What is a Catastrophic Injury and Why do You Need Legal Representation?
If someone else’s negligence has caused you a terrible injury, you owe it to yourself and your family to seek legal representation as soon as possible. The long-term effects from a catastrophic injury can leave your family without income to pay for your medical care and other bills. It can also have a lifelong effect on you as you carry scars both mental and physical.
Types of Catastrophic Injuries
Catastrophic injuries are those that usually lead to long-term medical issues. Victims often need weeks or months of medical care and rehabilitation time. Often those wounded settle with the insurance companies before they know the full extent of the damage and impact of their injuries. They are often out of work for an extended period or may be permanently disabled. People suffering from these types of injuries may have mental or emotional problems that stem from or are directly related to the injury.
Types of catastrophic injuries include:
- Severe burns
- Paralysis
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Amputations
- Facial disfigurement
- Injuries to organs that render them dysfunctional
Catastrophic Injuries Can Lead to Problems for the Rest of Your Life
The physical and emotional toll from a catastrophic injury can be devastating. The financial losses related to damage can be immense as well. Victims can, of course, incur substantial medical bills, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for surgery, hospital stays and pharmaceuticals needed for treatment. The person is likely to be out of work and miss wages for months, or may not be able to return to their old job. Then, they may not only need to cover missed wages but perhaps require training to find work they can do under the new circumstances.
What a Lawyer Can Do for You in Case of a Catastrophic Injury
An attorney experienced in handling cases involving catastrophic injuries can be an invaluable person to have on your side. Using their extensive experience, they will gather a team of experts to take on the task (what task specifically). The attorney will listen to your story and launch a thorough investigation of the events that led to the catastrophe. They may employ medical experts, forensic investigators and accountants to cover every potential issue using the latest technology. All of this will be in service of making the case that the responsible party or their insurer should compensate you for medical care, lost wages and, if warranted, the long-term pain and suffering you may experience because of the incident.
It’s rare for something to happen without a legal case. When a catastrophic injury occurs, the cause is often because of someone’s negligence or recklessness. A personal injury lawyer will help you receive compensation for injuries caused by someone’s negligence. You may receive:
- Money to cover medical bills, present and future
- Money to cover the costs of rehabilitation
- Funds to repair or replace any property you possessed that was damaged in the incident
- When there was gross negligence or recklessness, compensation for pain and suffering
A conversation with an insurance company regarding compensation for a catastrophic injury may be challenging. To have the best chance of obtaining all the money you’ll need to get you back on your feet, hiring a personal injury attorney is your best bet.