Your life changed in an instant when a distracted truck driver crashed into your vehicle on I-45. Now you're facing multiple surgeries, months of rehabilitation, and an uncertain future. Multiple factors contribute to the amount of injury compensation you may receive, but you’re worried the insurance company’s initial offer won't cover your long-term needs.
You probably have a right to be concerned. At Dortch Lindstrom Livingston Law Group, our Plano catastrophic personal injury lawyers help victims and their families determine the true value of their claims to ensure they’re issued a settlement that provides medical and financial security for the future. Take a moment to learn more about why catastrophic injury cases frequently require more compensation.
Understanding What Makes an Injury Catastrophic
These injuries typically affect vital body systems and require extensive ongoing medical care. Common examples include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage resulting in paralysis, severe burns, loss of limbs, and crushing injuries that cause permanent impairment.
Recovery often involves multiple surgeries, extended hospital stays, and comprehensive rehabilitation. For example, the Shepherd Center indicates that the average inpatient stay for a spinal cord injury is more than two months, and outpatient care may require another six weeks.
Without question, suffering such a drastic condition fundamentally changes your existence. Many people require home modifications, specialized medical equipment, and daily personal care assistance—sometimes for their entire lives.
Immediate Medical Costs After a Catastrophic Injury
Catastrophic injuries typically generate substantial medical bills in the first year. Many people require advanced trauma care, with costs accumulating from the moment emergency responders arrive at the accident scene. For brain injuries, spinal cord damage, or severe burns, initial treatment often involves multiple medical specialists and cutting-edge interventions.
First-year medical expenses typically include:
- Emergency transportation and trauma center care
- Multiple surgical procedures, sometimes requiring teams of specialists
- Extended stays in intensive care units
- Specialized rehabilitation programs
- Medical devices and adaptive equipment
- Medications and pain management
- Home health care during early recovery
- Physical and occupational therapy
- Mental health counseling and support
We can’t begin to speculate on an exact figure, as each case is unique, but the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) estimates that someone who experiences paralysis can expect expenses in their first recovery year to be over $1 million.
The complexity of catastrophic injuries means that even with health insurance, many victims face significant out-of-pocket expenses. Additionally, insurance policies may have coverage limits that fall well below the total cost of necessary care. As we establish your catastrophic injury damages, the team at Dortch Lindstrom Livingston Law Group works with medical experts and life care planners to document all current medical expenses while anticipating future treatment needs.
Calculating Future Medical and Financial Needs
It’s critical for your catastrophic injury compensation claim to address not only your immediate costs but also help you maintain long-term quality of life. So, using a spinal cord injury example again, the NSCISC states that each year, it takes approximately $200,000 to cover expenses such as:
- Ongoing medical treatment and medications
- Future surgical procedures
- Equipment replacement and updates
- Home modifications and accessibility needs
- Personal care assistance
- Transportation requirements
In our decades of experience, we know it’s rare that an insurance company evaluates Texas catastrophic injuries to their full extent without aggressive legal persistence.
Our insight helps us assess your economic and non-economic damages to include all aspects of your life, including lost earning capacity. A catastrophic medical condition often prevents victims from returning to work or pursuing their chosen career path: a construction worker with a traumatic brain injury may be unable to safely perform physical labor, or a teacher with quadriplegia might need extensive accommodations to continue working.
At Dortch Lindstrom Livingston Law Group, our proven case results demonstrate how we calculate your claim’s full value by also examining:
- Current salary and benefits
- Expected career advancement
- Retirement benefits
- Job market conditions
- Education and training
- Age at the time of injury
We might also present punitive damages for the court’s consideration if the negligence in your Texas truck or car accident is particularly dire.
Trust Our Plano Catastrophic Personal Injuries Lawyers to Fight for Your Fair Compensation
After such a devastating turn of events, you have but one chance to present your case against the individual who or entities that changed your life forever. The decisions you make in the weeks following a catastrophic injury can affect your financial security for decades to come.
Don't face this challenge alone—choose a lawyer you can trust who understands the profound impact these injuries have on people and their families. At Dortch Lindstrom Livingston Law Group, our nationwide network of resources helps us build an injury case with deep medical knowledge and exceptional evidence, which we combine with savvy negotiation skills to lay the groundwork for a settlement that covers your current and future needs.
