Personal Injury Lawyer
Responsible businesses take precautions to protect their customers from harm. Some of those precautions include keeping business property free from tripping hazards, installing non-slip flooring, and assuring that parking lots have adequate lighting.
Providing security is often a necessary means of protecting customers. Some businesses attract rowdy customers. Others are located in high crime areas. Some businesses have a history of being robbed. Whenever a reasonable business owner should anticipate that an armed criminal might start trouble, the business has an obligation to protect its customers from harm.
A customer or bystander who is injured in a shooting because the business failed to provide adequate security or to maintain adequate lighting can make a claim against the business. A security negligence lawyer can provide advice about how state law affects that claim.
Before shooting victims think about making a claim, however, they should seek medical advice. The claim and, more importantly, a shooting victim’s health depends on obtaining prompt treatment and following through on all treatment recommendations.
Reasons to Find a Doctor After a Shooting at a Business
In the movies, action heroes shrug off bullet wounds. In real life, wounds can be deadly.
Any wound that punctures or scratches the surface of the skin can cause an infection. Bacteria are always present on the surface of skin. When a bullet breaks the skin, it pushes that bacteria inside the body. Bacteria that enters the body through a bullet wound can cause serious infections, including a deadly condition known as sepsis.
Bullet wounds can also damage muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, and other structures of the body. When a doctor who removes a bullet or patches a wound recommends additional treatment, a shooting victim should follow that advice. Neglecting treatment can prolong injuries and even lead to permanent disabilities that could have been prevented with physical therapy and other appropriate care.
Treatment is essential to a full physical recovery, but it is also important to a full financial recovery. When crime victims neglect to see a doctor, the insurance claims adjuster will argue that the victim must not have been hurt. When victims prematurely end their treatment, the adjuster will argue that the injury must have healed. Giving insurance companies the ability to make those arguments reduces the settlement value of a claim for negligent security.
How to Find a Doctor After a Shooting at a Business
In most cases, a shooting victim’s first medical treatment will be provided by Emergency Room physicians. Even if a victim has no health insurance, an ER must provide treatment for wounds that are life threatening or that might become seriously disabling.
When victims have health insurance, they can contact their insurance companies about choosing a doctor. Many plans assign a primary care physician who is usually the starting point. That doctor may recommend specialists. Working with the insurance company is the key to choosing doctors at minimal cost to the victim.
When victims have an insurance plan that allows them to choose their own physicians, they may benefit from advice that friends and family members can offer about physicians who specialize in wound care. Online reviews can also provide insight into the quality of local doctors who treat wounds.
Victims who have no insurance can explore their eligibility for publicly funded healthcare, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans Administration benefits. A victim who is not eligible for publicly funded healthcare may be able to enter into an agreement to pay a doctor from the proceeds of a legal claim against a negligent business that allowed a shooting to occur.
A personal injury lawyer can advise shooting victims about their options for obtaining healthcare. The lawyer may also be able to recommend physicians who will agree to deferred payment in exchange for a lien on settlement proceeds. Whatever path the shooting victim follows, it is essential to find a doctor and to follow that doctor’s recommendations to assure a complete physical and financial recovery.
