Sacramento Eye Trauma Lawyer

Several different types of personal injury cases can result from eye injuries. An experienced personal injury attorney can help someone who has sustained eye trauma recover appropriate compensation when the injury results from another person’s negligence.  The most common personal injury events involving eye trauma include motor vehicle accidents, defective product injuries, and sports injuries. All of these can and often do involve negligence on the part of other parties — drivers who cause collisions, employers who may have inadequate safety standards and practices, and safety product and sports equipment manufacturers who may sell inadequately designed and manufactured products. 

If you have suffered eye trauma or vision loss after an accident due to the negligence of another person or entity, reach out to our law firm and receive free, friendly advice. Call our California eye trauma lawyer at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400.

Because the eye is such a delicate sensory organ and vision is such an important sense for human beings, eye trauma incidents that cause a permanent reduction or loss of vision can result in very significant damages and demand similarly significant compensation from those who may have negligently caused the trauma.   

A personal injury incident like a car crash can result in a penetrating object or foreign object in the eye, like a glass splinter. This can easily get infected and result in permanent injury if not treated as a medical emergency.  Eye trauma can also result from a chemical burn in the eye, such as a workplace injury resulting from inadequate safety practices or defective safety gear like goggles.  An orbital blowout fracture is a major injury to the bones around the eye.  This can result from motor vehicle accidents, such as major front-end impacts or large objects penetrating a windshield and striking a driver or passenger.  This is a serious injury that needs immediate medical attention. 

An automobile accident can result in broken glass entering the eye or blunt trauma to the eye or surrounding bones.  Sports involving bats and balls or direct physical contact are prone to causing eye injuries, and eye protection should be considered (or required) for these types of sports.  If injuries result from youth sporting events, then coaches, school districts, and event sponsors have a special responsibility for making sure the sport is played safely.  Occupational injuries can involve debris getting in the eye and causing a corneal abrasion or an embedded foreign body.  Any of these events may also involve defective products causing eye injuries, for example: 

• An auto accident in which an airbag does not properly inflate, allowing the head and eye to impact the interior of the car
• An eye injury from a sporting event in which a defective helmet or goggles don’t protect the eyes as they should
• A workplace injury where eye trauma results from defective safety gear like splash guards or goggles or power equipment that gives off excessive dust, wood splinters, or metal shards

Accurately diagnosing eye trauma is obviously key to determining the right course of medical care. Still, it is also an important component in any injury claim or lawsuit brought on the injury victim’s behalf by a personal injury attorney.  The specific diagnosed injury is typically the most important component in valuing an injury claim.  The most important thing someone who has suffered an eye injury can do is seek immediate medical care. 

The symptoms of eye trauma are a significant component of the general damages — or “pain and suffering” — a portion of the damages resulting from a personal injury incident.  These include both the past eye injury symptoms from the time of the incident up through the conclusion of an injury claim or lawsuit and any future symptoms that are likely to continue on a long-term or permanent basis.  If there are functional losses due to loss of an eye or significant reduction in vision, then a personal injury attorney will also be seeking compensation for additional special damages in a claim or lawsuit for things such as loss of past and/or future income if the eye injury has caused a temporary or permanent inability to work. 

These are some of the various injuries and the symptoms and signs associated with the types of eye trauma that can be caused by personal injury incidents: 

• The main symptom of chemical exposure to the eye is burning pain associated with redness, tearing, and swelling. 
• There is pain, tearing, sensitivity to light, and a persistent sensation that there is something in the eye even though nothing but a scratch may be there in corneal abrasion. 
• A retinal detachment may suddenly produce flashes of light in the peripheral vision and the presence of “floaters” within the eye’s view. 
• In an orbital blowout injury, there is pain with any movement of the eyes, double vision, swelling of the eyelid, bruising, or a black eye. 
• In a conjunctival laceration, there is pain and swelling of the eye along with the sensation that something is residing in the eye. 
• An intra-orbital foreign body causes a reduction in vision, tearing, pain in the eye, and double vision (in some cases).   

Treatment for injuries that have resulted from a personal injury incident and the medical expenses associated with that treatment is a key element of damages that must be understood and evaluated by a personal injury attorney when bringing a claim or lawsuit on a client’s behalf.  Eye trauma treatment depends on prompt first aid and referral to an emergency room or eye care specialist.   

The video below demonstrates first-aid techniques for an eye injury:

Hello, my name is Ed Smith, and I am an Eye Trauma lawyer in Sacramento. If you or a family member has sustained an eye injury due to the negligence of another person from a motor vehicle collision, a workplace injury, a youth sporting event, or other similar circumstance, seeking advice from an experienced personal injury attorney is key to protecting your legal rights and recovering appropriate compensation. If you would like to talk to our experienced injury attorneys, contact us through our online form or call us at 916.921.6400 or 800.404.5400 for free, friendly advice.

We are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the National Association of Distinguished Counsel.

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Photo Attribution:  Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay

Editor’s Note: This page has been updated for accuracy and relevancy [cha 8.23.21]

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