The more severe your injuries, the more compensation you may be entitled to receive. However, unique complications can arise when pursuing compensation in catastrophic injury cases. Working with a Charlotte catastrophic injury lawyer from Brown Moore & Associates, PLLC can improve your chances of securing fair compensation after a life-changing accident.
What Is a Catastrophic Injury?
There’s no universally recognized definition of a catastrophic injury. Generally speaking, they are injuries which can affect almost every aspect of your life, potentially for the rest of your life. They are often disabling, and may result in a shortened lifespan. People who sustain catastrophic injuries often face lifelong challenges, including loss of function, that necessitate an entirely new life plan.
Examples of Catastrophic Injuries
Catastrophic injuries typically include all of the following:
- Loss of a limb
- Spinal cord injury
- Central nervous system damage
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Birth injuries
- Medical malpractice
- Long-term injuries to infants, children, or adolescents
- Partial or complete paralysis
- Internal organ damage
- Sensory deprivation or diminishment
- Permanent orthopedic damage
- Severe burns
- Permanent disfigurement or scarring
If you don’t see your injury on this list, speak with a catastrophic injury lawyer at Brown Moore & Associates, PLLC. We can help you determine whether your injuries have a significant enough effect on your quality of life to qualify as catastrophic.
Are All Fatal Accidents Considered Catastrophic?
Though “catastrophic injury” generally refers to permanent injuries sustained by survivors, we would argue that fatality falls under this umbrella. In the event of a fatal accident, eligible surviving family members would file a wrongful death claim instead of a personal injury claim.
What Makes a Childhood Injury “Catastrophic”?
Serious injuries sustained in childhood can cause ripple effects throughout adulthood. For that reason, any serious childhood injury could prove to be catastrophic.
For example, an injury which leads to a sprained or even a fractured knee in an adult could actually damage the growth plates of a child. If the damage is severe enough, it could lead to a permanent physical deformity in that child, where one leg is significantly shorter than the other. This means the child will likely need custom footwear, leg braces, and other orthopedic devices throughout his or her life. This child is also more likely to live in chronic discomfort and pain, to develop osteoarthritis, and to suffer ankle damage. All of this can also take an emotional toll on the child, for which he or she may need additional counseling or therapy.
Even very serious injuries like brain injuries can be exponentially more catastrophic for children. Unlike an adult’s brain, which has already matured and established most of its cognitive and motor systems, a child’s brain is a work in progress. Any level of trauma – like a closed-head concussion or a skull fracture leading to a penetrating injury – can also disrupt the brain’s ability to mature properly. This means the full impact of the injury might not be immediately visible but could emerge over months or years as the child fails to meet developmental milestones, or struggles with tasks that require attention, memory, language, or emotional regulation. Brain damage in childhood can limit the brain’s future potential, not just reduce its current capacity.
A “Catastrophic Injury” Designation Can Affect Your Compensation
Because catastrophic injuries are often permanent, the recoverable damages may be significantly greater than for folks whose injuries will heal completely over time. The damages you’re awarded can be used to cover the following losses:
Medical Expenses
If you were to break a bone, you might have to pay a few thousand dollars in medical care costs, provided you have care or health insurance to pay for some of the costs. A simple fracture usually involves an initial hospital visit to set the break, a few follow-up visits with an orthopedist to ensure that it’s healing properly, and a final visit to have your cast removed.
Conversely, a catastrophic injury may require a lifetime of treatment. In the first year alone, you could easily incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs. Over a lifetime, those costs could add up to millions.
Lost Income
Medical bills aren’t the only consequence of a serious injury. For example, suppose that you lost your dominant arm in a workplace accident. You would likely be unable to return to your job, and any work you might qualify for would likely pay less than if you had both arms.
You may be able to seek compensation for:
- Loss of wages
- Loss of earning potential
- Loss of retirement contributions, including any stocks you may have been able to purchase
- Loss of benefits
Loss of Enjoyment of Life
Some losses cannot neatly be accounted for on a spreadsheet. There is no set award for living in pain every single day. There is no specific calculation for being unable to walk your child down the aisle, or hug your spouse, or breathe without the assistance of a machine. Catastrophic injuries can leave you unable to meet friends and companions or to start a family. These losses are compensable under North Carolina law.
Impact on Family
In many motorcycle accidents, for example, surviving victims end up paralyzed or missing limbs, necessitating a lifetime of constant care and support. Depending on the specific circumstances, the injured party’s caregivers might be their parents, siblings, children, or spouse. The injured party may be able to seek compensation for the value of such services provided by a caregiver, and in turn compensate the caregiver. Our Charlotte personal injury attorneys can explain more during the initial consultation.
Increased Scrutiny, and Potential Pushback, From Insurance Companies
Insurance companies are businesses designed to turn a profit. Catastrophic injuries come with substantial financial burdens. As such, insurers will likely attempt to name the survivor as the at-fault party, in order to avoid having to pay out. In cases where that is not possible, the company is likely to push back regarding:
- The severity of your injuries
- When your injuries occurred
- Whether the costs you’re claiming are true and reasonable
- Which doctors treat your injuries
- Whether you filled out all the paperwork appropriately
A catastrophic injury case could cost the insurance company a significant amount of money. It will therefore seek to verify every piece of evidence you provide to support your case and potentially hinder you with bureaucratic procedures.
How a Charlotte Catastrophic Injury Attorney Can Help Protect Your Family
At Brown Moore & Associates, PLLC, we take a unique approach to the practice of personal injury law. We believe every client deserves the personalized attention of a trustworthy catastrophic injury lawyer in Charlotte.
When you hire our firm, you’ll work with a proven attorney who will guide you through the legal process. This one-on-one approach serves to ensure that your lawyer understands your situation as well as you do.
That same philosophy extends to everything we do for you. We don’t just rely on medical reports or eyewitness testimony; our team will visit the accident site in person to collect physical evidence and corroborate witness reports. We’ll also coordinate with you to preserve critical records that might help your case.
Our diligence and hands-on methods ensure that we’ll be as prepared as possible when we sit down at the negotiating table or enter the courtroom.
Contact Our Charlotte Injury Attorneys for Help
Are you facing the prospect of a lifetime of pain and suffering after a serious accident in Charlotte, North Carolina? Brown Moore & Associates, PLLC, can help you pursue fair compensation to address the various impacts of your accident. Contact us or call us at 704-335-1500 to schedule a free initial consultation.
