What Makes a Car Accident Injury Catastrophic?

There’s no specific definition of catastrophic injury under the personal injury law of Florida. However, part of the state’s victim assistance laws define catastrophic injuries as those that involve severe and permanent disability.

Generally speaking, catastrophic injuries in the context of personal injury cases involving serious car accidents are those that result in one of these conditions:

• Amputation of a hand, arm, leg, or foot
• Closed-head or severe brain injury resulting in severe episodic neurological disorders, complex integrated brain function disturbances, communication disturbances, motor and/or sensory disturbances, or other closed-head and severe brain conditions
• Spinal cord damage involving severe or total paralysis of the trunk, leg, and/or arm
• Industrial or total blindness
• Third-degree burns on 5% or more of the hands and face
• Third or second-degree burns that affect 25% or more of the body’s surface
• Any other severe injury that would make a worker eligible for supplemental security income (SSI) benefits or disability benefits
• Any other injury resulting in permanent or long-term disability that disrupts the victim’s life significantly, particularly the ability to work, and those that require long-term and/or intensive medical treatment and home care.

Catastrophic Injuries Result in Higher Compensation

Because the value of car accident claims is normally dependent on the severity and nature of the victim’s injuries, the more serious or catastrophic the injuries, the higher the compensation amount.

On the other hand, the evidence and arguments required to prove the injured victim’s damages likewise tend to be more elaborate and complex. The reason for this is that after a car accident that caused a catastrophic injury, the victim just might be at the start of a potentially long and intensive initial recovery stage and could possibly end up needing lifelong medical care.

In such cases, personal injury lawyers will work with economic and medical experts to figure out the victim’s course of treatment, the future costs of the required medical care, the financial consequences of the victim’s inability to work, and other aspects of the recoverable economic damages.

Additionally, the victim’s non-economic damages, such as emotional distress and pain and suffering, will also have to be proven through the victim’s testimony and relevant medical experts such as mental health care professionals.

Discuss Your Case with an Experienced Port St. Car Accident Attorney Now

If you have been involved in a car accident in which you sustained severe or catastrophic injuries, proving your injuries and losses to ensure proper compensation makes it very important to have an experienced Port St. Lucie car accident attorney on your side.

Remember, the more catastrophic or severe your injuries, the higher the compensation tends to be. Likewise, calculating your losses’ total value could be particularly difficult with catastrophic injuries because it involves calculating what your medical expenses and lost wages would be now and in the future.

The Port St. Lucie car accident attorney of Rosenthal, Levy, Simon & Sosa can figure out and calculate your damages and hold all the negligent parties legally liable for your losses. Fill out our online form or call us at 772-878-3880 to arrange your free consultation today.