Understanding Catastrophic Personal Injury Claims
Injuries can result from any kind of accident. While minor injuries have short-term consequences, long-term injuries can be catastrophic. Competent lawyers at Crowson Law Group can help you pursue justice and recover damages for catastrophic injuries.
Most people know that they should be compensated for losses resulting from catastrophic injuries but they don’t understand the recovery process. Fortunately, personal injury attorneys, like the ones at Crowson Law Group ensure their clients receive the justice they deserve.
Defining Catastrophic Injury
From a legal standpoint, catastrophic injuries attract a higher compensation than the other injury claims. Also, they involve a threshold than other injury cases, a basic requirement for no-fault auto insurance states or states with personal injury laws.
Medically speaking, catastrophic injuries involve:
- Lifelong or specialized care;
- Permanent disability;
- Severe disfigurement, deformation or serious scars;
- Inability to work;
Victims of catastrophic injuries attract higher awads than other injury claims because more suffering and spending. For instance, the compensation caters for medical treatment, lost earnings, and other financial losses.
Examples of catastrophic injuries can include:
- Severe brain damage that results in comatose;
- Spinal damage that interferes with the victim’s walking;
- Amputations of limbs;
- Injuries to critical body organs like kidney;
- Injuries that negatively impact sexual functions, and
- Facial scars, among others.
These type of injuries can occur at home or at work. However workplace catastrophic workplace injuries are the hardest to resolve. The following conditions must be met to sustain a workplace catastrophic injury claim.
- A working relationship between an employer and employee must exist;
- The employee must have been authorized by the employer to perform the task that caused injuries;
- The employee must demonstrate that they were owed a duty of care by the employer;
- Breach of the duty of care;
- The plaintiff suffered a quantifiable loss;
- The loss was caused by the negligence of the defendant.
Other common cases of catastrophic injuries can result from:
- Defective makeup product;
- Accidents that cause paralysis;
- Medical error, and more.
Damages for Catastrophic Injuries
A good personal injury lawyer should know how to calculate the damages for catastrophic injury awards. Incurred and future medical expenses should form the biggest share because the treatment process ends when you recover fully.
The award for your medical costs should also include the money spent on acquiring assistive gadgets, such as wheelchairs or crutches, and physical therapy, specialized.home care, and nursing assistance. Besides compensation for medical costs, you can recover the following damages:
- Compensation for diminished quality of life;
- Foregone employment benefits;
- Lost opportunity to earn;
- Loss of consortium;
- Mental anguish damages.
Damages for mental anguish or emotional distress are hard to quantify and define financial terms. That said, it’s important to hire a personal injury attorney who has previously handled catastrophic injuy claims successfully. The qualities of a good personal injury attorney can include:
- Good communication skills;
- High success rate in previous cases;
- A catastrophic injury specialist;
- Empathetic with clients;
- Good reputation, and more.
If you or a loved one has suffered a catastrophic injury, you’re entitled to recover damages. For the best outcome, consult with a reputable catastrophic injury attorney.
