Have you been permanently injured in an accident?
Many people who are injured as the result of an accident never fully recover and are left with permanent injuries. These types of injuries, often referred to as catastrophic, have serious and lasting effects on both the victim and his or her family. The high cost of medical treatment, long-term care, rehabilitation, and the pain and suffering that result from these types of injuries have an enormous impact on the people who experience them as well as their loved ones.
Some examples of permanent injuries include:
- Traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord injuries
- Severe burns
- Amputation
- Organ damage
Settlements for permanent or catastrophic injuries seek to compensate the victim for these types of lifelong disabilities. If you’ve been permanently injured in an accident, one of the most important features of this type of personal injury case involves determining the value of your claim. Some factors that are taken into consideration when determining the value of a claim are:
- How debilitating is the injury
- The impact that it has on the life and livelihood of the victim
- The type of continued medical care and support that the victim will need
While damages are much higher in cases involving catastrophic injuries, the facts and arguments necessary to proving those damages are more complicated. Therefore, enlisting the services of an personal injury attorney with experience in litigating catastrophic injury cases is very important to the success of your claim.
Medical bills are just the beginning
If you’ve suffered a permanent injury from an accident that was caused by negligence or wrongdoing on the part of another party, the costs for your initial hospital expenses and medical bills are just a very small portion of the life-long costs associated with many of these types of injuries. Potential economic damages from a permanent injury can include the cost of:
- Surgeries
- Home or institutional care
- Outpatient therapy
- Medical equipment
- Nursing care
- Rehab costs
- Loss of wages/future earnings
The cost of medical care if you’ve experienced a permanent or catastrophic injury is staggering and can cause you and your family to go into debt in order to pay for it. Many people have had to negotiate payment plans with hospitals and other medical facilities or have maxed out credit cards to try to stay out of debt.
Getting the compensation for your injury
Because of the enormous financial burden that results from permanent or catastrophic injuries as well as the far-reaching consequences to lives of their victims and families, these types of cases typically involve much higher damages vs those that are sought in other personal injury cases.
Greg Yates, permanent injury attorney in Los Angeles, has one of the highest success rates among personal injury attorneys in California when it comes to litigating serious motor vehicle accidents and other types of catastrophic injury cases.
Mr. Yates has been very successful when it comes to negotiating out of court settlements for permanent injury claims, but will sue for damages if he feels that the settlement is not enough to compensate for the severity of injuries and level of care needed by the victim.