The average person is far too dismissive of slip-and-fall incidents. Quite a few people think of them as humorous and minor so long as someone can walk away afterward. Members of the public can also be dismissive about the most common injuries associated with slip-and-falls in public places.
Broken bones are among the most common injuries that people develop when they fall unexpectedly. Bones can break due to the force of impact and/or due to the natural response to try to stop one’s descent or brace against the upcoming impact. Although modern medical facilities are often quite adept at handling physical trauma, that does not mean that people should dismiss the severity of a broken bone after a slip-and-fall.
A broken bone can be very expensive
A simple fracture might cost a few thousand dollars for both emergency trauma care and physical therapy after the bone heals. More severe fractures might necessitate surgery, which will likely cost many thousands of dollars. Those expenses on their own might not prove devastating for an individual, but combined with lost wages, they can be a real concern. Some people will miss eight weeks of work or even more because of a fracture if they cannot safely perform their job responsibilities with a broken bone.
The combination of lost income and medical expenses can add up to tens of thousands of dollars, making the premises liability claim against a business or property owner a more reasonable choice. In extreme cases, such as when someone suffers a spiral fracture and will never be able to return to the same line of work or develops permanent medical issues, a broken bone could end up costing someone hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of their lifetime.
Although people generally trust that medical professionals can set their broken bones and help them move on from a slip-and-fall, it is still often necessary to report the incident to a property owner or business manager and to consider a premises liability lawsuit to recover medical expenses and other losses when such injuries occur due to negligence.
