Someone’s negligence may cause your nose fracture. If so, you may be able to recover your damages.
You may be entitled to compensation for these damages:
- Medical expenses (e.g. ambulance bills, hospital bills, doctors’ bills, etc.)
- Future medical expenses
- Lost Wages
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Pain and Suffering
- Future pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Property Damage (e.g. broken glasses, watch, etc.)
Nose Fractures
A nose fracture is a break in the cartilage or bone on top of the bridge. It can also occur in the septum (structure that separates the nostrils) or sidewall of the nose.
A nose fracture is an acute and objective injury. An acute injury is a sudden injury that is usually associated with a traumatic event such slipping and falling.
An objective injury is one that can be seen. A nose fracture can be seen on an x-ray.
In a nose fracture case, the responsible party often will not claim a causation defense.
This means that they usually will not argue that your nose fracture was not caused by the accident. This is one less hurdle that he or she has to overcome in order to recover damages.
This is good for the injured person’s case. Nose injuries and neck injuries often occur together.
Someone with a nose fracture may have an easier time proving that his or her neck injury is related to an accident. This is important because liability insurers may take a tough stance as to causation in a neck injury cases.
The injured victim can make the argument that trauma that is strong enough to break the nose is forceful enough to damage the neck. So the defense’s causation defense on your neck herniated disc claim may be weaker if you have a nose fracture.
Serious nose injuries
Damage to the cartilage in the nose can cause blood to collect and form inside the nose. This blood needs to be drained quickly, otherwise it may cause a permanent deformity or abscess that obstructs the nose.
If you have a permanent deformity or abscess that blocks the nose, this increases the full settlement value of the pain and suffering component of the case. This is turn increases the case’s full settlement value.
If the blood is not drained immediately, it may lead to the death of tissue and cause the nose to collapse. Tissue death and a collapsed nose each increase the full value of the case.
Minor Nose Fractures
If you have a minor nose fracture, a doctor may want to see you about a week after your nose fracture. The doctor will want to see if your nose has moved from its usual position.
If your nose has not moved out of its normal shape, this usually results in a smaller full value of the case. If it has shifted, this increases the full value of the case.
Nose Surgery
Surgery may be required to fix a septum or nose that has been moved out of its position by an injury. Surgery increases the full value of the case for settlement purposes.
Symptoms of a Nose Fracture
There are many symptoms that are characteristic of a nose fracture. Symptoms include:
- Blood running from the nose
- Bruising near the eyes
- Tough to breathe via the nose
- Bent nose (may only show after the swelling is resolved.)
- Pain
- Swelling
After a couple of weeks, the bruises generally go away. The severity and number of the symptoms increase the case’s full value for settlements purposes.
All things equal, someone with a bent nose will have a higher full value of the case than someone will a normal looking nose.
The amount of pain medication that you take can drive up the value of the damages component of the case. This is particularly true if you are taking prescribed pain medication.
Your medical professional will write down your symptoms.
Be sure to tell your doctor all of your symptoms. You should immediately request these medical records and bills. Then send them to the liability claims adjuster.
You want the adjuster to set the reserve properly and quickly. This may result in a quicker settlement.
Getting Medical Attention
Medical records are the heart of a personal injury case. If you think you have a nose fracture, go the doctor.
Without medical treatment, do not expect much (if anything) for your injury.
$78K Settlement for Nose Fracture from Fall at Condo (Miami-Dade)
A Colombian lady was visiting her condominium that she owned in Sunny Isles. Sunny Isles is in Miami-Dade, County, Florida.
While heading to the parking garage, she exited a door. This was her first time exiting through this door.
Below is a photo of the door that she exited through.
The door had a big step down with no warning sign.
She misstepped and fell down the stairs. She went to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a nose fracture.
After reading excellent things about my law firm online, she hired me as her injury lawyer.
I made a claim with the condominium association, who notified its insurance company.
Why was the condominium association (or its property management company) liable?
Because in Florida, a condominium, apartment building and property manager has two duties that it owes to invitees:
1. To use reasonable care in keeping and maintaining the premises in a reasonably safe condition; and
2. To give the invitee warning of concealed perils which are known or should be known to the landowner, and which are unknown to the invite and cannot be discovered by him through the exercise of due care. Friedrich v. Fetterman and Associates, P.A., 137 So. 3d 362 (Fla. 2013).
I argued to the insurance adjuster that the condominium association breached its duty to warn by not having a warning sign on the door. My client did not know that there would be a step down upon her exit.
Scottsdale Insurance Company insured the condominium association with commercial general liability (CGL) insurance.
Scottsdale has an excellent reputation for fairly paying Florida injury claims.
The injured woman ended up having nose surgery in her home country. I paid an US translator to translate her Spanish surgery records to English.
After a tough negotiation, Scottsdale paid us $73,000 to settle her personal injury claim.
Scottsdale also paid its $5,000 Medical payments (Medpay) coverage limits. Since I did not file a lawsuit, I did not charge a fee on this $5,000 in medpay coverage.
Some Florida attorneys charge a fee Medpay, even when they do not sue. However, it is not ethical for a lawyer to charge a fee on Medpay benefits in a Florida case if a lawsuit was not required.
I do not charge a fee on Medpay benefits if I don’t have to sue to get it. In this case, this put an additional $5,000 in my client’s pocket.
My client had travel insurance through Assistcard. Assistcard wouldn’t pay the hospital.
Thus, we filed a consumer complaint with Florida’s Department of Insurance in order to get Assistcard to pay $2,500 to Mount Sinai Hospital.
Assistcard did not ask to be paid back from her personal injury settlement.
GEICO Pays $10,000 to Driver for Nose Injury from Rear End Crash
See a case where GEICO paid a driver $10,000 for her nose injury after a careless driver rear ended her on the Palmetto Expressway in Miami.
Did someone’s carelessness cause your injury in an accident in Florida, or on a cruise or boat?
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