Long-Term Costs of Catastrophic Injury
If you or someone you love has sustained a severe or catastrophic injury in an accident, planning for the future can be overwhelming. As you embark on the journey of seeking justice and fair financial compensation for your catastrophic injury in a personal injury lawsuit, however, it is crucial to consider the long-term costs of your injury so that you can pursue a fair amount.
What Is a Catastrophic Injury?
A catastrophic injury describes one that will have a long-term or permanent impact on the victim’s life, including daily quality of life and the ability to earn a living. Catastrophic injuries often result in expensive medical costs, significant pain and suffering, and a lifetime of lost wages. Examples include spinal cord injuries with paralysis, traumatic brain injuries, multiple bone fractures, amputations and internal injuries.
After a Catastrophic Injury
Get Legal Help to Secure Compensation
Medical Costs
Medical care can be a significant expense for someone living with a catastrophic injury. These injuries often require a long-term treatment plan, large medical teams and future foreseeable medical needs.
Common types of medical care include:
- Emergency services
- Ambulance transport
- Time spent in the ICU
- Doctor’s appointments
- Specialists or ongoing specialized care
- MRIs, CT scans and x-rays
- Surgeries and other treatments
- Long-term rehabilitation
- Physical and occupational therapies
- Prescription medications
- Psychological support
The medical care alone for a catastrophic injury could reach into the millions of dollars over an individual’s lifetime. A high tetraplegia spinal cord injury, for example, is estimated to cost over $6 million in lifetime health care costs for an individual who is 25 years old at the time of injury, according to the Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center.
Disability Accommodations
If a catastrophic injury results in permanent disability for the patient, this can compound the costs further. A disability comes with its own costs, such as:
- Adaptive care
- Home and vehicle modifications
- Medical devices
- Mobility aids
- Live-in care
- Nursing aides or attendants
- Around-the-clock care
It may take a lot of time and treatments for an individual to relearn daily living skills, regain lost strength or mobility, or otherwise reach his or her point of maximum medical improvement with a catastrophic injury.
Lost Wages
Catastrophic injuries by definition interfere with an individual’s ability to earn gainful employment (42 U.S. Code § 3796b). The total value of an individual’s lost wages will depend on his or her age, what he or she was earning prior to the accident, and whether the person can return to work at partial capacity or not at all. Lost wages can also include lost employment opportunities, retirement contributions, promotions and benefits.
Personal Costs (Pain and Suffering)
The value of a catastrophic injury claim in California cannot be determined without taking personal costs into consideration. Non-economic damages, also known as pain and suffering, can be awarded to a catastrophic injury survivor for the intangible impacts the injury has had on his or her life.
This can include:
- Physical pain (acute and chronic)
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Diminished quality of life
- Loss of independence
- Permanent disability or disfigurement
- Depression or anxiety
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Loss of consortium
Calculating the long-term costs of your catastrophic injury is an integral part of the legal claims process if you wish to hold someone fully accountable for your losses. Get help determining the value of your claim when you contact Rose, Klein & Marias, LLP.