall cases. They will go through the steps of showing there was a duty of care, a breach of duty, and that this breach created dangerous conditions leading to your injury.
- Navigating complex legal procedures: California law surrounding slip and fall accidents can be complicated. Even if you have a strong case, not following the law properly could keep you from recovering damages for your injuries. Lawyers know how to avoid simple mistakes that could cost you your compensation.
With all these benefits, it makes sense to work with a slip and fall lawyer after you have an accident at a hospital.
Why Work with Fisher & Talwar
Fisher & Talwar are experienced slip and fall attorneys who have helped many people get compensation for their injuries. We have helped our clients recover millions for their injuries – our results speak for themselves.
Our record of success is due in part to the personal attention we give all our cases. When you work with Fisher & Talwar, one of our partners will personally handle your case. It’s not like working with a big, impersonal law firm where your case will be given to a junior lawyer. We can do this because we are very selective of the cases we take. We never take more than we can handle personally.
We share your concern about your family and your future. That’s why we set up our fee structure to protect you. Not only do we work on a contingency basis – no win, no fee – but we also cover the costs ourselves. We never pass our costs on to you, unlike some lawyers who might make you pay expenses even if they lose your case.
Want to know more about what makes us special? Give us a free, no obligation call and ask. We will listen to the details about your case and explain in detail why we are the right lawyers for your case – or refer you to the one who is, if we’re not.
Common Causes of Hospital Slip and Fall Accidents in California
According to CalHHS statistics, California hospitals discharge 3.6 million patients a year. Although California doesn’t release the number of these patients who experience a fall during their stay, nationwide data analysis suggests that 2% of patients fall during their stay, with one in four falls resulting in injury, and one in ten falls resulting in serious injury, which suggests that about 18,000 patients have an injurious fall, and 7200 patients experience a serious injury fall in California hospitals each year. In addition, 8000 people who are not getting inpatient care visit the emergency room for injuries sustained while visiting the hospital.
What causes these accidents? People may fall because of:
- Spills of various substances that create a wet or slippery surface
- Uneven walking surfaces
- Absent of poorly placed handrails
- Broken elevators
- Debris from disposable equipment on the ground
- Wires, cords, and tubes stretched across traffic areas
- Lack of nurses or staff
- Poor communication between staff
- Unresponsive staff
- Lack of wheelchairs, lifts, and other mobility assistance devices
- Improperly trained staff
Hospitals are complicated environments with many potential hazards. Hospital staff must be attentive to dangerous conditions and try to rectify them before people suffer injurious falls. Many of the people at the hospital have mobility challenges. This includes both the patients and the visitors. It’s important for hospital staff to be cognizant of their mobility challenges and remain ready to respond with the necessary help. This includes helping patients when they have to relocate for different treatments, as well as performing basic tasks like going to the bathroom. Hospital staff must also be attentive in order to respond when patients ask for help in order to prevent them from attempting to get up on their own and get to the bathroom or another place.
Injuries from Slip and Fall Accidents Can Be Deceptive
Slip and fall accidents can result in many injuries that might be a lot more serious than they appear at first. It’s important to talk to someone who has experience with slip and fall injuries to understand how the impacts of your injury might change over time.
Some of the slip and fall injuries that can be deceptive include:
- Head and brain injuries: Head and brain injuries can seem innocuous at first, but may worsen over days or even weeks. In some cases, it can take a year or more before you know the impact of a brain injury. Falls are a leading cause of brain injury among the young and elderly, and the second-leading cause of traumatic brain injury-related deaths. Make sure you let caregivers know if you hit or seriously jolted your head during a fall.
- Neck injuries: If you feel pain in your neck, it might be just a strain, sprain, or other soft tissue injury. However, it could be an injury to the cervical vertebrae or even the spine, which might require surgical intervention and may never fully recover.
- Back injuries: Back injuries can be highly variable. Some might be painful but not serious. Others might not hurt much at first, but could turn out hard to treat, leading to ongoing pain and disability.
- Wrist and forearm injuries: The hand and forearm are delicate structures. Once damaged, they might not heal properly. Improperly healed hands might not have the dexterity they once had, or they might hurt when used. This could affect your long-term earning prospects.
- Ankle injuries: Some very painful ankle injuries can heal with nothing more than some ice and an anti-inflammatory medication. Others might require invasive surgery to heal. In some cases, you might never fully heal, leading to ongoing disability and reduced earning capability.
When you first get injured, it can be very difficult to know what your prognosis will be or what procedures will be necessary to restore function. Never agree to a quick settlement until you have a good idea of what your likely level of recovery will be. How do you know how much you might recover from these tricky injuries? An experienced slip and fall lawyer can refer you to medical experts who can help you understand your injuries.
California Laws Related to Slip and Fall Accidents in Hospitals
Slip and fall lawsuits in California are governed by a complex of laws that will affect when you can successfully sue someone to get compensation for your injuries. Here are some of the most important ones to know about up front.
Statute of Limitations
A statute of limitations is how much time you have after your accident to file a lawsuit. In California, the normal statute of limitations for most personal injury lawsuits, like a slip and fall lawsuit, is two years. In some situations, though, it might be less, perhaps as little as six months. It’s a good idea to talk to a lawyer soon after your fall to make sure you aren’t missing your chance to get compensation.
Comparative Negligence
California is unusual in that it is a pure comparative negligence state. This means that in California, you are allowed to sue someone who is partially responsible for your injuries, even if they’re only 1% responsible. However, if you win a court case, and they are asked to pay damages, their payments will be reduced by 99%. So, it only makes sense to sue when someone significantly contributed to your injuries and you have the evidence to prove it.
Medical Malpractice and Hospital Slip and Fall Accidents in California
If you are alleging that your slip and fall occurred because the hospital staff didn’t take proper care of you when you were a patient, you might file your lawsuit as a medical malpractice lawsuit. The laws for this type of lawsuit are a little different. In California, the statute of limitations for a medical malpractice lawsuit is one year from the date you discovered the injury or three years from the date the injury occurred, whichever comes first.
In addition, California puts a cap on noneconomic damages from a medical malpractice lawsuit, and limits the fees that lawyers can collect for this type of injury.
Premises Liability and Hospital Slip and Fall Accidents in California
Most slip and fall accidents in California are filed as premises liability. In this type of lawsuit, you are saying that a property owner breached their duty to provide a safe property. In most states, a property owner’s liability for injuries depends in part on whether the injured person was invited, allowed, or a trespasser. However, in California, this is irrelevant – the property owner always has a duty to ensure their property is safe. In practical terms, though, California law often accounts for the issue of trespassing through comparative liability: if you are somewhere you’re not supposed to be, you are more responsible for your injuries.
Get Help After Your Slip and Fall Accident in California
If you were hurt in a slip and fall accident in a California hospital, it’s important not just that you act quickly, but that you act correctly to preserve your rights. Talking to a lawyer can help you understand your options. At Fisher & Talwar, your initial consultation is always free, confidential, and comes with no obligations. Ask your questions. Get the answers you need. Then decide what’s best for you. If you decide to work with us, you don’t pay us until we win your case. We don’t even pass on costs to you.
Please contact Fisher & Talwar today for a free initial consultation.