Any injury related to a personal injury resulting from someone else’s negligence can be serious and involve medical bills, pain and suffering, and the loss of wages due to the inability to return to work. However, there are some injuries resulting from a car accident that rise to another level, and are considered catastrophic injuries. These severe injuries tend to allow a victim to receive even greater compensation to allow a victim to pay for the astronomical medical bills, physical and emotional therapy treatments, loss of wages and future loss of wages, and continued and persistent pain and suffering.
Catastrophic Accidents
Any accident that results in a personal injury case can have either minor or catastrophic injuries. The most common types of accidents that result in actual, catastrophic injuries typically include car accidents, commercial trucking accidents, motorcycle accidents, sports accidents, slip and fall accidents, dog bites, birth injuries, bicycle accidents, and other accidents that involve any kind of physical trauma to a victim.
Defining Catastrophic Injuries
An insurance company making a determination regarding a settlement amount for a victim, or a court of law in a personal injury litigation case, will consider the following to be catastrophic injuries for purposes of calculating compensation amounts.
- Permanent and total disability of at least one major system of the body
- The significant impact upon at least one major system of the body
- Severe functional limitation of at least one major system of the body
- Serious physical or psychological incapacitation
- Suffering followed by the death of the victim
- Suffering followed by a terminal medical condition
- Serious damage to the brain, including traumatic brain injuries
- Serious damage to the head, neck or spinal cord, including paralysis
- The complete inability to perform any kind of work or have any kind of meaningful employment
- Amputations of any part of the body
- Loss of sight
- Loss of hearing
- Multiple broken or fractured bone
- Permanent damage to the central nervous system
- Serious neurological disorders
- Burn injuries resulting in disfigurement or scarring
This list exemplifies that it is important to understand that catastrophic injuries are those that typically render a victim physically or emotionally changed in a permanent or severe way, or even result in death.
Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you suffered a catastrophic injury from any type of accident involving someone else’s negligence, you have the legal right to pursue appropriate compensation for your medical bills, pain and suffering, loss of wages and loss of future wages, as well as receive possible punitive damages. The calculation of catastrophic settlement offers are often legally challenging and complex, so it is critical to have an experienced attorney help you through this process to ensure you receive a just and fair settlement. Contact our experienced personal injury attorneys at Griggs Injury Law at (816) 474-0202 to learn your legal rights, and how to ensure that you receive the justice and compensation you deserve following your accident resulting in catastrophic injuries.
