The Real Cost of Living With a Catastrophic Injury

A catastrophic injury comes out of nowhere, but the effects feel like they are everywhere for the rest of the injury victim’s life, impacting all aspects of their daily living, their family, and their relationships. Although no legal process can erase a serious injury or undo the trauma of the event, an experienced catastrophic injury lawyer in Chicago represents the injury victim in their claim and seeks the maximum compensation available when someone else’s careless, reckless, or wrongful actions caused the injury.

But first, it’s crucial to have a clear understanding of the real costs of living with a catastrophic injury.

First, What Is a Catastrophic Injury?

All injuries are painful and financially costly. These are the damages in a claim against the responsible party under Illinois’ modified comparative negligence system, which holds the at-fault party financially accountable—typically through their insurance policy. A catastrophic injury is one from which the injury victim cannot fully recover, because it caused permanent harm. The most common injuries in catastrophic injury claims include the following:

• Spinal cord injuries with paralysis
• Loss of limb
• Severe burns
• Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) with permanent impairment
• Organ loss
• Multiple fractures, or hip fractures in seniors
• Permanent scarring or disfigurement
• Hearing or vision loss

Common causes of catastrophic injuries in Illinois personal injury claims include car accidents, pedestrian accidents, commercial truck accidents, premises liability incidents, defective products, and medical malpractice.

What Are the Lifelong Costs of a Catastrophic Injury?

When a catastrophic personal injury lawyer calculates their client’s damages, it takes an intensive investigation into the full impacts of the injury on all aspects of the injury victim’s life to arrive at a total amount of compensation for both economic and non-economic damages. This process includes consultations with medical experts and occupational therapists who develop a life-care plan that includes their projected future expenses. Lifelong care costs for a catastrophic injury often include the following:

• Total past and future medical expenses, including extraordinary injury costs for medical procedures, ongoing care, care for potential complications, physical therapy, home health assistance or living facility costs, and costs for mobility equipment and adaptive equipment for the home and car
• Total income loss or diminished earning capacity due to disability

Included in catastrophic injury damages are the physical and emotional toll of a catastrophic injury, including the following:

• Compensation for pain and suffering
• Compensation for emotional trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and depression
• Compensation for loss of consortium (the full physical and emotional relationship with another)
• Compensation for loss of enjoyment of life or diminished quality of life

The lifelong cost of a catastrophic injury such as a spinal cord injury ranges from over $2,310,000 for paraplegia to over $4,700,000 for tetraplegia (Quadriplegia).

What If the Costs of a Catastrophic Injury Exceeds the Insurance Policy Limits?

Depending on the cause of the injury, the policy limits of the insurance could be as expansive as most medical malpractice insurance policies or as limited as the state’s minimum required auto insurance. Because the real cost of living with a catastrophic permanent injury are so high, an experienced chicago personal injury lawyer pursues all avenues of compensation.

If the total damages exceed the insurance policy limits, an injury victim may file a lawsuit against the defendent’s personal assets or a third-party lawsuit against another entity that caused or contributed to the injury.