Catastrophic Internal Organ Injury & Failure Lawsuits
Internal organ injuries are often invisible at first and devastating when missed. Blunt-force trauma, penetrating wounds, surgical mistakes, infections, and toxic exposures can lead to bleeding, shock, sepsis, and multi-organ failure. In the first hours and days, you’re asked to make complex medical and insurance decisions while trying to heal. Our role is to steady that chaos. We move quickly to preserve evidence, notify the right parties, and protect your claim so you can focus on recovery.
From day one, we assemble the right team for catastrophic cases: trauma and critical-care physicians, radiology and surgery experts, life-care planners, vocational and economic specialists, and for exposure cases – industrial hygienists and toxicologists. We build liability and damages in parallel, so nothing is left to chance.
How Much Is Your Case Worth?
Our Results
McEldrew Purtell has a proven track record of maximizing recovery for clients with catastrophic injuries.
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.
Ways We Can Help
Below are common causes and contexts for internal organ damage or failure. For each, we develop the evidence and pursue every responsible party to seek full compensation under the law.
Railroad / Public Transportation & Other High-Energy Events
Derailments and high-deceleration events can cause multi-system trauma with hidden internal injuries that deteriorate rapidly without timely care. Potentially liable parties may include carriers, maintenance contractors, component manufacturers, and third-party operators.
Birth & Neonatal Injury
Perinatal hypoxia, undiagnosed congenital anomalies, or NICU infections can cause organ injury/failure requiring surgery or long-term support. Potentially liable parties may include hospitals, obstetric and neonatal providers, and device/drug manufacturers where product defects or substandard care caused harm.
Toxic Exposures (Industrial & Environmental)
Acute or chronic exposure to solvents, heavy metals, CO, pesticides, and other toxins can damage liver, kidneys, lungs, and heart. Potentially liable parties may include chemical manufacturers, refiners, premises owners, contractors, environmental consultants, and waste transporters.
Unsafe Premises
Falls, crush events, or unsafe conditions (e.g., elevator malfunctions) can cause internal injuries; contaminated conditions can contribute to severe infections. Potentially liable parties may include property owners/managers, tenants/occupiers with control, maintenance vendors, security/safety contractors, and equipment manufacturers/installers if defects contributed.
Defective Products & Devices
Defective medical devices, contaminated products, or unsafe consumer/industrial tools can cause internal injuries or organ failure. Potentially liable parties may include manufacturers, component suppliers, designers, distributors, and retailers (design/manufacturing defect or failure-to-warn theories).
Fire, Explosions & Inhalation Injuries
Blast overpressure and burns can trigger systemic inflammatory responses and organ failure; smoke/CO/cyanide exposure injures the brain, heart, and lungs. Potentially liable parties may include property owners/managers, gas/utilities and contractors, product manufacturers (appliances, batteries), and event operators/pyrotechnic vendors.
Medical Negligence
Missed internal bleeding, delayed recognition of sepsis, anastomotic leaks, bile duct injuries, ischemic bowel, medication toxicity, and anesthesia errors can lead to organ failure. Potentially liable parties may include hospitals, surgeons, emergency physicians, anesthesiologists, nursing and home-health providers where care fell below the standard and caused harm.
Trucking & Commercial Vehicle Crashes
High-energy impacts and seat-belt/airbag forces can cause liver or splenic lacerations, bowel perforation, mesenteric tears, aortic injury, or pulmonary contusions leading to ARDS. Potentially liable parties may include the truck driver, motor carrier (hiring/training/Hours-of-Service), shipper/broker (load securement), maintenance contractors, and component manufacturers if a defect contributed.
Workplace & Industrial Incidents
Crush, penetration, or blast injuries can damage abdominal and thoracic organs; chemical leaks can trigger inhalational or systemic organ failure. Potentially liable parties may include equipment manufacturers, site GCs/subcontractors, premises owners, maintenance vendors, and safety staffing firms (third-party claims; workers’ comp may limit suits against a direct employer).
Don’t Just Take Our Word For It
Hear From Our Clients
At McEldrew Purtell, results matter and so does the way we achieve them. While our case outcomes reflect our tenacity in court and at the negotiation table, it’s the voices of our clients that truly capture who we are and why we do this work.
We represent people at the worst moments of their lives: after catastrophic injuries, workplace tragedies, and preventable losses. Through every case, we aim to deliver not just compensation but clarity, confidence, and care.
If you’re considering working with a Philadelphia trial lawyer, we invite you to read what our clients have said about their experiences with McEldrew Purtell. Their words are the most powerful testament to our values, our dedication, and our results.
Learn More
AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Images at Lancaster Country Day School: What Parents Should Know
McEldrew Purtell is actively investigating the AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse case at Lancaster County Day School. Minors were sexually exploited when classmates used artificial intelligence to turn real photos into fabricated nude images. The Lancaster Country Day School case is…
Machine Guarding Injuries: Hazards, Liability, & What Workers and Their Families Should Know
Machine guarding is one of the most basic safety controls in industry, and one of the most important. According to OSHA, if not properly guarded, moving machine parts can cause amputations, crushes, degloving injuries, burns, and blindness. Federal rules require…
Legionnaires’ Disease Linked to Preventable Water System Failures
Legionnaires’ causes potentially deadly permanent effects due to a building’s water system being allowed to become dangerous. Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks frequently trace back to preventable failures such as stagnant water, poor temperature control, weak disinfectant levels, dirty cooling towers, and…
Sepsis and Serious Infections Linked to Product Defect: Contaminated Reusable Scopes
In a number of occurrences, people have gone in for routine or necessary scope procedures and come out with severe infections, repeat hospitalizations, IV antibiotics, and in some cases, death. The danger is not limited to one brand or one…
McEldrew Purtell and Dan Purtell Named Finalists in 2026 Pennsylvania Legal Awards
McEldrew Purtell is proud to announce that the firm has been named a finalist for Law Firm of the Year and Dan Purtell has been named a finalist for Managing Partner of the Year in the 2026 Pennsylvania Legal Awards…
Insulin Pump / CGM Failures: Over-Delivery, Under-Delivery, and Severe Outcomes
A defective or malfunctioning insulin pump does not just create inconvenience. It can lead to under-delivery or interruption of insulin, dangerous hyperglycemia, and emergency care. FDA reports on recent corrections describe hundreds of adverse events and dozens of injuries tied…
FAQs
Get answers to commonly asked questions regarding internal organ damage / failure and learn how we can help with your case.
What qualifies as a “catastrophic” internal organ injury?
Injuries that permanently impair organ function (e.g., dialysis-level kidney failure, chronic liver disease after laceration/ischemia), require major surgery (resection, transplant, ostomy), or cause lasting respiratory or cardiovascular compromise.
I felt “fine” after the crash but worsened later, do I still have a case?
Often, yes. Internal injuries can be delayed or initially subtle. If negligence caused the harm and medical proof links the deterioration to the incident, you may have a viable claim.
How is the value of an organ injury case calculated?
By linking liability to lifelong needs—surgeries, dialysis/transplant evaluation, ICU admissions, rehospitalizations, medications, therapy, home modifications, lost earning capacity, and non-economic harms. Every case is fact-specific.
Is sepsis after surgery or a leak always malpractice?
Not automatically. We investigate whether standards of care were met, including timely recognition of infection, appropriate imaging/labs, antibiotics, and re-operation when indicated.
What are common internal organ injuries?
- Abdominal solid organs: liver and spleen lacerations/hematomas, pancreatic injury
- Hollow viscus/mesentery: bowel perforation, mesenteric tears, ischemic bowel
- Thoracic organs: pulmonary contusion, pneumothorax/hemothorax, cardiac contusion, aortic injury
- Renal/urinary: renal laceration, acute kidney injury leading to dialysis
- Hepatobiliary: bile duct transection/stricture, cholangitis, liver failure
- Systemic: sepsis, ARDS, DIC, multi-organ failure
What type of damages could I pursue?
Medical expenses (past/future), rehabilitation and long-term care, prosthetics/medical equipment, home/vehicle modifications, lost wages and earning capacity, loss of household services, and pain, suffering, disfigurement, and loss of life’s pleasures. Where the facts support it, we evaluate punitive damages early.
