Personal injuries range from broken bones to strains and sprains. If you’ve heard the term “catastrophic personal injury,” you may begin to wonder what that entails beyond a regular injury. What is a catastrophic injury, and are you entitled to more compensation if your injury is deemed as catastrophic? The following goes over the basics.
What Is a Catastrophic Injury?
If your injury is classified as “catastrophic,” it means there were “direct and proximate consequences” to that injury that made you unable to perform “gainful work.” In a more basic sense, the injury was so severe, you will be dealing with permanent damages. This might include brain damage, deformities, serious burns and other similar injuries.
What Type of Compensation Are You Entitled To?
There are three common types of damages you are entitled to after a catastrophic personal injury.
- Medical Expenses – Catastrophic injuries often require extensive medical care. Those bills will begin to add up to great amounts. You might have the initial emergency room bills, paired with surgeries, follow-up appointments, rehabilitative therapy, prescription medication and other similar medical costs to seek compensation for.
- Lost Wages – A great number of catastrophic injuries result in the inability to perform your job. If you have lost wages due to your injury, you could be entitled to compensation for it. This includes past and future wages.
- Pain and Suffering – There are a lot of emotional issues that come with catastrophic events that alter your life and the way your body functions. Pain and suffering, loss of consortium, loss of enjoyment of life, and other similar emotional damages can be compensated.
What Are the Main Types of Catastrophic Injuries?
Most catastrophic injuries fall into one or more of three categories. The first are physical injuries. These include severe burns, amputations, organ damage, serious fractures and other damages that affect orthopedics and tissues. The second are spinal cord injuries. These include injuries specific to the spinal cord, often resulting in a lack of mobility to the injured person. The third are cognitive injuries. This includes injuries that result in brain damage, which limits the individual’s ability to form new memories, speak correctly or at all, or perform a job.
Learning More About Catastrophic Injuries
If you are on the victim-end of a catastrophic injury, you deserve to be fully compensated by the responsible party.