Accidents happen all the time. Some happen at home, on the road, or even at work. Some accidents are minor, while others are more serious, or even deadly. For example, each year an average of 1.3 million people die in car accidents. Half of those accidents involve young adults between the ages of 15 to 44. In the U.S. alone, more than 37,000 people die in car accident each year!
Other common accidents include medical malpractice and workplace injuries. Where medical malpractice is concerned, about 225,000 people die each year because of medical malpractice, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. An analysis published by the New England Journal of Medicine looked at 1,452 randomly selected malpractice cases from across the U.S. Of those 1,452 case, a startling 97% involved a medical injury of some sort, and 66% involved a mistake made by a healthcare professional. Birth injuries are another type of accident that is far too common, and can be prevented. Infact, about 50% of birth injuries can be prevented by healthcare professionals properly identifying and planning for potential risk factors.
Workplace injuries are also common, and often result in employees filing for workers compensation benefits, or workers compensation settlements. Just how common are workplace injuries? Well, in 2013 alone, there were 3,007,300 reported incidents. Of those 3,007,300, 229,190 were accidents involving slips, trips, and falls. About 917,100 of the reported accidents required some time of work, meaning that employees might miss out on paychecks, unless they file for workers compensation. Fortunately, people looking to file claims can seek out the assistance of HR departments and workers compensation lawyers to help them navigate through the process.
No matter the accident, be it medical malpractice or a workplace injury, a lot of times there is some sort of legal action one can take to either seek justice for a medical decision gone wrong, or to simply make sure that workers compensation payments are received in a timely manner. Others might even need to file workers compensation settlements. No matter the situation, it’s always a good idea to have a lawyer on speed dial, just in case.