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Personal Injury

Personal injury and wrongful death cases are technical and can be complex. The lawyers at Winters, Brewster, Crosby & Schafer, LLC have experience before administrative boards, trial courts and appellate courts, and have prevailed on claims for the most serious personal injuries.Personal injury and wrongful death cases are always emotional. While you are upset or grieving, you should not make any major decisions that will limit any future recoveries without consulting an attorney. You should not enter into any settlement, sign any release or accept any money in exchange for releasing an individual, corporation, or insurance company from liability without first knowing what insurance coverage or other redress is available to you and your family.

Physical and emotional injuries in these cases may come in all varieties.  The following are some examples of the types of injuries that may be the subject of a personal injury claim.

• Traumatic Brain Injuries, Closed Head Injury, and other Injuries resulting in Severe and/or Permanent Brain Damage
• Joint, Spinal Cord, Neck, and Back Injuries
• Fractures and Dislocations
• Birth Defects and Birth-Related Injuries
• Amputations, Burns, and Scars
• Seizure Disorders, Cancer, and other Serious or Terminal Medical Conditions
• Emotional Trauma, Mental Anguish, Anxiety, Depression, and other Psychological or Emotional Conditions
• Loss of Consortium (a spouse’s or child’s loss of the companionship, help, and affection of a person who has died
• Other Severe, Permanent, and Crippling Injuries, as well as injuries of lesser severity
• Because the Statute of Limitations applies to these cases, victims have a limited time frame in which to file their case.

If you feel you have a personal injury or wrongful death case, it is vital that you act immediately to protect your rights.

Medical Malpractice

Negligence due to medical malpractice can occur in any environment where you receive treatment, and can include cases against doctors, nurses, or other health care providers. Examples of cases involving medical negligence include:
Failure to Diagnose

Failure to diagnose or treat medical conditions, such as the negligent failure to diagnose or properly treat cancer, the negligent reading of mammograms or x-rays, the misdiagnosis of cancer, the negligent failure to diagnose or properly treat heart attack or stroke, or the negligent failure to diagnose and properly treat a condition or disease affecting the body may be the basis for a medical malpractice claim.

Surgical Malpractice

Surgical malpractice includes the negligent performance of an operation, the failure to recognize complications during surgery, leaving instruments or foreign bodies inside the patient, or failure to recognize and properly treat post-operative complications.

Birth Defects

Birth defects are sometimes caused by medical malpractice by a physician, health clinic, hospital, or pharmaceutical company. Claims may be brought for birth defects arising from the negligence of a health care provider or a defective product. When a pregnant woman undergoes testing during pregnancy, such as ultrasound or amniocentesis, the results must be accurately determined, and the mother must be promptly informed of the results. Certain medications should not be used during pregnancy, because they can harm the fetus. Errors in prenatal care are some examples of medical malpractice cases.

Brain Damage

Brain damage is a personal injury that my result from medical malpractice during anesthesia, during childbirth, or as a result of other events which cause decreased blood flow to the brain, depriving it of oxygen. The damages from brain injury can be extremely severe and are usually permanent. If the brain damage resulted from the negligence of a physician or other medical provider, then the injury can be compensable.

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is a personal injury arising injury to a part of the brain known as the cerebrum, which controls motor skills and coordination. Medical malpractice during childbirth may result in cerebral palsy. Doctors and other medical personnel have a duty to monitor the baby’s vital signs during childbirth, and to make sure that the baby is not having an adverse reaction or by observing the heartbeat on the fetal heart monitor. Cerebral palsy is a permanent injury, and is often severe, resulting in large personal injury damages.

Erb's Palsy

Brachial plexus & Erb's palsy Injuries may result from the improper delivery of the baby, resulting in stretching and tearing injuries to a group of nerves in the neck and shoulder known as the brachial plexus. Sadly this is an injury that happens to otherwise perfectly healthy babies, and is often the result of the physician using excessive force during the delivery, and failing to realize that there is shoulder distocia. The nerve damage affects nerve and shoulder function, and often results in atrophy of the muscles and permanent loss of function. Brachial plexus injuries are foreseeable and preventable, and the personal injuries caused by physician negligence are compensable.

Birth Injuries

Birth injury may result from negligent pre-natal care, injuries during delivery, failure to perform a Cesarean section, or failure to provide medical care to the newborn baby. Birth injuries from medical malpractice can be catastrophic an permanent, and may result in developmental delays, neurological injuries or death. Some other examples of birth injuries or conditions that may be the result of medical malpractice include:

Bruising, surface injuries, cephalohematoma, and brain injuries caused by foreceps and vacuum extractors
Group-B Strep disease, which can result in sepsis, pneumonia, or meningitis as many as several months after birth
Kernicterus, which is a progressive type of brain damage that can develop in infants who suffer from untreated, severe jaundice
Medication Errors

Medication errors result from the use of improper medications, allergic reactions, overdoses, failure to recognize contraindications, or combining medications improperly. Medication errors may be made the doctor, the pharmacist, or the nurse giving the medication.

We suggest getting your medical and hospital records as soon as you suspect there may have been a medical error in your treatment. Medical records are vital evidence in medical malpractice cases.

 
Retaliatory Discharge

Before you can assert your rights, you must know what they are. Certain employment laws limit under what circumstances an employee may be lawfully terminated. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, for example, outlawed discrimination based upon race, gender, religion, or national origin. In 1967, Congress passed the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) to protect employees age 40 years or over from suffering unfair disadvantages and stereotypes. Decades later, in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed to ensure that qualified employees with disabilities are provided with equal opportunities to participate in the workforce.  Many laws are in place outlawing employment discrimination based on race, gender, religion, or national origin, age, handicap, and sexual orientation.  Under both state and federal law, it is illegal to terminate an employee for reporting unlawful discrimination.

Commercial Transactions and Litigation
 
We represent individuals and businesses in all forms of business transactions including sales of real estate, acquisitions, sales, and organization and dissolution of corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships and commercial litigation, arbitration, and mediation of contract and employment disputes.

• Auto and Truck Accidents
• Personal Injury
• Workers Compensation
• Medical and Surgical Malpractice
• Birth Defects
• Retaliatory Discharge
• Sexual Harassment
• Whistle Blower Cases
• Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
• Insurance Disputes and Litigation
• Commercial Transactions and Litigation