Seattle Amputation Injury Lawyers: Loss of Limb Specialists

The amputation of a limb is a disfiguring and disabling medical condition that lasts a lifetime. Under the best of circumstances, a patient who has lost an upper or lower limb faces a difficult recovery that includes extensive physical and psychological therapy and constant contact with healthcare providers.

On top of the physical and mental pain and suffering caused by the loss of a limb, an amputation victim will face significant medical bills and some loss in his or her ability to work for a living and participate in recreational activities, as well as increased difficulty in performing the tasks of daily living.

If you have lost a limb in an accident in Washington State that was caused by someone else’s negligence, Tinker Law Firm, PLLC can help. Our respected and trusted catastrophic injury attorneys can discuss amputation cases in a free initial consultation. We’ll let you know how traumatic amputation victims can protect their rights under Washington law. Call us today or complete our online contact form for a free claim evaluation.

Understanding Amputation Injuries

The amputation of a limb (an arm or a leg) that occurs in an accident is known as a “traumatic amputation.” In some cases, a medical amputation is necessary to remove a limb that has been irreparably injured in an accident, such as after being crushed in a car crash or severely burned in an electrocution. 

Sometimes a severed body part can be reattached after an accident, or an amputee can be helped by the use of a prosthetic (artificial) limb. However, even when you can be treated, these injuries mean serious changes to your life. Limbs may never fully recover their functionality after an injury, leaving you with lifelong disability, pain, and other conditions. 

Our law firm has argued amputation injury cases for decades. We understand what evidence juries or judges consider meaningful in these cases. Our team also has extensive experience supporting clients who are experiencing the emotional and financial strain of an amputation injury. We can help you understand what to expect from the process.

When building your case, we seek out and work with expert witnesses who know how to use evidence to communicate your pain and loss to juries. By applying this experience and expertise, we have secured justice for our clients in several high-profile cases. When this is possible, we have helped them reclaim their lives with generous judgments in their favor.

You can learn more about how we’ve helped our clients on our case records page. We have secured settlements in excess of $6 million dollars for medical care, device malfunction, and premise negligence that resulted in injury. Please contact our office to find out if we can help with your case and begin providing legal advice. Many other sources of injuries can result in amputation. In the next section, you’ll learn more about them. 

Causes of Traumatic Limb Loss and Amputation

There are many ways that an amputation injury can result from negligence. Many serious medical operations, pieces of large construction equipment, and even trips in a vehicle carry the risk of an injury if another person is negligent. Traumatic amputations of limbs may result from incidents such as:

• Motor vehicle accidents: Amputations are a common result of auto accidents that result from negligence. Distracted drivers or truckers can cause rollover accidents in a car or truck. Being hit by a car while on a motorcycle or bicycle or while on foot (pedestrian) will often result in catastrophic injuries.
• Power tool and machinery accidents: Product and machinery failures, including workplace and farming accidents, may result in life-changing amputations. If a tool injured you or a loved one because it was functionally safe, you may be able to get compensation by filing a product liability case.
• A heavy object falling onto a limb: On-the-job accidents or property accidents can result in amputations and even lead to wrongful deaths. You may be able to get compensation for these injuries if the falling accident was the result of another person’s negligence.  
• Severe burns from fire or explosions, including from fireworks: Fireworks must follow strict safety guidelines to be considered safe for sale. When manufacturers and sellers fail to comply with these guidelines, injuries up to amputation can easily occur.
• Electrical or chemical burns: Some burns may be so severe that they result in amputations. However, permanent injuries may result from medical malpractice involving the treatment of burns. For example, amputation may become necessary if doctors do not act in a timely manner or follow treatment protocol. There are also many more forms of medical negligence. 
• Medical negligence or malpractice: Medical professionals can be responsible for amputations in various ways. First, medical negligence or medical errors can make amputations the only option possible to save a life. For example, doctors such as vascular surgeons may fail to provide an adequate standard of care and miss dangerous conditions such as blood clots until it’s too late. Many other types of medical errors and surgical errors can result in an amputation, and in some medical malpractice cases, doctors have amputated the wrong limb.  

Our lawyers can assist you with amputations caused by these sources and many others. Our medical malpractice lawyers are here to help when your injuries are the result of medical malpractice. Our premises liability lawyers can help with many cases involving dangerous properties, and our product liability lawyers can help. Our law office has assisted with all of these types of cases in the past.  

Nearly two million people in the United States live with the loss of a limb, the Amputee Coalition says. As a group, they face problems that include high medical expenses and necessary adaptations to their previous lives. 

The National Institute of Health’s Medline Plus website says new limb-replantation techniques have been moderately successful. Still, incomplete nerve regeneration continues to be a major factor affecting the full use of reattached limbs. Accordingly, Medline Plus concludes that a properly fitting, functional prosthesis is often more helpful to the patient than a nonfunctional replanted limb.

Amputation and Loss-of-Limb Accidents Are Costly

In a widely cited study of health-care costs associated with amputation or reconstruction of an injured limb, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health says that the projected average lifetime cost for patients who had undergone amputation was more than $509,275 in 2002, or $674,720 when adjusted for inflation, three times more than the costs for those treated with limb reconstruction.

Total costs may depend on the type of amputation (for example, knee amputations, leg amputations, or arm amputations). The study calculates costs for:

• Initial hospitalization
• Additional hospitalizations related to limb loss and reattachment
• Inpatient rehabilitation
• Outpatient visits to doctors
• Outpatient physical and occupational therapy
• Buying and maintaining prosthetic limbs

The study did not take into account other costs related to limb loss, such as lost wages, pain and suffering, and reduced quality of life. Washington law allows victims of traumatic amputation caused by others’ negligence or recklessness to pursue personal injury lawsuits for financial restitution. These legal claims, most often paid through insurance, are meant to financially make the victim whole again.

Discuss Your Case with an Experienced Catastrophic Injury Lawyer in Seattle

If you need help with an amputation injury soon, our Seattle law office may be able to help. You should act fast to avoid missing deadlines Washington places on personal injury claims. We can answer all of your questions if you choose us to represent you.

Traumatic amputations are complicated from a medical and legal standpoint. It is critical that you discuss your case with a highly qualified lawyer who has handled medical malpractice claims, property accident claims, or other types of negligence claims.

We aim to be Seattle’s Amputation Claims Firm, offering some of the most experience with different kinds of claims. Our team has worked with many medical experts and witnesses in the Seattle area, and we can help you find expert testimony to support claims of misdiagnosis or other sources of injury.

The personal injury attorneys at Tinker Law Firm, PLLC, are experienced in reviewing cases that involve limb loss caused by others’ negligence. To discuss your situation with our team, call us today or fill out our Loss of Limb Contact Form for a free consultation. 

Sources:

• Amputee Coalition
• Medline Plus – Amputation – Traumatic
• Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery – Health-Care Costs Associated with Amputation or Reconstruction of a Limb-Threatening Injury