As cozy and lovely as holiday movies may be, in reality, the holidays can be very dangerous. Injuries can rise around the holidays, some because of the weather, others because of increased traffic, and others because of still more risks. Even if you are doing everything in your power to stay safe, you can’t control what other people do. Thus, many people end up injured during the holidays at the fault of someone else.

Here is what you need to know about common holiday personal injury claims, why they occur, and what you can do if you’ve been injured over the holidays. 

Common Holiday Personal Injury Claims

The holidays are a busy time of year – and a busy time during not the best weather conditions, too. With the influx of people and worsened conditions, it’s no surprise that there are some common holiday personal injury claims.

Auto Accidents

Due to an increased number of drivers on the road, poor weather conditions, and extra distractions, auto accidents are a common holiday personal injury claim. With more people going out to bars or parties or having alcohol at holiday gatherings, there is also an increased number of impaired drivers on the road. We all must do our part to keep our attention on the road and be mindful of other drivers. However, even if you’re the most careful driver out there, you can’t control what other drivers do, which can result in accidents.

Slip And Fall Accidents

You may be dreaming of a white Christmas, but no one dreams of slipping and falling on icy patches while shopping for gifts. Due to winter weather and an increased number of people out and about, slip and fall accidents are another common holiday personal injury claim. With slip and falls, property owners must have neglected their duty to maintain a safe property. With winter weather conditions, measures for keeping the exterior of the property safe must be done in a reasonable amount of time, and the same is true for the interior, such as by putting up wet floor signs.

Pedestrian Accidents

More people being out and about enjoying holiday decorations and events also mean more risk of pedestrian accidents. Drivers may not be paying enough attention to the road or adhering to traffic laws. Be very vigilant, and be careful to follow guidelines yourself, such as by using crosswalks instead of jaywalking. However, even if you’re careful, you can’t control what other people do, such as if a drunk driver swerves into the sidewalk, which can result in injury.

Other Holiday Personal Injury Claims

While auto accidents and slips and falls may be among the most common personal injury claims during the holidays, they’re not the only ones. People can be injured from burns, from being overworked, from dangerously defective toys and equipment, 

What To Do If You’ve Been Injured Over The Holidays

Regardless of the time of year, the first thing that you should do if you’ve been injured is to seek medical attention. During the holiday season, you may try to bypass going to the doctor because you really want to make it to that party or you really just want to go home. However, when you’ve been in an accident, your adrenaline is high and may be concealing the true severity of your injuries. Additionally, many injuries may not show symptoms until days or weeks later, as can occur with whiplash or brain injuries. 

Seeking medical attention is important in order to ensure that you receive the treatment you need and that your injuries are properly identified. If you wish to pursue legal action, either now or in the future, having medical records from the day of the accident helps to link your injury to the accident, which makes it harder for people to try to claim that your injuries resulted from something else. 

You would also want to ensure that you have evidence, such as photos of the scene, witnesses, and seek the representation of a personal injury attorney. The law is complex and not something that you want to try to navigate on your own – especially not when trying to receive the compensation you deserve. 

Dedicated Attorneys Committed To Bringing You Justice

Here at LeBaron & Jensen, we hope that your holidays are happy, but if you are injured in an accident, we’re here to help you. Going after at-fault parties can be challenging, but with our experienced attorneys on your side, you can focus on rest and recovery while we focus on taking care of your claim.

Contact us today to learn more about our personal injury services or to schedule your free case consultation.

Consent in the medical world is tricky. Healthcare providers need your informed consent in order to provide you with treatment, but it isn’t always possible for them to provide patients with this, such as in the cases of emergencies when a patient is unconscious or dying. 

Since many medical malpractice cases hinge on the issue of consent, it can be challenging for you as a patient to know whether or not a healthcare provider was within their jurisdiction to conduct the treatment they did or whether you have a medical malpractice case on your hands. This is especially true with medical cases, as some may not realize that not liking a treatment or a treatment not working doesn’t mean they’ve been a victim of medical malpractice.  

This is where express and implied consent come into play. Here is what you need to know about why consent is so important for medical treatment, what express consent is, what implied consent is, and how you prove a lack of consent in medical malpractice cases. 

The Importance Of Consent For Medical Treatment

The American Medical Association considers informed consent part of a doctor’s ethical duty. This is because failure to receive informed consent is stripping control of the patient’s body and what happens to it from the patient.

Healthcare providers take consent seriously, as they know failure to obtain consent for medical treatment opens the door for medical malpractice cases. Informed consent is necessary in order to prevent medical malpractice. If you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into because your medical provider did not provide enough information, then you cannot give informed consent.

Some of the typical information that you should know in order to give your consent include:

• Your diagnosis
• The proposed treatment plan or procedure
• Thorough descriptions of treatment plans and procedures
• The benefits, potential side effects, and potential risks of the treatment or procedure
• The potential consequences of not receiving the treatment or procedure
• Your alternative options, if there are any
• A description of why the healthcare provider believes this treatment or procedure is your best option

As mentioned above, healthcare providers can’t always get express consent from their patients. This is why there are two types of consent for medical treatment: express and implied. 

What Is Express Consent?

Express consent is when a patient expressly agrees to the treatment. This can be done verbally or in writing. For example, saying “yes”, “okay”, “I’m ready”, and signing a consent form are all ways of giving express consent.

Doctors typically explain treatments and procedures in full so that you know exactly what to expect, and so that you can decide whether or not to give your express consent for treatment. This is the ideal time to ask any questions to ensure that you have all the information you need to make an informed decision as to whether or not their recommendations are something you consent to. 

Just as you need to express your consent for a procedure, you should also state if you do not consent, so that your actions are not interpreted as implied consent.

What Is Implied Consent?

Implied consent, on the other hand, is when the healthcare provider must interpret the patient’s actions under the circumstances in order to determine whether or not consent is reasonably given. 

Implied consent can occur when the doctor infers it from the patient’s actions, such as from nodding, scheduling an appointment and then showing up for the appointment, following the doctor’s instructions, and the like. For example, if you schedule an appointment to get your flu shot, it’s implied that you’re consenting to get a flu shot. If you schedule lab work and show up at the lab, it’s implied that you’re consenting to it.

However, if during a routine physical exam, your doctor notices an issue or thinks an invasive procedure or a course of treatment that wasn’t planned may be necessary, consent is not implied for this. In such circumstances, your healthcare provider would need your express consent. 

Implied consent can also occur in cases of emergencies, where a doctor can reasonably assume that the patient would consent to life-saving measures. If someone was in an accident or was attacked and is now unconscious or is otherwise unable to communicate, then healthcare providers can assume that the person would want their help if they were conscious or otherwise able to communicate.

For example, if someone was unconscious after an accident or attack and needed surgery to save their life, consent is implied for such a procedure.

Consent can also be implied if people are very young, very old, there is a language barrier, they are suffering from a debilitating mental illness, they are incapacitated due to substance use, and other such instances.

Can Consent For Medical Treatment Be Withdrawn?

Just because you agreed to a treatment doesn’t mean that you are not allowed to change your mind. You can withdraw or limit consent up until the procedure is underway, or decide to only have one procedure, rather than all of the recommended treatments.

You can withdraw or limit consent by talking to your healthcare provider. They would then explain the risks of not going through with the treatment. If you decide that you still do not wish to undergo the treatment, the healthcare provider would then have you sign a document to make that official. 

How Do You Prove Lack Of Consent In Malpractice Cases?

Since implied consent exists, it can be challenging to prove that it wasn’t there. With express consent, you usually sign something. If the healthcare provider failed to provide you with enough information to make an informed decision, this falls into the realm of medical malpractice, due to your inability to provide informed consent.

In order to prove a lack of consent, there must be strong evidence supporting your case. A personal injury attorney would be able to help you gather the information that you need in order to support your case. As such, if you want the best shot of proving lack of consent in your medical malpractice case, you will need to hire a personal injury attorney to fight for you. 

Do You Have A Medical Malpractice Case?

LeBaron & Jensen is here to help you seek the justice you deserve. If you have a medical malpractice case on your hands, contact us to schedule a consultation. Our personal injury attorneys help victims achieve their rightful compensation.

Damages are a monetary award that is paid to a claimant in a lawsuit in order to compensate for injury or loss. There are many different types of damages, from special damages to general damages, and more. In rare cases, punitive damages are awarded. Unlike compensatory damages, punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant, not just compensate you for your injuries and losses. 

Since all damages serve the purpose of compensating you for harm done, you may be confused about what the difference is between compensatory and punitive damages. Both types of damages are money paid by one side to the other as a legal remedy. As such, it may seem like compensatory damages in and of themselves are punitive damages. 

The world of damages can be a confusing one. Your lawyer will be able to help you understand the types of damages suitable to your case. That said, here is a brief overview of the main differences between compensatory and punitive damages. 

What Are Compensatory Damages?

Compensatory damages are designed as justice for being wronged and compensation for losses experienced. The basic types are special damages and general damages. Special damages are actual expenses the victim has incurred as a result of what happened. General damages are subjective, like pain and suffering, long-term medical care, and the like.

Compensatory damages are much more common than punitive damages. 

What Are Punitive Damages?

Punitive damages are designed to prevent others from being hurt by the same actions that you suffered as a result of. The defendant is usually a company or other such large entity. This type of damages makes an example out of the defendant in order to discourage similar behavior from others. 

What Is The Difference Between Compensatory And Punitive Damages?

It may seem like the two are the same thing, as you are receiving damages and the other party has to pay them to you. However, there are key differences between the two. Compensatory damages are designed to help victims while punitive damages are designed to punish wrongdoers.

Pain and suffering/emotional distress are compensatory damages, not punitive, because you are being compensated for your pain.

More About Punitive Damages

Punitive damages can be difficult to understand, so we’ll go into more detail about them here.

Typically, punitive damages are awarded in cases of tort liability. Tort is a civil wrong that results in injuries or damages to well-being or life. It differs from criminal charges because it focuses on harm to the individual, rather than harm to society. Tort can overlap with criminal wrongs, but it is designed to provide relief for those who have suffered as a result of infringement on protected interests. 

There are three categories: intentional, negligence, and strict liability. 

• Intentional includes assault, fraud, trespassing, invasion of privacy, etc. 
• Negligence includes accidents and malpractice. 
• Strict liability includes dangerous activities, defective products, and animal abuse.

Some examples include class action suits, intentional harm, and malicious intentions. These cases involve a conscious decision to engage in behavior that would hurt others.

Punitive damages make an example of the defendant to discourage others from engaging in similar behavior. 

The criteria for punitive damages varies from state to state. These damages are given with other damages and typically don’t exceed 4x the amount of compensatory damages, however, there is no set limit. You usually receive punitive damages with compensatory damages.

Are Attorney Fees Damages?

In general, attorney fees are not damages. Personal injury attorneys typically don’t get paid unless you win your case. There are cases in which attorney fees may qualify as special damages, but these circumstances are limited, typically involve a breach of contract claim, and depend on the contract. 

Can You Be Taxed On Damages?

Damages may be taxable. It depends on the type of damages and where you live. Typically, settlement money and damages are considered income, which means the IRS taxes them. Punitive damages and lost wages are taxable, while settlement awards from physical injury lawsuits may be non-taxable. 

If you have any questions about whether or not your damages are taxable, it’s best to talk to a professional accountant. They will be able to assist you with all the specifics involving your taxes.

Do You Need A Personal Injury Attorney?

If you’re in need of a personal injury attorney, don’t hesitate to reach out to LeBaron & Jensen for a free case consultation. We’ll go over your case and let you know what your options are. If we can represent you, you can rest assured by the fact that we’ve won millions of dollars in damages for our clients. We ensure that you are represented fairly and fight for justice to be served. 

Contact us today to schedule your case consultation.