Table of Contents

WHAT AN AMPUTATION CLAIM HAS TO PAY FOR

An amputation claim has to pay for a lifetime of prosthetics, medical care and lost work. Prosthetic limbs wear out. Hanger Clinic, a national prosthetics provider, says a lower-leg prosthesis can last two to five years, depending on use. A study for the VA projected average five-year prosthetic and assistive-device costs after one lower-limb amputation at $82,251 for Vietnam veterans and $228,665 for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, who used more devices and more advanced ones.

Costs we build into a claim:

• Surgery, revision surgeries and wound care
• Prosthetic limbs, fittings, sockets and replacements over a lifetime
• Physical and occupational therapy
• Home and vehicle modifications
• Treatment for phantom limb pain, depression and anxiety
• Lost income, and lost earning capacity if you can’t return to the same work
• Pain, suffering and the loss of activities you used to do

About 2.3 million people in the U.S. were living with limb loss in 2019, a study published in 2024 estimated. Most limb loss comes from vascular disease and diabetes. Among traumatic amputations, vehicle crashes and industrial accidents are the leading causes, according to the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

WHERE AMPUTATION INJURIES HAPPEN IN SAN DIEGO

In San Diego, the main risks are freeway crashes, truck traffic and industrial work.

Otay Mesa and the SR-905 corridor. The Otay Mesa Port of Entry is the largest commercial port of entry in California. It cleared 948,630 trucks in 2019, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics figures reported by Transport Topics. Those trucks use SR-905, which connects the border at Otay Mesa to I-805 and I-5. Around the port, Otay Mesa has more than 23 million square feet of industrial space, full of warehouses, loading docks, forklifts and conveyor lines. Crush injuries and amputations here can involve a truck driver, a warehouse operator, an equipment maker or a property owner. See our San Diego truck accident page.

The Barrio Logan shipyards. The shipyards along the bay in Barrio Logan employ welders, shipfitters and other trades who work around heavy steel and powered machinery. Nationally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 58% of work-related amputations in 2018 involved machinery. Shipyard injuries follow different rules from most California job injuries. Many shipyard workers are covered by the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act instead of or alongside California workers’ comp, and work aboard ships afloat or in dry docks falls under federal OSHA instead of Cal/OSHA. If you were hurt at a shipyard, tell us right away so we can sort out which system applies.

San Diego freeways. In July 2025, a motorcycle passenger suffered a below-the-knee amputation after a crash on northbound I-805 between H Street and Bonita Road, Stars and Stripes reported. See our San Diego motorcycle accident page.

HURT AT WORK? WORKERS’ COMP MAY NOT BE THE WHOLE CASE

If you lost a limb on the job, workers’ compensation usually covers medical care and part of your wages. For most workers it is also the only claim you can bring against your own employer (California Labor Code section 3602).

You may still have a full injury claim against someone else. Labor Code section 3852 preserves your right to sue “any person other than the employer.” In amputation cases that can mean:

• The manufacturer of a machine with a missing or defective guard
• Another subcontractor on a construction site, or in some cases a general contractor or property owner that controlled the work in a way that caused the injury
• A driver who hit you while you were working on or near a road

A third-party claim can cover losses workers’ comp doesn’t, including pain and suffering and your full lost earnings.

California also has a narrow exception aimed at one common cause of hand and finger amputations. Under Labor Code section 4558, a worker can sue the employer directly when the injury was caused by the employer’s “knowing removal of, or knowing failure to install, a point of operation guard on a power press,” if the employer specifically authorized that removal or failure knowing serious injury was probable. A power press is a machine that forms material using a die. If your hand or fingers were caught in one and the guard was off, tell us.

See our San Diego workers’ compensation and construction accident pages for more on work injuries.

THE 8-HOUR REPORT YOUR EMPLOYER HAS TO FILE

When a worker suffers an amputation, California treats it as a “serious injury.” Labor Code section 6302 lists “amputation” by name. The employer must report it to Cal/OSHA within 8 hours of when it knew, or should have known, about the injury (Title 8, California Code of Regulations, section 342). Cal/OSHA can then inspect the site and issue citations.

That report and any inspection file are some of the strongest evidence in a workplace amputation case. They show what the employer told the state, when, and what inspectors found. We request them early.

Two limits on this evidence:

• Federal OSHA’s public Severe Injury Reports leave out most California workplaces. California runs its own State Plan, and OSHA says the reports “do not include incidents in states covered by OSHA-approved State Plans.” For most California jobs, the records come from Cal/OSHA. Work aboard ships afloat or in dry docks, on secured military bases and at some federal sites falls under federal OSHA instead.
• Crashes on public roads are excluded. The serious-injury definition does not cover an injury “caused by an accident on a public street or highway, unless the accident occurred in a construction zone.” If you were driving for work when the crash happened, the evidence comes from the police report, the vehicles and witnesses instead.

CRASHES INVOLVING GOVERNMENT VEHICLES OR ROADS

If a city bus, a county vehicle or a dangerous road condition played a part, the deadline is much shorter than the usual two years. A claim against a California public entity usually has to be presented within six months (Government Code section 911.2). One of our results below came from a case like this. See our page on government liability claims.

AMPUTATIONS AFTER MEDICAL CARE

Some amputations follow a medical error, such as an infection or a blood vessel injury that was not caught in time. Gomez Trial Attorneys handles these claims too. They follow different rules. The deadline is generally three years from the injury or one year from when you discovered it (or should have), whichever comes first (Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5), and California limits some damages in these cases. If the hospital is public, such as UC San Diego Health or a healthcare-district hospital, a written government claim is usually due within six months. Call us early if you think a doctor or hospital is responsible.

SELECTED CASE RESULTS

Gomez Trial Attorneys has recovered more than $1 billion for clients over 20 years. Results include:

• $3,230,000 for a client struck in her vehicle at an intersection where the stop sign had been removed. She broke her pelvis and her femur. The case was resolved against both the other driver and the government agency responsible for the missing sign.
• $5,800,000 for a passenger injured in a rollover, where the insurance policy limits were $2.3 million

Results depend on the facts of each case. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

More results are on our case results page, and more on severe injuries is on our catastrophic injury page.

WHAT TO DO AFTER AN AMPUTATION INJURY

1. Get copies of the trauma center records, including the operative report. San Diego’s Level I trauma centers include Scripps Mercy, Scripps La Jolla and UC San Diego Health in Hillcrest, with Rady Children’s as the pediatric Level I center.
2. If it happened at work, report it to your employer in writing and keep a copy.
3. Photograph the machine, vehicle or site, or ask someone to do it for you.
4. Write down witnesses’ names and phone numbers.
5. Don’t give a recorded statement to another party’s insurance company before talking to a lawyer.
6. Keep every bill, prescription and mileage log for medical visits.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

CAN I SUE MY EMPLOYER FOR AN AMPUTATION AT WORK?

Usually not directly, because workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against an employer in California. There are exceptions, including an employer that specifically authorized removing a power press guard (Labor Code section 4558) or an employer with no workers’ compensation insurance (Labor Code section 3706). You can often sue a third party, such as a machine manufacturer.

HOW MUCH IS AN AMPUTATION CASE WORTH?

It depends on the limb, your age, your work and who was at fault. Lifetime prosthetic and medical costs can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a claim should account for lost earning capacity and pain and suffering too. We can’t give you a number before reviewing the facts.

WHO PAYS FOR MY PROSTHETIC LIMB?

In the short term, health insurance or workers’ comp often pays. In an injury claim, we include the cost of every future prosthesis and replacement, because a prosthesis may last only two to five years.

I WAS HURT AT A SHIPYARD. DOES CALIFORNIA WORKERS’ COMP APPLY?

Possibly, but the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act may also or instead apply, and it has its own benefits and deadlines. Call us so we can find out which system covers your injury.

WHAT DOES IT COST TO HIRE GOMEZ TRIAL ATTORNEYS?

Nothing up front. We work on contingency, so our fee comes from what we recover, and there is no attorney’s fee unless we win.

TALK TO A SAN DIEGO AMPUTATION INJURY LAWYER

Call 833-GET-GOMEZ or contact us online for a free case review. Our San Diego office is at 755 Front Street, San Diego, CA 92101. Hablamos español.