What Is the Definition of a Catastrophic Injury?
Some kinds of injuries are categorized by where they occur, like brain injuries or back injuries. Other injuries are defined by the damage they leave behind, like burn injuries or amputation injuries. Catastrophic injuries, however, aren’t defined by either one of those—instead, they’re defined by how they change the survivor’s life. Any injury that is expected to last permanently or semi-permanently and severely alters a person’s physical or mental faculties could be considered catastrophic. By that definition, any injury can have catastrophic effects if it’s severe enough.
Some common types of catastrophic injuries include the following:
- Burn Injuries: With the highest cost of hospitalization of any injury, burn injuries leave survivors both physically and financially damaged. Nerve damage, scarring, and limb loss can all result from full-thickness burns.
- Blunt Force Trauma: Force done to the body that is neither cutting nor slicing (i.e. blunt) can cause bruising, internal bleeding, and organ damage. Head injuries are among the most harmful types of blunt force trauma.
- Loss of Vision or Hearing: Loss senses, particularly hearing or sight, forces you to reorient the way you interact with the world. For many people, loss of either would require a change in career or at least a costly change in lifestyle.
- Spinal Cord Injuries: Spinal cord injuries are some of the most severe injuries you can suffer. When extreme enough, damage to the spinal cord is irreparable, leading to permanent paralysis and lifelong effects.
- Orthopedic Injuries: Severe damage to joints and the musculoskeletal system can hamper someone’s mobility or make them unable to move without pain. This is as much a loss in quality of life as it is a loss of physical ability.
A catastrophic injury is as much about quality of life as it is about a person’s capabilities. Constant pain can rob us of our careers, our hobbies, and all the things that once made our lives enjoyable. To our catastrophic accident lawyers in San Antonio, compensation for those losses is as important as compensation for medical costs.
Can You Claim Pain & Suffering for a Catastrophic Injury?
Something else that distinguishes catastrophic injuries from non-catastrophic injuries is the ability to claim noneconomic damages—also sometimes called “pain and suffering” damages. Noneconomic damages are damages for your losses that have no dollar value, like the ability to play with your children, play a musical instrument, or run unassisted. No one can deny that accident survivors lose these things, but how do you calculate a dollar amount for these things?
Noneconomic damages include compensation for (but are not limited to):
- Physical pain and suffering
- Mental and emotional pain
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of consortium
When assigning awards for these losses, juries are instructed to use their own judgment, which is why noneconomic damages can vary from case to case. As always, your lawyer’s ability to make your losses clear to a jury will affect how much you’ll receive in the final award. Juries may also assign larger damages that act as a deterrent against the negligent behavior of the defendant, especially if your accident was caused by preventable safety issues.
Call Our San Antonio Serious Injury Attorneys Today: (888) 493-1629
If you are suffering from a catastrophic injury after an accident in San Antonio, don’t hesitate to reach out for help. Arnold & Itkin’s catastrophic injury attorneys know what it takes to recover the compensation you deserve for your injuries. Our record-breaking team has won over $20 billion in settlements for our clients.
Contact us today at (888) 493-1629 to learn more about how Arnold & Itkin can help you after a catastrophic accident.
