Long-Term Effects After a Catastrophic Injury: What Virginia Settlements Should Cover

When you suffer a catastrophic injury, the road to recovery doesn’t end once you leave the hospital. This type of injury marks the start of a lifetime of medical care, a loss of earnings, and significant changes to daily living. However, this doesn’t mean that it’s any easier to get the compensation you deserve for your injury. In fact, the high costs associated with catastrophic injuries typically make it harder to recover what you are owed.

Insurance companies tend to focus only on the short-term costs associated with an injury, which leads to them offering far less than what your injury is truly worth. That’s why it’s important to talk to a catastrophic injury lawyer as soon as possible. Call Phelan Petty Injury Lawyers today to schedule a consultation.

What is a catastrophic injury in Virginia?

“Catastrophic injury” isn’t a separate legal element. Instead, the term is generally used to describe severe injuries that cause long-term or permanent impairment and significant damages. While most injuries resulting from car accidents, slips and falls, and other accidents lead to a full recovery, that is not always the case with catastrophic injuries. These severe injuries involve lifelong impairments that demand ongoing medical care, assistance with daily living, and chronic pain. Common examples include severe traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, amputations, complex orthopedic injuries, and severe burns.

Damages you may recover

Figuring out what you’re owed for a catastrophic injury is more challenging than calculating the value of a more routine injury. While catastrophic injuries incur many of the same expenses as other injuries, medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and property damage, their true value goes far beyond the immediate aftermath of an accident. That’s why, in any discussion with your catastrophic injury attorney, you should focus on long-term and future costs.

Long-term and future costs

The long-term demands of a catastrophic injury are incredibly expensive, which is why insurance companies are quick to write them off or downplay them. Breaking down these expenses into categories can make it easier to see how your injury will affect you for the rest of your life and why it’s so important to secure fair compensation.

Future medical care

In most catastrophic injury cases, this makes up the largest portion of the settlement or jury award. Future medical care includes ongoing physician visits, specialist care, future surgeries and other corrective procedures, various forms of physical therapy, prescription medications, and medical aids that will need to be replaced multiple times. Without a fair settlement, a catastrophic injury victim could be left covering these expenses on their own or hoping that their insurance company covers them.

Personal care and nursing care

Catastrophic injury victims generally require ongoing assistance with daily living tasks, including bathing, using the restroom, getting dressed, eating, and getting around the house. Care may be provided by in-home nursing staff, professional caregivers, or family members who give up their own source of income to provide assistance. Damages may include the reasonable value of necessary attendant-care services, and that can include care provided by family members if it’s medically necessary and properly documented. No matter who provides this assistance, it can be expensive. When evaluating a settlement offer, you should ensure it adequately accounts for projected future costs (including future medical expenses and future loss/lessening of earning capacity). A settlement that does not include these expenses shifts the burden from the at-fault party to the victim and their loved ones.

Lost earning capacity

We discussed lost wages earlier, but for catastrophic injury victims, it goes further than that. When we discuss lost wages, we talk about the income lost during recovery. Compensation for that stops when the accident victim returns to work. But someone who suffers a catastrophic injury will likely never be able to return to the workforce. That’s not just a temporary loss of income; that’s the loss of a permanent source of income, as well as the raises, promotions, and career changes that they would have benefited from. A fair settlement must include compensation for lost future earnings, a reduced ability to work or advance in your career, and the loss of employment benefits, such as retirement contributions.

The younger a victim is at the time of a catastrophic injury, the larger this portion of their settlement may be. The financial losses are greater for someone with 30 years left until retirement than they are for someone just a few years from retirement.

Home and vehicle modifications

If an injury limits a victim’s mobility, it’s likely that they’ll need significant modifications to their home and vehicle. Wheelchair ramps, widened doorways, accessible bathrooms, accessible kitchens with lower counters and appliances, stair lifts, and modified vehicles are all massive expenses. Furthermore, these are not one-time costs. Equipment wears out, homes may need further modifications as time passes, and vehicles do not last forever. These expenses all add up quickly and put significant strain on accident victims.

Psychological and emotional care

Victims of catastrophic injuries suffer psychological and emotional trauma in addition to their physical trauma. Depression, PTSD, anxiety, and other mental health disorders can dampen their quality of life. The permanent loss of independence can be devastating, and mental health treatment may be necessary to help them process it.

Financial planning considerations

When a victim is anticipating a significant settlement or court award, it’s important to plan ahead financially. While a lump sum settlement may offer flexibility, it is very easy to deplete these payouts too quickly or misuse them, and you may find that long-lost family members and friends appear out of the woodwork when they find out that money is on the table. Structured settlements may provide more stability. Discussing these options with economic and financial experts can help you plan for the future.

Explore your legal options with Phelan Petty Injury Lawyers

Our team of catastrophic injury lawyers is here to support you during this challenging time. Schedule your consultation now by calling us today or reaching out online.