What is Considered a Catastrophic Injury?

What is a catastrophic injury?

According to the American Medical Association, a catastrophic or life changing injury is a type of severe injury that causes damage to the spine, spinal cord, or brain. These permanent injuries impact a person in most every aspect of their lives.

There are essentially two components that make a severe injury catastrophic: 1) the injury is debilitating, and 2) there is no recovery for the survivor.

The harm caused by catastrophic injuries can also affect the loved ones of the survivor. These injuries usually involve a strong support network during the recovery and rehabilitation stages. This often means that the lives of the injured person’s family are turned upside down as they struggle to care for their loved one. Many times, this causes additional financial and emotional damages that insurance companies often ignore when making settlement offers.

The catastrophic injury attorneys here at Fisher Stark, P.A. do not ignore the family’s harms and losses as they are as real as the losses sustained by the loved one who is catastrophically injured.

Spinal Cord Injuries

Additionally, some catastrophic injuries are harder to detect than others. If someone comes out of an event or crash with a spinal cord injury and loses their ability to walk, they are clearly disabled. If they have a head injury, they may appear normal for a period, but have lasting disabilities like memory loss or the inability to concentrate.

Although some disabilities may not affect a person’s physical mobility, they can still be life altering, causing a loss of mental abilities, personality changes and often accelerate the normal aging process.

What damages may be recovered for a catastrophic injury?

In a catastrophic injury case, the money verdict for the injured party is broken into many categories. Let’s discuss just two of them. The first category is compensatory damages which are intended to compensate the victim for the financial costs that they have experienced and will continue to experience for the rest of their lives.

A catastrophic injury means a lifetime of care and expenses. Such an injury and the loss can easily exceed $15,000,000.00 which can ruin someone financially. With medical bills, medication, physical therapy, rehabilitation, lost wages and home remodeling to accommodate special needs, it is easy to see how the expenses add up quickly.

The second category included in a verdict includes noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering, permanent disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and loss of consortium of their spouse.

These noneconomic damages are much more valuable than just the costs of the medical bills. The human losses are the greatest losses and the most valuable. A life is so much more valuable the money that goes to pay the doctors and other health care professionals who provide care and treatment.

Catastrophic injuries can happen anywhere to anyone

As experienced courtroom lawyers, we have discovered that catastrophic injury claims may prevent anyone from being able to work, create ongoing medical needs,run up expenses and sometimes even require around the clock care.

If you or someone you love has a catastrophic injury, you should consult an attorney experienced in handling such cases. Here at Fisher Stark P.A. we have represented catastrophically injured victims resulting from auto crashes, assaults, defective products, dangerous premises, brain injuries from falls and being struck by foreign objects.

We invite you to call our attorneys today at 828-505-4300 or email us to request a free, no-charge consultation to discuss your legal options and get the information you need.