product liability

I get it. When you get injured, you almost immediately begin to worry about money. It is completely rational. If my client is a car salesperson and has severe pain after standing for more than an hour, he may worry that his failed artificial hip surgery could cause him to lose his job. If another client is a graphic designer, and a car crash results in a broken arm, the client may wonder how she will do her graphic design work at a computer or work space. Beyond concerns about handling job duties, there will be immediate financial pressures. I wrote about handling medical bills in a product liability case here. But there are of course other bills to be paid: mortgage payments or rent, food, utilities, and other expenses of living. It can seem overwhelming.

Try to Get Through This Difficult Period Without Obtaining Loans

I know, I know, easy for me to say. And frankly you are right. No one ever wakes up and says, “today is a great day for me to enter into a ruinous loan I will never be able to pay back.” I understand that most people attempt to exhaust every other funding source before looking for third-party funding during a desperate financial period. But I am going to say it anyway: exhaust every other funding source before looking for third-party funding. Call your parents, your kids, your friends, anyone who might help you get through the difficult financial period you face when waiting for a product liability or other personal injury case to resolve.

“How am I supposed to pay all these medical bills?”

This is usually one of the first questions I get from people injured by a failed medical device. Typically a failed device like a hip or knee causes all kinds of health problems for a person. Often a revision surgery is necessary, and sometimes several surgeries. All this extra medical care is expensive. It also requires large amounts of time to rehabilitate and recover, which causes substantial time away from work. Some of my clients lose their jobs, or are forced to quit because they can no longer do the work. Meanwhile, the bills from surgeons and hospitals continue to pile up.

Medical Providers Expect Payment

First, no matter who is at fault for your failed medical device or harmful drug, the doctors and hospitals who provide you treatment will expect prompt payment of their bills. After surgeries, these bills often come fast and furiously. If you have health insurance you will need to arrange with the physician and/or the hospital ahead of time to file a claim for payment. But even if you have health insurance you will most likely be responsible for payment of a significant portion of the costs of your medical care (through co-pays, deductibles, and/or percentages of the medical bill not covered by health insurance). The surgeon or hospital will expect you to pay these amounts promptly.

So what can you do?

★★★★★

I was involved in a case for the faulty hip replacements. Clay Hodges represented me. I can't say enough about how much he has helped me. Clay was able to win multiple settlements on my behalf with most of them being the maximum amount able to be awarded. Matt J.

Clay, thank you sir for making a disheartening experience at least palatable, you and your staff were honest, caring and understanding through the entire process of my wife’s hip replacements, while monetary settlements never make the pain and suffering end, it sometimes is the only way people can fight back to right a wrong. J. V.

We are absolutely pleased with how Clay Hodges handled my husband’s hip replacement claim. He always kept us informed of the progress. And, his work resulted in a settlement which we are extremely pleased. Thank you, Clay! Carol L. & Norm L.

Articles Tagged with product liability

Paying Your Bills While Your Product Liability Case Is Litigated

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