Medical Malpractice Lawyers - Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming

While every injury is significant to the person experiencing it, the following is a partial list of injuries that, in our experience, are most life-changing.

Blindness

Blindness is the total or partial inability to see. Blindness also refers to a severe loss of vision that cannot be corrected with ordinary glasses. Blindness may be total or partial, permanent or temporary. It may include spots or holes in the central visual field or a loss of peripheral vision and sometimes both. Blindness results from many causes including trauma or diseases of the eyeball, optic nerve, or brain. Blindness or loss of visual acuity is usually diagnosed by careful history and physical examination including vision tests. Radiology studies such as ultrasound, CT and MRI may also be useful. Treatment of blindness is varied depending upon the cause. Blindness from damage to the brain, retina, or optic nerve is often permanent. Complete or partial blindness usually results in significant damages in the form of medical expenses, disability, lost wages and lost wage earning capacity. Non-economic loss in the form of pain, suffering and loss of use and enjoyment of life is also usually significant. Click here to contact Fabian & Clendenin's medical malpractice lawyers in Salt Lake City, Utah. Also serving Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming.

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Birth Injury (Cerebral Palsy)

Birth injury refers to injury sustained during labor and delivery. Such injuries include damage to nerves in the shoulder region and face which may cause temporary or permanent paralysis, fractures of the collarbone, arms, ribs and skull. More serious types of birth injury include brain injury such as cerebral palsy or mental retardation. The most common cause of cerebral palsy is hypoxia or poor oxygen supply to the brain. Cerebral palsy may also be caused by infection of the brain, or by head injury. Symptoms of cerebral palsy may include floppy muscles, one or more limbs that are permanently contracted or stiff, delayed development in many movement skills, difficulty learning to walk, and mental retardation. The risk of cerebral palsy is increased for infants who are born prematurely or as a result of difficult labor and delivery. Cerebral palsy is incurable, but symptoms may be treated with physical and speech therapy. Birth injuries that are the result of failure to perform a timely cesarean section or the result of other careless or inadequate medical care should be paid for by responsible healthcare providers. Experienced birth injury and cerebral palsy attorneys can help you receive the compensation you deserve. Click here to contact Fabian & Clendenin's cerebral palsy lawyers in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Brain Damage

Brain damage results from death or degeneration of cells within the tracks of the brain. Diffuse brain damage, such as that caused by oxygen deprivation, may occur during the birth of a baby as a result of a heart attack or from other circumstances where there is inadequate oxygen supply to the brain. Other incidences may include: post-operative pulmonary edema, poisoning, drowning, or electric shock. Brain injury may also result from vaccinations or other medications. Localized damage to the brain results from head trauma, stroke, tumor, infection, or bleeding within or onto the brain. Both diffuse and localized damage often results in permanent and significant disabilities that may include retardation, learning disabilities, impairments of speech, movement, sensation, vision, epileptic seizures, etc. Damages from brain injury are often catastrophic, resulting in the need for lifelong medical care and treatment and significant permanent disability. Experienced brain injury attorneys can help you receive the compensation you deserve. Click here to contact Fabian & Clendenin's brain injury lawyers in Salt Lake City, Utah.>

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Death

The damage caused by a patient's death is significant and far-reaching. It usually includes medical, funeral and burial expenses as well as the loss of financial and economic support. The most significant loss is almost always the emotional loss of the deceased person's love, care, companionship, guidance and consortium. Whether the deceased person is a spouse, child, parent or grandparent, this far-reaching emotional loss lasts a lifetime. A patient's death is often preceded by additional non-economic losses in the form of physical, mental and emotional pain and suffering. The estate or heirs of a deceased patient are usually entitled to recover damages for these losses. Click here to contact Fabian & Clendenin's medical malpractice lawyers in Salt Lake City, Utah. Also serving Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming.

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Loss of Hearing

Hearing is one of the primary senses through which we communicate with the world around us. The ears transform sound waves into nerve impulses to the brain. Hearing loss may range from inability to hear certain sounds, to total deafness. Hearing loss is usually diagnosed through hearing tests including the use of tuning forks, pure tone audiometry, auditory evoked response and impedance audiometry. Hearing loss or deafness may be caused by ear wax blocking the outer ear canal, childhood ear infections, damage to the eardrum or middle ear due to pressure changes from altitude or water, perforated eardrum, congenital deafness due to damage to a developing fetus, viral infections, tumor on the auditory nerve, or reaction to certain antibiotic medications. Damages resulting from deafness include medical care and treatment, speech therapy, and loss of wages or wage earning capacity. There is often a significant disability and loss of use and enjoyment of life. Click here to contact Fabian & Clendenin's medical malpractice attorneys in Salt Lake City, Utah. Also serving Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming.

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Loss of Organ or Limb

Damages resulting from the loss of an organ or limb are usually significant. Loss of the use of a hand, arm, foot or leg almost always results in significant economic losses in the form of medical expenses, lost wages and lost wage-earning capacity. There are usually medical expenses associated with treatment of the initial loss and additional costs for therapy and job adaptation or retraining. There are often lifelong costs for therapy and medications and an ongoing loss of wages. Patients suffering from these injuries are entitled to full compensation including non-economic losses of pain, suffering and the loss of use and enjoyment of life.

Loss of the use of an organ such as a kidney, liver, lung, eye, etc., also causes significant economic and non-economic injury. Such damages usually include medical expenses for initial care and treatment and occasionally transplant. As with the loss of a limb, there are often significant non-economic damages for pain, suffering and the loss of use and enjoyment of life. Click here to contact Fabian & Clendenin's medical negligence lawyers in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Loss of Speech

Trauma or diseases to the language centers of the brain, vocal cords, larynx or laryngeal nerve may result in loss of the ability to speak. Speech injury may also result from tumors or other diseases of the head, neck and throat. Regardless of the cause, loss of the ability to speak is a catastrophic injury. Economic loss usually results from the necessity to undergo medical treatment or surgery to restore speech, or speech therapy to restore or improve language skills. A total or partial loss of the ability to speak usually also results in economic loss in the form of lost wages or an impaired ability to earn income. There are also significant non-economic losses in the form of mental and emotional pain and suffering, loss of use and enjoyment of life and impaired relationships that may be dramatically effected by limited interpersonal skills. Click here to contact Fabian & Clendenin's medical negligence attorneys in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Paralysis

Paralysis is loss of the ability to control or move one or more muscles or muscle groups. Paralysis may be temporary or permanent, complete or partial. Paralysis of all four limbs and the trunk is called quadriplegia. Paralysis of both legs and feet is called paraplegia. Paralysis may be caused by or associated with injury to the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves of the spinal cord or muscles. Paralysis such as paraplegia or quadriplegia is almost always associated with significant damages in the form of medical expenses, lost wages, loss of wage earning capacity and inability to perform household services. There are also significant non-economic losses in the form of physical, mental and emotional pain and suffering, loss of use and enjoyment of life, and damage to and loss of important family relationships. Click here to contact Fabian & Clendenin's medical malpractice lawyers in Salt Lake City, Utah. Also serving Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming.

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