Practice Areas

Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Practice Areas

Barsumian Armiger Injury Lawyers handles cases in the following areas of law:

• Personal Injury
• Construction Accidents
• Medical and Pharmaceutical Malpractice
• Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse
• Product Liability
• Slip and Fall
• Wrongful Death
• Motor Vehicle Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Bicycle Accidents
• Pedestrian Accidents
• Truck Accidents

Below each of the above areas we share with you some of the publicly available statistics for these types of injuries. Please click on your area of interest to learn more about the type of cases we handle.

Personal Injury

The United States Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) reported statistics from an emergency department survey completed in the United States in 2022. Of the facilities surveyed, there were over 39 million emergency department visits reported for personal injury. Including adverse events, the number increased to around 43.5 million emergency department injury visits. There were over 26 million emergency department visits for unintentional injuries, equating to around 60% of all injury visits and around 17% of all emergency department visits combined. These percentages are likely low given a very large portion of visits did not include a listed cause. Falls, motor vehicle traffic crashes, and struck by or against incidents were the most common mechanisms of personal injury in the United States. 

Construction Accidents

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provide a variety of construction accident statistics. In 2023, for example, there were 2.6 million work-related injuries and illnesses in the U.S. and 5,283 workers were killed on the job, which equates to 3.5 fatalities for every 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. Every 99 minutes a worker in the U.S. died from a work-related injury. The highest number of fatalities amongst private industry sectors occurred in the construction industry, with 1,075 deaths in 2023, equating to one in five worker deaths occurring in the construction industry.

OSHA helps ensure safe working conditions and often inspects places of work for safe practices. Falls are the leading cause of worker deaths in the construction industry. Other significant safety hazards include struck-by incidents, caught-in/between incidents, electrocutions, transportation incidents, and trenching and excavation incidents.

OSHA’s most commonly violated safety standards for 2024 were fall protection (7,036 violations), hazard communication (3,277 violations), control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout) (2,967 violations), ladders (2,897 violations), respiratory protection (2,835 violations), powered industrial trucks (2,604 violations), fall protection training requirements (2,310 violations), scaffolding (2,071 violations), eye and face protection (2,007 violations), and machine guarding (1,780 violations).

Medical Malpractice

Medical errors are a leading cause of death in the United States. A 2023 John Hopkins study, for instance, estimated nearly 800,000 people in the United States die or are permanently disabled each year by diagnostic medical errors. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, has noted in past years that more than 1 in 10 hospitalized Medicare patients experienced preventable harm. The Indiana Department of Health’s medical error reporting system has noted in past years top medical errors including stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers (bedsores), retention of foreign objects after surgery, death or serious disability associated with falls, and surgery performed on the wrong body part.

Several reasons for medical errors have been cited, such as:

• Systemic failures caused by inconsistent care practices between physicians, nurses, or other healthcare providers, which lead to mistakes;
• The increase in the number of health professionals providing care to a single patient brought about by larger, decentralized, and fragmented hospitals and health care facilities;
• Difficulties accessing patient information;
• Illegible handwriting or erroneous data entry;
• Misperceived medical acronyms and abbreviations;
• Failure to document patient conditions or other critical data;
• Service levels of the healthcare facility compared to the number of patients admitted or under care; and
• Interestingly, health care provider competition, which “result[s] in the lack of development of communication systems” between hospitals and healthcare providers.

Other reasons for medical errors can include poor communication and coordination, inadequate training or experience, cognitive biases and decision-making errors, lack of standardized protocols, overworked and fatigued healthcare providers, and patient-related factors.

Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse

The CDC reported over 15,000 nursing homes in the United States in 2020, with over 70% of the nursing homes having for-profit ownership. There were around 1.3 million nursing home residents. There were around 7.3 million people cared for in all post-acute (or post-hospital) and long-term care settings, which include nursing homes, home health agencies, hospice, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, long-term care hospitals, and residential care communities, with over 68,000 providers delivering care, mostly in nursing homes and residential care communities. Across the country, the Midwest had a higher percentage of nursing homes.

According to the Indiana Business Research Center, Indiana University Kelley School of Business, Indiana had 614 nursing homes (or skilled nursing facilities), not including rehabilitation facilities, and 205 assisted living facilities in 2022. 744 businesses provided home health care services. Marion County, Lake County, Allen County, Vanderburgh County, and Porter County, Indiana had the highest number of nursing homes across Indiana. The Indiana Department of Health (IDOH), Division of Long-Term Care, listed over 700 long-term care facilities and over 200 residential care facilities in Indiana in 2025. The IDOH listed 173 end stage renal disease facilities, 360 home health agencies, 110 hospice providers, 506 nursing homes, and 238 residential care facilities in 2025.

According to reporting in past years by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, an estimated 33% of Medicare beneficiaries discharged from hospitals to nursing homes with stays of 35 days or less experienced either an adverse event (22%) or a temporary harm event (11%). Around 69% of the adverse events and almost half of all temporary harm events were preventable, with most if not all resulting from substandard care, inadequate monitoring, and a failure or delay of necessary care. Around 80% of the harms required prolonged stays, transfers, or hospitalizations, and 14% required life-saving measures. Adverse events in nursing homes included events related to medication (37%), resident care (37%), and infections (26%). Estimates showed around 2.8 billion dollars spent on hospital treatment for harm caused residents and patients in nursing homes. An estimated 1.5% of Medicare beneficiaries in nursing homes died as a result of adverse events. 

Product Liability

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) tracks reports from a number of product-related injuries. Not all such injuries relate to an unreasonably dangerous product, product defect, inadequate warning, or faulty instructions. However, when such is the case, a civil remedy may exist under a theory of recovery known as product liability. The following are just a small sampling of those statistics that can be found on the CPSC’s website in the form of a variety of reports.

For the ten-year period between 2003-2013, an estimated 113,272 emergency room visits were for treatment related to inflatable amusement products. More than 90 percent of these estimated injuries were related to “moon bounces.” Most of these injuries were in the 4 to 15 years of age group. Most of the injuries were to limbs and 12 deaths were reported.

Although reported less frequently, two basic type of amusement-park rides—mobile and fixed-site—have been investigated by the CPSC. Through 2000, there was an estimated average of 4.5 fatalities each year. Most injuries occurred to children 10-14 years of age during this period and more females were injured than males.

ATV injuries account for a significant number of injuries. Between 1982 and 2015 there were 14,129 ATV-related fatalities with 3,163 of those fatalities occurring in children younger than 16 years of age or 22 percent of the total of reported ATV-related fatalities, a striking statistic. ATV injuries resulting in emergency room visits in recent years have approached 100,000 per year, though the majority of these are treated and released.

From 2011 to 2013, annual non-fire related deaths associated with consumer products generating carbon monoxide averaged out to 148. Engine-driven tools were associated with the highest percentage of carbon monoxide poisoning fatalities at forty-six percent, followed by heating-systems-related carbon monoxide fatalities at thirty-percent. Most of these deaths over the years have involved generators. Heating system fatalities have been identified from LP or propane gas heaters, unspecified gas heating, oil-burning heaters and wood-burning heaters. Of course, most carbon monoxide deaths occurred in colder months as the need for in-home heating increased. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are often confused with common illnesses, such as cold and influenza. In addition to deaths, after severe poisonings, irreversible neurological effects may result. Poor maintenance in terms of inadequate ventilation or exhaust pathways may lead to potentially lethal amounts of carbon monoxide without fumes that would otherwise cause irritation and forewarning of the potentially deadly effects. Consumer products such as portable heaters, furnaces, room heaters, space heaters, charcoal grills, water heaters, and camp stoves were cited as occasional sources of the deadly gas.

From 2007 through 2008, there was an estimated average of 70 consumer-product related fatal electrocutions per year. Products associated with fatal electrocutions between 2002 and 2009 have included antenna, boat lifts, electric fence, extension cords, hand tools, holiday lighting, household wiring, ladders, appliances, lawn and garden equipment, pools, hot tubs, and whirlpools.

From 2012 to 2014, there were an estimated average of 2,220 fire deaths. Cooking equipment was cited as the source of the largest percentage of fires with an average of 156,900 such fires annually. The total number of deaths attributed to cooking equipment fires on an annual basis was 180, or 7.9 percent. Many of the losses were associated with range and oven fires. A fire suppression or sprinkler system that fails to function properly or is not installed properly may contribute to injuries, death or loss of property in a fire scenario. Following cooking equipment in the total number of residential fires is heating and cooling equipment. However, more deaths, at 9.3 percent, resulted from fires induced by such equipment. Other fire sources included microwave ovens, audio/visual or AV equipment, clothes dryers, dishwashers, washing machines, refrigerators and freezers. More recent product-based fire sources that have made the news have included e-cigarettes, laptop batteries, cell phone batteries, phone charges, golf-cart batteries, and hoverboards. Oftentimes, a fire can be linked to a product during a cause and origin investigation by the discovery of a v-pattern coming from the base of a product, such as a refrigerator. Indiana and many other states recognize that although a product may be destroyed in a fire making a defect analysis impossible, through the use of circumstantial evidence ruling out other causes, enough evidence may exist to allow a jury to find the product was unreasonably dangerous and defective causing the fire.

In winter months, electric space heaters are often discovered to be the source of ignition whether through placement too close to combustibles or through a defect in the heater itself. The National Fire Protection Association (“NFPA”) estimated that between 2006 and 2010, approximately twenty-seven percent of fires in space heaters were caused by heaters that were placed too close to combustibles. With this significant a finding, the CPSC has been studying the use of proximity detector circuits for portable electric radiant heaters. Such a circuit could detect combustible objects, thereby resulting in a significant reduction in deaths, injuries and property loss. One heater available to consumers incorporates a proximity detector using IR-emitting diodes to sense objects, as well as a semiconductor sensor to detect them. Thermopiles have also been studied to detect objects using the heater’s own IR radiation. There are advantages and disadvantages to either approach. However, the end goal is the same, which is to reduce the number of fires and deaths of a known risk, just as an airbag in a vehicle reduces the number and severity of injuries and death in vehicles that are at a known risk of impact with other vehicles, semis and objects.

Fireworks are a controversial product in that they carry significant risks to users, although many are marked as being safe enough for children, like sparklers. However, even sparklers, when manufactured in a certain manner, may pose a risk to the individual lighting them or the intended user. In 2015 Yo-Yo sparklers injured a number of persons trying to safely light them, burning ferociously and causing second and third degree burns. In 2016, reloadable aerial devices and shells caused fatalities. On average, there were 7.1 firework-related deaths between 2001 and 2016. In 2017, an Indiana resident died in Henderson, Kentucky when he was struck by a firework that went off prematurely, striking him in the chest and causing death by blunt force trauma. Typically aerial shells have long fuses, allowing the user to move away from the scene with time to spare, but it is possible for a shortened fuse or influx of sparks to result in a shorter escape time.

Unfortunately, common recreational products such as pools and spas may pose an unexpected risk of drowning through circulation or suction entrapment of hair, swimsuits or body parts, especially in infants and children. Between 2012 and 2016, 17 persons were victims of circulation entrapment with 2 fatalities. Although many advances have been made to keep circulation and entrapment drownings from occurring, they still occur and one is too many.

Although most everyone understands the danger of gas cans, children do not always appreciate the risk. Much progress has been made to anticipate this known risk through the children’s gasoline burn prevention act of 2008. Although frustrating to consumers, flame arrestors are a powerful flame and burn mitigation device that can prevent or minimize the risk of explosion and serious burns.

Power tools are becoming more and more consumer friendly and powerful. Like other products, many advances have been made in guarding against the known risks of severe cuts and amputation. Proper guards are incorporated on many tools, but sometimes the preventative measures may not go far enough, allowing a user to suffer severe and life altering wounds or amputation.

With the advent of lightweight flat televisions that can be moved by children, tip-over injuries and fatalities have been on the rise. Such incidents can also happen with household furniture, as children inevitably climb. Between 2000 and 2010, there were 43,400 emergency room visits together with 293 fatalities. The majority involved children under the age of 18. Forty-four percent of falling items were televisions with or without furniture, fifty-two percent of falling items were furniture only, and four percent of injuries were caused by appliances falling. The majority of fatalities involved televisions, followed by chests, bureaus and dressers together accounting for thirty-one percent of fatalities. Appliances cause nine percent of the fatalities caused by household furnishings falling. Industry groups and trade associations have worked on improving the number of tip-over incidents in recent years, but too often not enough thought goes into the end-product’s intended use and placement, creating an increased risk of injury.

Sadly, the last product liability category we explore relate to injuries and deaths among children younger than five. The data is staggering. Between 2013 and 2015, estimated emergency room visits for injuries and deaths among children younger than age five associated with nursery products averaged 70,000. Cribs and mattresses out-paced all nursery products in 2015 with 12,100 incidents. Infant carriers, excluding automobile incidents, accounted for 9,500 of these incidents. Strollers or baby carriages accounted for 11,000 incidents of injury or death. The other most significant contributor was high chairs with 11,100 incidents. Other nursery products associated with injuries and deaths among children younger than five included changing tables, baby bouncer seats, baby walkers, baby jumpers, baby exercisers, playpens, baby gates, and portable baby swings.

The majority of crib and mattress fatalities were associated with a cluttered sleep environment. However, other causes appear to be related to the design of the product itself, including wedging entrapments between cushions and the crib frame. Unfortunately, too often the controllable placement of cords, strings or plastic bags in proximity to the crib can be the cause of fatalities. Although many of the fatalities were not caused by the product’s failure, nursery product recalls are one of the most common seen on the CPSC’s website.

Slip and Fall

The National Floor Safety Institute (“NFSI”) provides some useful statistics relating to slips, trips, and falls. The NFSI even recognizes slip, trip and fall incidents could be intertwined with product liability by encouraging the injured to report the details of their incident to the CPSC. Reportedly, falls account for over 8 million hospital emergency department visits, which is the leading cause of visits at over twenty-one percent. Of these falls, slip and falls represent twelve percent of the total falls, or roughly one million visits. Fractures occur in five percent of all people who fall. A significant number of slip and fall victims lose days from work, resulting in lost wages and commissions. The CPSC reports that floors and flooring materials directly cause or contribute to over 2 million fall injuries each year. Hip fractures, especially among the elderly, are caused by falls. In 2005, the CDC reported that 15,000 people over the age of 65 died as a result of a fall. For persons over 85 years of age, falls are the leading cause of injury-related death. Significantly, twenty-two percent of slip and fall incidents resulted in more than 31 days away from work according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fatal falls occur most often in the workplace during construction, mining and maintenance activities. And, in the trucking industry, slips and falls are cited as the leading cause of compensable injury.

Wrongful Death

The CDC reported unintentional injury (accidents) as the third leading cause of death in the United States in 2023. Accidents were the leading cause of death for persons between the ages of 1 and 44, and the second leading cause of death for persons between the ages of 45 and 54. There were 222,698 injury-related deaths in the United States. Among causes, falls and motor vehicle injuries were both in the top 3, accounting for 40.5% of all accidental injuries causing death, with over 90,000 people killed. Poisoning was the number one cause of accidental deaths, accounting for 45% of all accidental deaths, with over 100,000 people killed. Suffocation, drowning, and fire/burn were in the top 10. Motor vehicle injuries were the leading cause of death for persons between the ages of 5 and 24. Drowning was the leading cause of death for persons between the ages of 1 and 4.

Preventable injuries accounted for over 3.5 million years of potential life lost.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) reported more than 6.1 million motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2023, causing 40,901 deaths and injuries to 2,442,581 people. A crash with another motor vehicle in transport was the most common first harmful event for crashes involving both fatalities and injuries. Thirty percent (30%) of all fatal traffic crashes involved alcohol-impaired driving. Late Saturday evenings and early Sunday mornings were the deadliest time periods for crashes in the U.S.

The IU Public Policy Institute reported 928 deaths and injuries to 47,552 people from Indiana motor vehicle accidents in 2023. There were a total of 198,247 traffic crashes, with passenger vehicles (passenger cars, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, and vans) accounting for 94% of the vehicles involved in the crashes. Crashes in Indiana were most common on weekdays around rush hour. Hit-and-run crashes were the most common collision type, comprising 14% of all crashes. Speed-related crashes were the second most common type, comprising 7% of crashes. The IU Public Policy Institute identified driver-related factors as the primary factor in 84% of all crashes and 94% of fatal crashes, with unsafe driver actions being the primary driver-related factor. Among unsafe driver actions, failure to yield the right of way and following too closely were the most listed primary factors in all vehicle crashes, while failure to yield the right of way and unsafe speed were the most listed primary factors in fatal vehicle crashes in Indiana.

The NHTSA also reported traffic safety facts for Kentucky in 2023. Kentucky had 767 fatal vehicle crashes causing 814 deaths, which equates to a fatality rate of 17.98 per 100,000 population. Drivers accounted for 55.3% of all crash-related deaths in Kentucky. The most deaths occurred in the 25-34 age group. Passenger cars and light trucks accounted for the vast majority of vehicles involved in fatal collisions, with the percentage of restrained to unrestrained occupants being basically 50-50.

Motorcycle Accidents

According to the NHTSA, there were 6,432 fatal motorcycle crashes and 79,532 motorcycle injury crashes in the United States in 2023. Over 6,300 people were killed in motorcycle crashes and over 80,000 people were injured. The most harmful events involving motorcycles were crashes with other vehicles in transport. Although motorcycles only comprised 0.9% of the vehicles involved in traffic crashes, motorcycles comprised 11% of the vehicles involved in fatal crashes. 

The IU Public Policy Institute reported 2,790 motorcycle-involved crashes in Indiana in 2023, with 141 motorcyclists killed and 2,084 individuals suffering injuries. 73.2% of motorcycle riders involved in crashes were either injured or killed, with the number of motorcyclists killed accounting for over 15% of all traffic deaths. Of those crashes in which blood alcohol-content results were recorded, 82% of motorcycle operators in single-vehicle crashes were impaired and 48% of motorcycle operators in multiple-vehicle crashes were impaired. Helmet use is generally associated with decreased occurrences of incapacitating injuries and fatalities, and that remained true in 2023, with 34% of motorcyclists not wearing a helmet suffering incapacitating injuries or death, compared to 26% of motorcyclists wearing a helmet.

Pedestrian Accidents

The NHTSA reported 7,314 pedestrians were killed and 68,244 pedestrians were injured in vehicle crashes in the United States in 2023. Pedestrians made up 3% of all people killed and injured in traffic crashes. Alcohol-impaired driving was responsible for 1,157 pedestrian deaths, comprising roughly 16% of all pedestrian deaths. Failing to yield the right of way was the number one factor contributing to pedestrian deaths, with it being a factor in over 50% of pedestrian deaths. The pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 population was 2.18. 

The IU Public Policy Institute reported 2,186 crashes involving pedestrians in Indiana in 2023. There were 134 pedestrian deaths and 2,021 pedestrians injured, including 378 incapacitating injuries. Pedestrians comprised around 14% of all traffic-related fatalities and around 8% of those suffering incapacitating injuries in Indiana vehicle crashes. Around 6% of pedestrians involved in collisions were killed and around 17% suffered incapacitating injuries. 86% of pedestrian-related crashes occurred in urban areas. Crossing the road was the most common pedestrian action in Indiana vehicle accidents. 

Bicycle Accidents

The NHTSA reported 56,244 bicycle crashes causing 1,166 bicyclist deaths and 49,989 bicyclist injuries in the United States in 2023. Bicyclists made up  2-3% of all persons killed in crashes. Roughly 15% of bicyclists injured in bicycle crashes suffered incapacitating injuries. Among the factors contributing to fatal bicycle crashes, failure to yield the right of way was identified the most, in 31% of cases, followed by not visible (11.7%), wrong-way riding (11.6%), and failure to obey traffic signals (10.1%).

According to the IU Public Policy Institute, there were 117 bicycle crashes in Indiana in 2023. Bicyclist crashes resulted in 7 bicyclist deaths and 80 bicyclist injuries, including 6 bicyclists with incapacitating injuries. Bicyclists accounted for 19% of non-motorists involved in collisions. Around 6% of bicyclists involved in crashes were killed and around 6% suffered incapacitating injuries. The most common bicyclist action in crashes was being on the roadway (39-40%), followed by crossing at an intersection (23-24%).  

Truck Accidents

Large trucks were involved in 5,375 fatal truck accidents and 114,552 injury crashes in the United States in 2023, according to the NHTSA. They accounted for 9.2% of all vehicles involved in fatal vehicle collisions. Combination trucks comprised 64.6% of the large trucks involved in fatal crashes. Most large truck crashes were collisions with other vehicles in transport. According to the IU Public Policy Institute, over 17,000 large trucks were involved in Indiana motor vehicle crashes. Large trucks were involved in around 5% of all vehicle crashes in Indiana in 2023.