How Dangerous Are Blood Clots?

Recent estimates suggest that almost 300 people in the United States die from blood clot-related medical conditions every day. While some blood clots dissolve on their own, others can lead to severe complications such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), stroke and more. All of these blood clot-related risks can be experienced by patients of all ages and backgrounds, making them a pervasive health risk.

For accident victims and hospital patients in Arizona, blood clots can make a bad situation worse, especially when they occur or are exacerbated by medical negligence or malpractice. Let’s take a closer look at some of the leading causes of blood clots and discuss how an experienced personal injury attorney can help their clients seek compensation for blood clot-related damages.

What are blood clots?

A blood clot is more or less a clump of blood that changes from a liquid to a gel-like state. While clotting is the body’s natural response to bleeding, it can become dangerous when clots form in  certain locations that block blood flow to the vital organs.

Some of the most dangerous varieties of blood clots include:

• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT): A clot that forms in a deep vein, usually in the legs
• Pulmonary embolism (PE): A clot that breaks free and travels to the lungs
• Cerebral embolism: A clot that travels to the brain and can cause a stroke
• Coronary thrombosis: A clot that forms inside the arteries of the heart, which can cause a heart attack

Blood clots can form just about anywhere inside the body, and their ability to travel throughout the circulatory system makes them a very real danger to accident victims and other medical patients.

What causes blood clots?

While some amount of clotting is part of the body’s normal response to injuries, there are a number of other factors that can contribute to an increased risk of dangerous clots like those described above. Some common risk factors associated with blood clots include:

• Obesity
• Pregnancy
• Immobility
• Smoking
• Oral contraceptives
• Injury
• Surgery
• Age (increased risk for people over age 60)
• A family history of blood clots
• Chronic inflammatory diseases

Blood clots can pose a major risk to individuals involved in a variety of accidents, including car accidents, slip and fall accidents or any other incident that leads to immobility or the need for surgical intervention. This means that accident victims may be particularly prone to blood clot-related injuries and complications that can further delay physical, emotional and financial recovery after a crash or other accident.

Why accident victims are at risk of blood clots

Research consistently demonstrates that trauma is a major contributory cause of blood clots and clot-related medical complications. Some of the reasons for this correlation may include:

1. The physical impact of an injury

Broken bones, soft tissue damage and internal injuries can all trigger clotting as part of the body’s natural healing response. However, serious trauma can damage blood vessels or lead to conditions that encourage clot formation beyond the scope of what is considered normal.

2. Prolonged immobility

After a traumatic incident, many injured victims may find themselves confined to a bed or wheelchair, either temporarily or indefinitely. This lack of movement inhibits blood circulation in the legs and can subsequently increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis.

3. Surgical complications

Some accident victims require surgery to address their injuries. Surgical errors and poorly managed surgical recovery can lead to clot formation. Patients are at the highest risk of developing a blood clot two to ten days after a procedure but remain at an increased risk for up to three months post-op.

4. Medical negligence

Healthcare providers have a duty to assess a patient’s risk of blood clots and take appropriate precautions prior to performing any procedure that may increase their likelihood of forming clots. Failure to take necessary precautions or to inform a patient of the risk of blood clots may be considered medical malpractice if the omission leads to serious harm to a patient.

Whether a blood clot occurs as the direct result of an injury or forms as the result of medical intervention or negligence, injured victims have a right to seek damages for any physical, emotional or financial harm they experience as the direct result of a blood clot.

The legal implications of a blood clot

If a blood clot was preventable or improperly managed, an accident victim or medical patient may have grounds for filing either a personal injury or medical malpractice claim under Arizona law. Here are a few examples of scenarios that might warrant legal action related to a blood clot:

• A drunk driver caused an accident that caused physical harm to another motorist
• A hospital did not use preventative protocols for patients at an increased risk of blood clots
• A doctor failed to diagnose or misdiagnosed symptoms of DVT or PE
• A nursing facility failed to mobilize or rotate an immobile or disabled patient
• A doctor failed to disclose to a patient that a particular medication might increase their risk of blood clots

In these cases, injured victims may have grounds to file a legal claim against another party, as long as they can demonstrate that (a) the other party had a legal duty to exercise some level of care, (b) that party failed to meet the required standard of care, (c) the victim suffered identifiable harm and (d) the harm suffered by the victim was directly attributable to the other party’s actions or inactions.

If all of the above conditions are met, an injured victim may have cause to file a claim for compensation from the at-fault party for economic and non-economic expenses like medical bills, rehabilitation costs, lost wages and even emotional distress.

Get legal help for a blood clot

If you have suffered a blood clot as the result of a personal injury incident or due to medical negligence, the experienced attorneys at Plattner Verderame Arizona Injury Lawyers may be able to offer you the support you need to pursue the compensation you deserve. With over 30 years of experience navigating personal injury cases, the team at Plattner Verderame knows exactly what it takes to build a strong case for damages related to both traumatic injuries and adverse medical events.

In Arizona, accident victims generally have two years from the date of injury (or in some cases, the date it was discovered) to file a personal injury or malpractice lawsuit. There’s no time to waste in your fight for justice. Give us a call today or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free case consultation with a member of our team. We’re prepared to walk you through all the legal options available to you during this difficult time and work to provide you with some much-needed peace of mind during your recovery.