What Effect Could Surgery Have on the Value of My Accident Claim?

If you suffer injuries in a North Carolina accident caused by someone’s negligence or wrongdoing, you have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit against that person for compensation, called damages, sufficient to cover your current and future medical costs and other losses. An experienced personal injury attorney in Durham, such as Mills & Mahoney, P.A., can help you determine whom to sue and for what amount.

Economic Damages

The economic damages you can claim in your personal injury lawsuit include all your medical costs, such as the following, stemming from the injuries you sustained in the accident:

•   Ambulance, life flight or other transport from the accident location to a hospital
•   Emergency room assessment and treatment
•   Hospital treatment and care
•   Prescription medications

Surgical Costs

Of all the hospital treatment you can receive, perhaps the most expensive is surgery. This is because surgery involves all of the following:

•   Surgeon’s fee
•   Anesthesiologist’s fee
•   Nurses’ fees
•   Operating room fee
•   Anesthesia costs
•   Equipment costs

It’s easy to see how the costs of surgery quickly add up.

The total cost of your surgery, and therefore the amount by which it will increase the value of your accident claim, depends on what type of surgery you undergo, its extensiveness and the facility that provides it. For instance, typical North Carolina costs for three common surgeries after an accident consist of the following:

•   Hip replacement – $26,509
•   Knee replacement – between $12,712 and $16,719
•   Wrist surgery – $3,418

Substantiating Your Surgery Claim

Keep in mind that the insurance company representing the defendant you sue in your personal injury lawsuit will likely attempt to deny the amount of your surgery claim in its effort to pay you the least amount possible. Consequently, you will need substantiation answering the following questions:

•   Was the surgery medically necessary as opposed to elective?
•   Did it directly connect to the injuries you suffered in your accident?
•   Did a doctor recommend it?
•   Did you get a second opinion?
•   Was the surgery’s purpose to repair the injury damage and/or to enhance your prognosis for a successful recovery?

Your Durham personal injury attorney can help you obtain and organize the documentation you need.

Injuries Commonly Requiring Surgery

Not all injuries require surgery, but some of the most common that do include the following:

•   Spinal cord injuries
•   Crush injuries’
•   Bone fractures
•   Internal organ damage
•   Tendon and ligament tears

Obtaining Legal Help

Whether you sustained your injuries in a motor vehicle accident, a workplace accident, a premises liability accident or a defective product accident, your lawsuit can become very complicated very quickly. Therefore, you need experienced legal help. That’s exactly what we provide you at Mills & Mahoney, P.A. Personal injury is one of our primary focuses, and we’ve been helping our injured North Carolina clients receive the compensation they deserve for over 40 years.  Many of our favorable settlements and jury verdicts have resulted in thousands or millions of dollars for our clients.

So contact Mills & Mahoney, P.A. at (919) 683-2135, today. You may rest assured that we have the experience, dedication and resources to be your Durham personal injury attorney of choice.