Catastrophic Personal
Personal injury cases can involve all kinds of accidents, injuries, and repercussions for victims and their families. This is why many Attorneys practicing Personal Injury law choose to differentiate the more severe cases from the others. Hence the term “catastrophic” injuries.
What are Catastrophic Injuries?
There is no hard and fast definition or exhaustive list of catastrophic injuries. They are generally the types of injuries that severely affect the victim and their families long-term. Examples (non-exhaustive) of damages that can be classified as catastrophic include:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Severe burns
- Bone fractures/orthopedic injuries
- Extreme nerve or ligament injuries
- Amputation/loss of limb
- Paraplegia/quadriplegia
- Spinal cord injury/paralysis
- Loss of use of one or more limbs or one of the senses
What makes an injury catastrophic?
Our team knows that catastrophic injuries can profoundly disrupt the lives of victims and their families. “Serious and catastrophic injuries” are put in a category of their own due to the nature and extent of the harm suffered by victims and their relatives, as well as a high potential for complications and an increased need for total financial compensation.
Catastrophic injury cases are unique because of the damage and impact on families. Devastating injuries, by their very nature, cause serious physical harm. These severe injuries have a more significant potential for lasting or permanent repercussions, whether slow and painful healings, endless deficits, or life-changing impairments and disabilities. Catastrophic injuries result in massive physical, financial, and emotional loss. In addition to economic damages, serious injuries have a more tremendous potential for significant losses resulting from the following:
- Medical assistance, including emergency treatment, surgery, multiple procedures,
- Intensive/patient or rehabilitation, drugs, and more.
- Loss of quality or enjoyment of life
- Loss of emotional support, companionship, and consortium.
- Long-term or lifelong repercussions
Catastrophically injured victims generally suffer damage that has long or even permanent consequences. Typically, this recurrent or persistent damage results from:
- Partial or total temporary incapacity;
- Loss of sensory or bodily functions (i.e., loss of vision/hearing) ;
- Permanent disfigurement (i.e., scarring, amputation, facial injury); and/or,
- Physical or Cognitive Deficits (Mental/Emotional Problems, compromised mobility, ability to perform activities of daily living affected for the long-term).
A thorough evaluation of the nature of these injuries and their long-term or permanent impact on victims is fundamental for a precise assessment of damages.
Challenges of a Catastrophic Injury Claim
Severely injured victims typically face more challenges than those with less severe injuries. Persons making claims for catastrophic injuries may also face more significant challenges in their RECOVERY and seeking justice. Victims of a devastating injury also usually face a higher need for compensation that accounts for substantial monetary challenges in the past and the future. Other legal complexities may arise in the catastrophic injury case.
Houston Injury Lawyers PLLC
The lawyers at Houston Injury Lawyers, PLLC, can help you navigate this issue and answer any questions that you may have. If you would like to speak to someone about your situation or for a free and confidential consultation, call our office at (713) 366-HURT (4878) today or visit us online at www.houinjurylawyers.com.
