Working as a home healthcare provider has many dangers that other professions don’t face. One of those risks is the potential for a dog bite injury when visiting a patient’s home. Unfortunately, home healthcare workers in Los Angeles suffer dog bites all too often while trying to provide critical in-home care.
If you or a loved one was bitten by a dog while working in Southern California, you’ll need an experienced attorney in your corner. Dog bites lead to severe injuries with excruciating pain, emotional trauma, lost wages, and steep medical bills.
We have seen the unique challenges home healthcare workers face when litigating animal bite claims. Our law firm fights to ensure California’s strict liability dog bite laws work in your favor so you receive full compensation.
Los Angeles County in-home healthcare workers provide essential services to Californians needing assistance with day-to-day activities. However, entering a patient’s home exposes providers to potential dog bite attacks.
In the US, millions of dog bite incidents occur each year. Unfortunately, home healthcare workers suffer a disproportionate number of these injuries.
Home care workers constantly enter new, unfamiliar settings when caring for patients. There is no way to be fully prepared for the pets that a patient might own. Some dogs become defensive when a strange home care provider enters their home. Different from postal workers, meter readers, or other professions that encounter canines, home care workers follow different work routes every day. The unfamiliarity raises risks and makes bites more likely.
“I had no idea my patient even owned a dog until it came running out from the backyard growling. It bit my leg before I had time to react.” – Marissa R., home health aide.
Patients often fail to restrict or contain their dogs properly before a scheduled at-home visit. Home care assistants have a reasonable expectation that patients receiving visitors will secure aggressive pets.
To make matters worse, home healthcare providers have little defense against a dog bite once an attack starts. Workers visiting a patient’s home do not typically carry weapons or tools to fend off canines. The only real option is to try to escape from the attacking dog. But, moving fast may further trigger a dog’s attack mode and encourage chasing behavior.
“I was totally defenseless when two German Shepherds charged from the house. All I could do was run until a neighbor heard me screaming.” – Daniel F., home health physical therapist.
The inability to properly defend and protect themselves leaves home care assistants extremely vulnerable. It also frequently leads to prolonged, brutal attack incidents.
Once a dog bite happens, the home healthcare providers’ battle is far from over. The injuries themselves often prove severe and lead to other long-term physical, emotional, and financial hardships. Our firm has walked many Los Angeles home care workers through the aftermath. Our LA dog bite lawyers understand the full impact and how to secure compensation to offset the damages.
Dog attacks lead to severe lacerations, muscle tears, broken bones, and other intense physical injuries. Bites carry high risks of infection, too. For home health care workers attacked during visits, the hands, arms, legs, and other essential body parts often bear the bite impacts. Damage to these areas seriously impedes one’s ability to provide home care duties safely. The injuries may even leave permanent disability.
“The bite wounds cut clear through the muscle. I lost feeling in two fingers after the surgeon repaired the nerve damage. I still don’t have full use of my dominant hand.” – Lucas G., home health occupational therapist.
Long recovery periods also keep home healthcare providers off the job for weeks or longer. The time away leads to lost wages and makes it impossible to support a family. Those able to eventually return to work may face limitations on the types of home care they can provide moving forward.
The trauma of a dog bite also takes mental and emotional tolls on a victim. Los Angeles home healthcare workers often develop phobias and anxiety being around dogs, even with smaller or non-violent breeds. Hypervigilance and fear are common emotional responses. Providers may hesitate to visit new patients, worrying about dog risks. These behaviors seriously impact work capacity.
“After being attacked without warning, I get nervous ringing any patient’s doorbell now. I find myself constantly scanning for dogs whenever I step into a new house call.” – Victoria A., home care nurse.
Some victims develop PTSD symptoms, reliving the terrifying bites for months or years. Panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, and depression may happen too. Ongoing emotional and mental health issues make it harder for home care workers to deliver the thoughtful, empathetic care patients expect.
Finally, dog bites create substantial financial burdens through medical bills, lost income, and other costs. Health insurance plans rarely cover all dog bite-related expenses. Out-of-pocket costs for emergency transport, hospitalization, surgery, medications, and therapy pile up fast.
“Between the ambulance ride, ER visit, surgery, prescriptions, and appointments for wound care, stitches, and physical therapy, I ended up with nearly $75,000 in medical expenses. Health insurance only covered about $15,000.” – Noah L., home health physical therapy assistant.
At the same time, recovery periods lead to missed wages. Permanent disabilities may lower future earnings capacity or necessitate job changes as well. Providers rely on home care work to support themselves and their dependents. Lost income can quickly devastate savings and lead to unexpected debt.
Courts nationwide have consistently held immense physical, emotional, mental, and financial suffering by home health care workers after a dog bite is blatantly unfair. The good news is that California civil codes favor bite victims and implement powerful strict liability statutes. These laws make compensation more accessible for innocent providers hurt during home visits.
California is a strict liability state and applies the “absolute liability” theory in dog bite and attack cases per Civil Code section 3342. The law states that:
“The owner of any dog is liable for damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog.”
These rules differ from negligence laws other states follow. Strict liability means the dog owner is automatically liable for all damages, even if they did nothing inherently wrong. Failing to train, restrain, or secure a dog does not matter. The owner bears responsibility solely because they own the dog inflicting harm.
California was actually the first state to adopt strict liability statutes. Decades ago, Lawmakers recognized the inherent danger dogs can pose, plus the difficulties victims face trying to collect rightful compensation. Strict laws remove common defenses owners raise and simplify the claims process.
Strict liability offers immense protections and advantages for dog bite victims pursuing compensation in California, including:
The owner of the dog must cover all medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and other general harm. Even pre-existing conditions exacerbated by bite trauma qualify for legal remedy.
Victims spend less time and money proving owner negligence. Strict liability rules automatically place responsibility on owners.
With absolute liability placed on owners, claims reach settlements quicker, so victims receive compensation faster.
Strict liability makes legal defenses challenging to assert for owners. They often settle out-of-court instead of fighting dog claims.
Even if the exact owner is unknown initially, identifying the dog itself is enough to pursue strict liability against whoever was responsible for raising it.
Strict liability statutes level the playing field for innocent healthcare dog bite victims seeking rightful compensation in California by removing common defenses and excuses deployed by dog owners and insurance companies.
While strict liability laws in California make owner accountability more transparent, collecting full compensation still requires victims to take proper legal precautions. Our law firm knows how to secure evidence and access damages to keep strict liability rules on your side.
First, act immediately after a bite to identify the owner accurately. If available, get their name, address, phone, insurance information, and any other pertinent details. Take photos documenting bite wounds then as well to reveal initial injury severity. Advise your patient on what happened and that you must file an incident report.
Veterinary records, microchip information, and state dog registration documents may help confirm ownership of the attacking dog if patients do not volunteer the specifics. Dog owner identification is vital for assigning accountability in your lawsuit.
Equally important – seek prompt medical evaluation and treatment, even if wounds seem minor. Many serious health impacts can manifest over subsequent hours or days without proper care. Early physician records also clearly record the bite incident timing, location, severity, etc. You need these medical records to demonstrate damages linking back to the incident date.
Follow all recommended medical treatments closely, like stitches, antibiotics, wound care, therapy, medications, etc. The full scope of care taken reveals the actual physical suffering and expenses involved. Half-measures because of costs or inconveniences only weaken the ability to recoup losses later.
Finally, promptly contact an experienced Los Angeles dog bite lawyer before providing lengthy statements to insurance adjusters about what happened. It would be best to have someone well-versed in California’s strict liability laws guiding your interactions with defendants and insurers. We know what evidence properly establishes strict dog owner liability for maximum compensation. A personal injury attorney also communicates on your behalf regarding the damages.
Without knowledgeable legal representation, home care providers risk insurance agencies using deceptive tactics to reduce or deny rightful strict liability compensation. Don’t let them take advantage of your traumatic situation.
Trying to handle a dog bite claim yourself without legal guidance rarely ends well for home health victims in Los Angeles. Lack of strict liability litigation experience means losing compensation.
You need a firm well-versed in these unique cases. Here is what our team delivers:
Our experience handling dog bite disputes under strict liability gives us strategic negotiation leverage over insurance agencies. We know the State of California provides full damages based on the admissible evidence presented. Our reputation for achieving maximum settlements motivates adjusters, too. They understand we have the resources to take cases to court when their offers fall short.
Settlements we secure cover all facets of losses – every dollar of medical bills, lost wages, reduced income capacity, emotional damages, and suffering. We fight to make victims whole financially again.
When settlement talks stall, our firm has access to veterinarian experts, economist experts, physician experts, rehab experts, and other specialists ready to detail the long-term impacts of your injuries accurately. Credible third-party expertise makes juries much more sympathetic and likely to award fuller compensation should court action become necessary.
Reputable expert testimony also makes insurance companies reconsider if going to court is feasible. Our expertise network leads to much greater client compensation.
Finally, we offer complimentary case evaluations to home health aides, nurses, therapists, or assistants injured by a dog bite in LA. Our legal team wants to understand what happened, help address questions related to strict liability laws, and discuss representation options.
We only charge attorney fees if we can recover complete losses for clients. Our experience translates to more financial compensation while costing nothing extra out-of-pocket.
California’s strict liability rules rightly favor innocent victims – including home health providers – in holding dog owners fully accountable for all damages.
Contact a dog bite lawyer in Los Angeles today to apply these laws when negotiating your rightful compensation award. LA Dog Bite Law helps home health workers maximize claims through settlements or necessary litigation when insurers balk under strict liability statutes.
With knowledgeable legal guidance, you can take control of the situation and rest assured, knowing your advocate is doing everything possible to recover your losses. Contact us now for a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer specializing in California residence healthcare worker dog bite cases.
Our reach extends throughout California, from the sunny streets of San Diego to the bustling cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco, and beyond. We’re here to help victims across the state report dog bites, find the legal support they need, and ensure that justice is served. By reporting dog bites and seeking assistance, we’re all doing our part in making our communities safer while helping victims get back on their feet.
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