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Long Beach Internal Organ Damage Lawyer

Legal Representation for Long Beach Victims of Internal Organ Damage

After a car accident on the PCH or serious fall down a staircase, we often check for a few obvious injuries: a broken foot, an arm that can’t fully extend, or a deep cut, especially on the head. This is all logical, but we can easily miss traumatic injuries that affect our organs, such as our kidneys or lungs. Shock and adrenaline help hide most of the immediate pain, but unless you are fully checked out by a doctor, you might not realize one of your organs is badly damaged.

Organ damage can have long-lasting effects on your life and come at a high price. If the trauma to your internal organs was the result of someone else’s negligence or reckless behavior, then you should not bear the weight of these costs and should not hesitate to contact a Long Beach internal organ damage lawyer. The Law Firm of Joseph H. Low IV is devoted to fighting for proper compensation on behalf of accident victims across the Golden State and holding insurance companies to their policies. Get in touch with the firm by calling (562) 901-0840 or toll-free at (888) 454-5569.

How Accidents Affect the Body

Because your organs are encased behind thick layers of fat, muscle, and bone, they are generally protected against harm. However, when you suffer intense trauma, such as when a big-rig rear-ends you or a van side-swipes your motorcycle, these organs can become bruised or torn in any number of ways. Even a fall can rupture a spleen or cause a broken rib to rupture one of your lungs.

Organ damage is categorized into three different categories depending on the nature of your accident:

Blunt force trauma: A slip-and-fall, a pedestrian car accident, or a serious assault can result in damaging blows that cause bruising – both on the skin and the organs underneath. Even if you are in a car, you can strike the side of the door during a T-bone or your chest and abdomen can be compressed by your seatbelt. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has placed a number of regulations and rules for construction sites to protect workers from crush injuries, either due to falls or from being pinned by equipment, which can result in extensive trauma. Bottomline, when a large amount of force is placed on the body, your organs can internally bleed or rupture.

Decelerating force: In contrast to blunt force trauma, decelerating force occurs when the organs and the rest of the body move at different speeds, such as in a rear-end collision. Your body might stop moving first and your organs could crash into bones or become compressed by muscles, leading to bruising or tears. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can occur this way when the brain crashes into the side of the skull and begins to bleed.

Puncture wounds: Puncture wounds are the easiest to identify as they involve an object piercing the body and striking an organ. If a car accident victim comes into the ER with a puncture in his or her chest or abdomen, doctors will check the organs for internal damage and work to repair any tears. However, they can also be very complicated, require long surgeries to repair the damage or, if it is extensive, an organ transplant.

Identifying Internal Trauma

Each of these types of trauma can occur in any number of accidents and can damage any one of your organs. Spotting blunt force and decelerating trauma is significantly more difficult than a puncture wound, but it is possible, depending on the specific organ that has been damaged. After an accident, you may have suffered damage in the:

Brain: TBI’s are one of the most well-known types of organ damage, largely due to how extensive it can be. Hitting your head after a fall or striking the steering wheel can lead to migraines, balance issues, seizures, permanent cell death, and psychological trauma.

Heart: Tears or ruptures on the heart, even if they are small, are often fatal unless treated immediately. In contrast, bruises can take longer to notice, but are identifiable by your heart’s rhythm, blood pressure, and other symptoms. Your heart may beat too fast or too slow, you may have bruising along your chest and ribs, or have shortness of breath and a drop in temperature, all of which can point to heart failure.

Lungs: The ribs largely protect the lungs from trauma but, as mentioned earlier, they can also cause a ruptured lung. Bones may fracture or break from blunt force trauma and pierce the lung, which can immediately make it difficult to breathe. In some accidents, another object can puncture your lungs, causing the same effect.

Spleen: The spleen is located above the intestines and helps filter out infections from your blood. When it is ruptured, you may feel dizzy, pale, and have internal bleeding along your side. The spleen can be difficult to repair and may need to be removed. Luckily, our bodies can function without one, but you will be at a higher risk of infection and will need to have your vaccinations evaluated regularly.

Liver: Like the spleen, the liver acts as a filtration system for our blood. Whether it is bruised or torn, the liver can suffer quite a bit of trauma and still recover. However, you cannot simply walk it off and will need to be evaluated by a medical professional if you experience nausea, abdominal pain, dizziness, or shock after an accident.

Kidneys: The kidneys are another pair of organs that assist in the filtration of infections and waste. As such, they have a complex series of blood vessels that can become ruptured in a fall, resulting in serious internal bleeding. Sweating, fatigue, blood in your urine, and back pain are all signs of kidney damage. If only one kidney is damaged extensively, your doctors may choose to remove it. You can function with one kidney, but you will need to protect yourself against further trauma.

Abdominal aorta: One of the major arteries is the aorta, which runs from the heart down through the abdomen and into the hips. It supplies blood to the kidneys and intestines. When it is damaged, such as from a puncture wound or intense blunt force trauma, it can cause internal bleeding that is often fatal.

Damaging to any one of these body parts can lead to devastating consequences, from organ failure to a change in your entire lifestyle to avoid further damage. Many California residents are active, hard-working individuals who can have their lives turned upside down by damage to their internal organs. You may lose out on your favorite hobbies, have to take significant time off work, and be buried under a significant amount of medical debt.

The High Costs of Negligence

Treatment for internal organs, like most serious injuries following an accident, are often very expensive and time-consuming. In the short-term, you may require multiple surgeries, have to be hospitalized, and miss out on work. Long-term, you could be looking at a lifetime of medication, a change in your lifestyle, and, if your organ fails, a long wait on the organ transplant list. Worst case scenario, you may lose a loved one to organ failure. As traumatic as the heartache may be, you may also be dealing with medical debt and funeral expenses, as well as the massive costs of managing a household in California on your own. All of this comes with a high price tag and you shouldn’t have to pay for it if your injuries or your loved one’s trauma were caused by someone else’s carelessness.

You may expect an insurance company, either your own or the at-fault party’s, to shoulder the costs of your injuries, but that is often not the case. Insurance companies make victims jump through a series of hoops to review a claim and often short-sell your injuries or outright deny your claim. At the end of the day, they are not your friends and do not have your best interests in mind. However, when you bring your case to The Law Firm of Joseph H. Low IV, the founding personal injury attorney will not leave a single cent out of your case. He will review every aspect of the accident to determine fault, calculate both the financial and personal costs you have suffered, and relentlessly fight to ensure you receive the compensation you are owed.

Choose a Long Beach Injury Attorney Who Will Fight for You

Attorney Joseph Low is no stranger to the courtroom, having both trained in trial etiquette and taught law across the United States. He has a thorough understanding of California state laws regarding liability, insurance policies, and negligence. With his knowledge, expertise, and determination, he has the legal capabilities of holding insurance companies to their policies and to aggressively negotiate for maximum compensation on behalf of his clients. If you have suffered internal organ damage in Long Beach because someone else was reckless, contact The Law Firm of Joseph H. Low IV to schedule a free consultation by calling (562) 901-0840 or toll-free at (888) 454-5569. Do not let an insurance company shortchange you; hire an attorney who will advocate for your best interests.

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"Joseph, Thank you for your assistance. Your understanding compassion & incredible expertise are admired & appreciated. I will be referring any of my clients who require legal help to you."
- M.D.