Manhattan Blindness Injury

Blindness is a life-changing injury. Every aspect of your life is turned upside down, including your home life, your career, your relationships with friends and family members, and your emotional well-being. While certain diseases can lead to a loss of sight, a traumatic injury can be a cause as well. For example, a head injury in a car, truck, motorcycle or bike accident, can lead to blindness. Similarly, accidents at work where you fall, are hit in the head or are exposed to dangerous chemicals can also lead to blindness. In most cases where a loss of sight was caused by an accident, the accident was caused by negligence and could have been avoided. If your blindness was the result of the negligence of another person, contact an experienced Manhattan blindness accident lawyer who will review the facts of your case and work aggressively to ensure that you receive the maximum compensation to which you are legally entitled.

While blindness can be caused by a number of illnesses such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy, it can also be caused by trauma to the head, face, or eyes in an accident caused by negligence.

• Construction accidents: Construction sites are inherently dangerous. There are several types of accidents at a construction site that could lead to someone suffering an injury to the eye. For instance, a chemical splash, an explosion, flying objects and debris such as grit can injure the head or eye leading to a loss of sight or legal blindness. Because construction workers frequently work at high elevations, head injuries in falls can lead to a loss of sight.
• Slip and fall accidents: Head injuries from falls are a top cause of traumatic blindness. When the part of the brain that is related to vision is damaged, the result can be permanent blindness.
• Car accidents: Because of the trauma to the body during vehicle accidents, head injuries leading to blindness are not uncommon.
• Violence: During criminal assaults, victims are sometimes hit, shot or stabbed in the face, head, or eye, leading to blindness.

Whether it is because of negligence, recklessness, or an intentional act, under New York law if you are seriously injured by another person you have the right to demand that that person compensate you for the losses you suffered. In the case of an injury that causes you to lose your ability to see, the compensable losses are your medical expenses, your lost wages, and your pain and suffering.

• Medical expenses: All past and future expenses related to treating the injury that led to your loss of vision such as the emergency room, hospital, diagnostic tests, surgery, medication, therapy and outpatient treatment. Medical expenses may also include assistive equipment such as a service dog, cane, magnifiers and other equipment.
• Lost wages: This includes income and benefits that you lost or were unable to earn because you were not able to work. Examples include your weekly, biweekly, or monthly paychecks, vacation, sick or comp days, bonuses or promotions, medical benefits, and other benefits you lost. If you were self-employed, you also have the right to demand payment for your lost self-employment income.
• Pain and suffering. This includes compensation for both physical pain and psychological suffering from an injury. In a case of an blindness injury, the emotional suffering would be significant.

If you lost your sight in a workplace accident you may be entitled to benefits through your employer's workers' compensation insurance. Benefits include medical care, cash payments for lost wages and vocational counseling. If your injury is long-term or permanent such that you will not be able to return to work for at least 12 months, you may be entitled to Social Security disability benefits.

If you were injured in an accident that caused you to lose all or part of your vision, you should contact an experienced attorney who understands the legal issues associated with personal injury cases as well as the medical issues related to vision loss. The staff at the Law Offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates is experienced in handling personal injury cases stemming from auto, truck, motorcycle, boat, and construction accidents. Even if you feel that your injury is covered by workers' compensation insurance contact us to ensure that you are receiving the maximum benefits available to you under workers' compensation law, personal injury law, and Social Security disability law.s Contact our staff at 800.696.9529 to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your case. We represent clients in the following locations: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, Manhattan, Nassau County, Queens, Staten Island, Suffolk County and Westchester County.