- What is Considered a Catastrophic Injury?
- Types of Catastrophic Injury
- Severe Burn Injury
- How Common are Catastrophic Injuries?
- Causes of Catastrophic Injuries
- How a Personal Injury Attorney Can Help
- Damages You Can Recover in a Catastrophic Injury Claim
- Hiring an Experienced Attorney for Your Personal Injury Claim
Suffering a severe, life-changing injury can lead to a loss of income and an inability to support your family. In addition, permanent disability can derail plans and dreams for the future and lead to life-long medical bills for ongoing treatment.
If you’ve suffered a devastating injury resulting from the conduct of a negligent party, contact a catastrophic injury lawyer at the law firm of Nessler & Associates. We will help you pursue the financial compensation you deserve for your suffering and help you rebuild your life after your catastrophic injury.
What is Considered a Catastrophic Injury?
A catastrophic injury is a severe injury that results in long-term disability, disfigurement, or death. While a catastrophic injury may not always lead to permanent injuries, it can take months or years for the victim to rehabilitate and return to a normal life.
Catastrophic injuries often produce devastating emotional harm in addition to the painful physical injuries that result from the accident. Healing from such injuries may require extensive medical treatment, including surgeries, medication, and physical therapy.
Types of Catastrophic Injury
Several types of injuries can prove debilitating for an accident victim. These include:
Traumatic Brain Injury
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a head injury resulting from sudden trauma such as a fall or an intense collision. Recovering from TBI can require surgery, abstaining from demanding activities, and rehabilitation, including occupational and speech therapy.
Internal Organ Damage
Damaging internal organs in an accident can place victims in imminent danger while leaving them suffering from limiting injuries for the rest of their lives. Damage to your liver, stomach, or lungs can lead to difficulty eating and breathing and chronic fatigue.
Spinal Cord Injury
Spine injuries can involve damage to spinal column ligaments, nerves, discs, vertebrae, or the spine as a whole. Severe conditions like paraplegia and quadriplegia can result if your injury is severe enough.
Severe Burn Injury
Severe burns can affect parts of a victim’s skin, causing pain and disfigurement. However, a burn can also penetrate an injured person’s body and affect their internal organs and bones. Other than an open flame, a severe burn can result from toxic chemicals, electricity, radiation, and UV exposure.
Eye Injuries
The eyes are sensitive organs that can suffer damage from an object coming in contact with the cornea or from exposure to radiation and toxic substances. Vision loss can be temporary or permanent, but in either case, the consequences involve a complete change in how the victim operates in their daily life.
Loss of Limbs
An amputation can occur due to trauma or necessary surgery to save a patient from further complications. Amputations are catastrophic injuries with permanent consequences as the victim must find alternatives to completing simple everyday tasks.
How Common are Catastrophic Injuries?
According to CDC data from 2020, there were 200,955 fatalities from unintentional injuries in the United States. The CDC also reports that accidental injuries had a mortality rate of 61 out of every 100,000 people.
Causes of Catastrophic Injuries
Life-altering injuries can result from various circumstances in which a negligent party acts irresponsibly. Some of the most common catastrophic injury causes include:
- Motor vehicle accidents (pedestrian, motorcycle, and truck accidents)
- Medical malpractice (medication errors, surgical errors, birth injuries)
- Workplace injuries (lifting heavy objects, joint wear, and tear)
- Defective Products (faulty appliances, dangerous nutritional supplements)
Construction accidents can cause victims permanent injuries through falls and toxic chemical exposure. A lack of federally required safety signage on construction sites can leave workers vulnerable to career-ending or life-threatening accidents.
Sports injuries are another area where crippling accidents can affect otherwise healthy individuals. The severity of catastrophic injuries in collegiate sports indicates the dangers of athletic and recreational activities. A 2020 annual report from the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research found that of 2,878 catastrophic events in high school and college sports, 28.8% proved fatal, while 4.5% of the non-fatal events ended in permanent disabilities.
How a Personal Injury Attorney Can Help
Hiring a knowledgeable personal injury attorney with a track record of winning settlements can help victims deal with all aspects of their case. A skilled lawyer can seek maximum compensation from the negligent party’s insurance company. Your attorney can negotiate on your behalf and help you avoid accepting a lowball settlement attempt by the insurer.
Your lawyer can threaten legal action if the liable party’s insurance denies you a fair settlement amount for your catastrophic injury. This typically results in the insurance company offering to settle; however, your lawyer can take your case to court if they refuse.
A competent catastrophic injury lawyer from Nessler & Associates can gather all relevant medical records and witness testimony to present at court and use accident reconstruction to help you build a strong case.
Damages You Can Recover in a Catastrophic Injury Claim
The types of compensation an injury victim can seek after a catastrophic injury include economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are quantifiable expenses with a dollar value and involve medical care, home care services, and loss of wages. In the case of wrongful death, funeral expenses also fall under economic damages.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, attempt to place a monetary value on the hardship you are suffering as a direct result of an accident. These damages include:
- Compensation for pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Quality of life
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of consortium
- Property damage
Hiring an Experienced Attorney for Your Personal Injury Claim
The physical pain and emotional trauma a negligent party cause an injured party in an accident cannot be quantified by dollars. However, seeking fair compensation can help a victim cover their medical expenses and get back on the road to a fulfilling life.
If you’ve suffered a catastrophic injury because of another person’s conduct, the personal injury lawyers at Nessler & Associates can pursue your legal rights on your behalf. We view catastrophic injury victims with compassion and have the legal experience to aggressively seek the restitution you deserve.
Call us at (800) 727-8010 for a free, no-obligation consultation. We work with catastrophic injury victims on a contingency fee basis, meaning we don’t get paid unless we win for our clients.
