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What Is a Catastrophic Injury in Personal Injury Cases
In a personal injury case, a catastrophic injury refers to an extremely severe injury that results in long-term or permanent disability, disfigurement, or significant reductions in a victim's quality of life.
Catastrophic injuries often occur in areas such as the brain, spine, or critical parts of the body and often require considerable and ongoing medical treatment and rehabilitation to make steps towards recovery.
Common catastrophic injuries sustained in personal injury accidents like car accidents include:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries resulting in complete or partial paralysis
- Severe burns
- Amputations
- Major disfigurements
- Loss of eyesight or hearing
- Organ damage
Due to the long-lasting mental, physical, and financial damages a catastrophic injury can cause, it's highly recommended to obtain legal representation from the personal injury attorneys at the Rodney Okano Car Accident Lawyer Law Firm, who have over 20 years of experience and can strategically navigate your catastrophic injury case to get you the settlement you're entitled to.
What Qualifies an Injury to Be Considered Catastrophic
Not all injuries legally qualify as a catastrophic injury, even some serious ones.
Under personal injury law, only injuries that cause substantial and long-lasting effects on a victim's ability to live a normal life are considered to be catastrophic injuries.
Common criteria an injury has to meet to be considered catastrophic include:
- Permanent Motor Function Loss: The permanent loss of use of a specific body part or system, typically the legs or arms.
- Cognitive Impairment: Severe brain trauma, which results in long-term or permanent damage to mental functions such as memory, reasoning, speech, or emotional control.
- Severe Disfigurement: Noticable and permanent scarring or physical deformity, typically caused by burns or facial injuries.
- Long Term Medical Care: Catastrophic injuries often require weekly or daily medical care for months or even years; additionally, some catastrophic injuries may require home modifications or assistive devices like a wheelchair.
While the average personal injury victim suffers minor or serious injuries that are recoverable, you should always consult with a personal injury lawyer to learn if your injuries may be catastrophic, as you could be entitled to a larger settlement than if you were to file a basic personal injury claim.
Common Types of Catastrophic Injuries
Catastrophic injuries include many different types of injuries, all located in various parts of the body, and causing different effects; however, they all have in common the fact that they cause permanent changes to a person's ability to work, function, and live as they did before the accident.
Understanding some of the common types of catastrophic injuries can help identify whether an injury is catastrophic or not.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
A traumatic brain injury refers to the damage the brain suffers when it sustains a violent blow or jolt, often seen in an automobile accident or a slip and fall.
Severe traumatic brain injuries that result in permanent cognitive issues, including memory loss, personality changes, or a vegetative state, are considered to be catastrophic injuries.
Spinal Cord Injury
Depending on the location and severity, spinal cord injuries such as spinal fractures could result in partial or complete paraplegia, forever changing the way a person lives, often binding them to medical assistance devices such as a wheelchair.
Severe Burns
Extensive burns that affect a significant part of the body or high-degree burns, such as third or fourth-degree burns that penetrate deep into the skin or bone, can cause severe scarring, disfigurement, and emotional distress.
However, while burns pose a difficult recovery process, they often fall into a gray area that an insurance company or court may not consider catastrophic without proper evidence documenting the lasting effect, so it's important to get one of our personal injury attorneys to handle this for you.
Amputations
Amputations to any part of the body, either due to surgical necessity or trauma, are considered catastrophic as they result in permanent effects on one's mobility and independence.
Even with prosthetics, amputees often require assistance to perform basic life tasks.
Organ Damage
Not all catastrophic injuries are external, as internal injuries that result in the loss or dysfunction of vital organs, such as the liver, lungs, stomach, kidneys, or heart, could be catastrophic due to the long-term or even fatal effects they could cause.
Vision or Hearing Loss
The loss of one's vision or hearing at a level that is complete and irreversible can be a catastrophic injury, as it will significantly impact one's life and employment opportunities.
How Can You Recover from a Catastrophic Injury
No doubt, recovering from a catastrophic injury is a physically and emotionally challenging experience, due to the long-term recovery timeline, mounting medical expenses, and physical and mental pain.
However, it's possible to recover from a catastrophic injury and adapt to the new way of living you have been forced to face by taking proper recovery steps.
Key ways to recover from a catastrophic injury after an accident include:
- Consistent Rehabilitation and Therapy: Focus on receiving consistent physical and mental therapy by entering catastrophic injury rehabilitation facilities that can provide physical, occupational, speech, or psychological therapy.
- Adapting to Lifestyle Changes and Assistive Devices: Understand the changes the catastrophic injury has brought to your life and overcome them by utilizing medical assistive equipment, such as wheelchairs, communication devices, or other mobility aids.
- Pursuing a Catastrophic Personal Injury Claim: Due to the long-term medical needs, changes in life, and loss of employment, a catastrophic injury can result in its crucial to obtain a free case evaluation from the Rodney Okano Car Accident Lawyer Law Firm to learn your legal options in obtaining a settlement that can adequately compensate you for years.
U.S. Catastrophic Injury Statistics
The United States' catastrophic injury statistics can provide needed insight into the frequency and costs of catastrophic injuries.
Key catastrophic injury statistics in the U.S. are:
- In the U.S., around one TBI occurs every 15 seconds, making it the most common type of catastrophic injury.
- High school and college sports result in around 120 catastrophic injuries annually.
- Cheerleading sees the largest amount of catastrophic injuries when compared to other high school and college sports, with it accounting for around 65% of female athletic injuries.
- A high-level spinal cord injury, such as high tetraplegia, has an estimated first-year cost of $1,044,000, then an $181,000 annual follow-up care cost.
- For severe TBIs, the lifetime cost of medical care often exceeds $3 million.
What Damages Can You Seek for a Catastrophic Injury Suffered in a Car Accident
Following a catastrophic injury, obtaining financial compensation is one of the top priorities in a victim's path to recovery.
Understanding the damages available to catastrophic injury victims is a good step in ensuring a fair settlement.
Victims of a catastrophic injury caused by someone else's negligence may be entitled to various economic and non-economic damages, including:
- Medical expenses (past and future)
- Lost wages (past and future)
- Loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Punitive damages (If the plaintiff's actions were extremely reckless or intentional)
The personal injury attorneys at the Rodney Okano Car Accident Lawyer Law Firm won't just obtain a settlement, but the maximum settlement. Call (702) 566-3600 today for a free consultation.
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Rodney Okano Car Accident Lawyer is a Las Vegas personal injury law firm with over 20 years of experience helping clients obtain maximum compensation following injuries from accidents such as car crashes, worksite injuries, and slips and falls. Over those years, The Rodney Okano Car Accident Lawyer Law Firm has become an experienced law firm that can ensure exceptional results for any of its clients.
