Broken Bone and Fracture Claims From a Fall

Broken Bone and Fracture Claims From a Fall

Fractures are the most common serious injury in slip, trip, and fall accidents.

The wrist breaks because the claimant instinctively catches the fall with an outstretched hand. The ankle breaks during a twist on uneven surface. The hip breaks from impact at the side of the fall, particularly in elderly claimants.

The shoulder dislocates or fractures on direct impact. The spine compresses at the lumbar level. Each fracture pattern has a typical mechanism and a typical treatment course.

The legal framework is straightforward: prove the property owner's negligence, prove causation, and document the medical course. The case turns on the surveillance, the maintenance records, and the property owner's prior notice of the hazard.

A fracture in a fall caused by a hazard the property knew about is recoverable. The medical record establishes the injury; the property's records establish the duty.

Call (888) 713-6653 for a free case review.

Common Fall-Related Fracture Types

Wrist Fractures

The distal radius fracture (Colles fracture) is the signature slip and fall injury. Treatment ranges from casting for non-displaced fractures to open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) for displaced or comminuted fractures. Lifetime impact varies from full recovery to permanent reduced grip strength.

Ankle and Foot Fractures

Bimalleolar and trimalleolar fractures typically require ORIF with hardware. Recovery takes months and frequently leaves residual arthritis or restricted range of motion.

Hip Fractures

Hip fractures in elderly claimants are catastrophic injuries. Treatment is either ORIF, hemiarthroplasty, or total hip replacement. Mortality rates in the first year after hip fracture in elderly populations exceed 20 percent. Many residents never return to prior ambulation. See our hip fracture fall claims page for the full framework.

Shoulder Fractures and Dislocations

Direct impact on the shoulder or extension of the arm during the fall can produce humerus fractures, clavicle fractures, or shoulder dislocation. Rotator cuff tears frequently accompany shoulder injuries.

Spinal Fractures

Vertebral compression fractures, particularly in older claimants with osteoporosis, occur from direct impact during the fall. Transverse process fractures and facet injuries are common in younger claimants. Spinal cord injury, though less common, is a catastrophic outcome.

Economic Damages and Compensation in Fracture Cases

Economic damages: emergency department, imaging, surgical care including ORIF and joint replacement, rehabilitation, future medical expenses (including hardware removal and future arthroplasty), lost wages, lost earning capacity.

Non-economic damages: pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement from surgical scarring or contractures, mental anguish, loss of consortium.

Survival and wrongful death damages in fatal cases (particularly relevant in elderly hip fracture cases).

Punitive damages available where prior incidents established the property's notice and disregard.

Settlement value ranges from tens of thousands for minor wrist or ankle fractures treated conservatively to mid-six figures for surgical fractures with hardware to seven figures for hip fractures, severe spinal fractures, or multi-fracture catastrophic outcomes.