Injuries from an accident are often devastating. Unfortunately, you may develop some medical conditions afterward that will change your life permanently. Such injuries are known as “catastrophic injuries.”
Anyone who suffers a catastrophic injury should receive compensation from the individual or firm that harmed them. This piece explains your rights when you suffer these severe injuries.
Understanding a Catastrophic Injury
A catastrophic injury happens suddenly, mainly from an accident. It severely damages the body, and most hazardous injuries are permanent. It means the victim cannot recover fully.
It causes a life-changing effect on the victim.
Types of Catastrophic Injuries
Hazardous injuries include amputation, brain injuries, severe burns, loss of sight, hearing impairment, nerve damage, mesothelioma, and neurological damage. Others include spinal cord damage leading to paralysis, facial injury causing deformity, and chronic organ damage.
This list is not comprehensive. If an injury is long-lasting and severely impacts your work ability and quality of life, it is catastrophic.
Typical Causes of Catastrophic Injuries
There are numerous potential causes of catastrophic injuries. However, the most typical reasons include the following:
- Defective products
- Workplace accidents
- Motor vehicle crashes
- Falls
- Medical malpractice and birth injuries
Despite the rareness of hazardous injuries, they affect thousands yearly. For instance, an average of 17,810 persons develop spinal cord injuries annually—and that is just a fragment of catastrophic injuries!
The Impact of Catastrophic Injuries on Your Rights
Every victim of a catastrophic injury has the right to demand compensation for their losses from the individual or company responsible for their harm.
Hazardous injuries affect people’s cases differently. They influence how you get compensation for motor vehicle crashes in no-fault jurisdictions and how they can define your payment under a personal injury claim.
The Nexus Between Catastrophic Injury and No-Fault Accident Issues
If you are a resident in a state operating a no-fault rule, you cannot file an injury lawsuit after numerous car crashes, even if another motorist was at fault for the accident. In such states, your insurer caters to damages under your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) if you suffer more minor injuries, not minding who was guilty of the mishap.
However, no-fault states generally disallow filing an injury claim against the other motorist if your harm crosses the “serious or severe” threshold. Catastrophic injuries are most often in the form of severe injuries that allow you to proceed with a civil suit against the motorist who injured you.
Catastrophic Injuries and Compensation
If someone hurts you through their wrongdoing or recklessness, they are supposed to “make you whole” for your losses by paying your injury claim. You can either opt for a lawsuit or settle for an out-of-court settlement. Either way, the individual or company should duly compensate you for all your damages.
Catastrophic injuries cause severe and more devastating damage. Loss of wages for a lifetime, expensive medical bills, recurrent medical expenses, suffering, and pain are examples of losses you may suffer. You should collect a vast amount for the injury because you have suffered more significant losses.
The injuries may also affect your relationships with loved ones and your ability to explore life. Some experience mental health issues like personality changes, anxiety, or depression. They should also compensate you for these psychological losses.
Hire an experienced and reputable attorney to represent you in this case because there is usually a lot of money at stake.
Statute of Limitations for Catastrophic Injury Matters
You have a timeline to file your injury claims. You must file the claim in the statute of limitations of your residence. Generally, there is no extended deadline for hazardous and legal injury claims. Hence, you must act before the deadline to get your due compensation.
In many instances, you must file your claim between two to four years after the incident. Since the deadline is the same nationwide, consult your lawyer on the best time to take action.
Compensation for a Hazardous Injury
Compensation for a hazardous injury should cover the following losses:
- Emotional pain from the crash and the resultant effect
- Lost wages, including what you would have earned in your life but can no longer make due to the devastating effect of the injury
- Suffering and pain, including constant discomfort from the injury
- Medical expenses covering ongoing treatment you will need for permanent injuries
“The compensation you seek should be sufficient to cover the loss of quality of life you suffered,” says Walter Clark Legal Group attorney Walter T. Clark. “A lawyer can help you also assess any further damages related to lost relationships and actual medical bills from the injuries.”
In some instances, if the defendant’s action surpassed mere negligence and was careless about your safety, they may also suffer punitive damages. Hire an experienced catastrophic injury attorney to help get the deserved compensation.
