Connecticut Personal Injury Law Blog

Connecticut residents of all ages face certain environmental hazards that make them more likely to fall and injure themselves, but when older Americans fall down, their injuries can prove even more serious and deadly. At Kennedy, Johnson, Schwab & Roberge, LLC, we understand just how much the negligence of others can negatively impact your life, and we have helped many people who fell on private or public property pursue appropriate recourse.

According to the National Council on Aging, falls are now the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries among older adults, resulting in more than 27,000 deaths and 800,000 hospitalizations annually. While falls can present obvious physical hardships for older Americans by making it more difficult for them to move around, many older people who fall also experience additional negative effects, such as depression, social isolation and overall physical decline.

Nobody wants to tell their parents what to do. But as our parents age, they experience changes to both their bodies and their brains. These normal changes can make their activities a little more dangerous than they used to be.

At some point in time, it can become downright dangerous for your father to drive a car. But he is even more vulnerable when he is riding his motorcycle. If Dad has a motorcycle accident, his injuries could be much more severe than if he were in a car -- or if he were a younger version of himself.

When diagnosing patients, doctors frequently fall back on their medical school training to look for the most likely reason certain symptoms present themselves. To most doctors, a cough, watery eyes, a runny nose and a sore throat is most likely to be an indication of a head cold. But among themselves, doctors also call unusual or rare medical conditions zebras, to describe a surprising disease which looks, walks and quacks like a duck in every other way.

As Dr. Michael Aaronson indicates in Common Things Are Common, Except When the Diagnosis Is Rare, is it possible that doctors have difficulty looking beyond the most common causes for an illness? When you are a sick person on the receiving end of one of these shortcut diagnosis, the effects on your health can be devastating.

In the wake of a car accident, physical injuries get all the attention. Casts and bandages. Doctor visits and rehab. Lost time from work. But the psychological injuries can also be severe and lasting. 

A recent study suggests about half of survivors suffer serious depression in the months after a crash, and one in five exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If diagnosed and documented, the psychological component can be compensated under pain and suffering.