Life-threatening incidents that happen while traveling by road/air/water, working at a construction site or operating heavy-duty machinery etc., could cause a person to get hurt badly or even be fatal. Sometimes injuries from such incidents cause long-term or(and) irreversible damage to a person’s mind, body and life. The city of Los Angeles has been seeing a consistent rise in the number of such cases year after year. In 2021, the city recorded an increase in serious injuries caused by DUI crashes alone by 73% from 2020.
Such incidents are categorized as catastrophic injuries that happen to be life-changing for the victims and their families. In addition to losses of health, physical and mental pain, resultants of such incidents could also mean huge financial losses that could cost victims their job, home and probably fall into massive debts.
Every catastrophic injury case will have its own set of circumstances. It is mandatory to determine if someone was to be held responsible for the incident directly or indirectly that caused catastrophic injuries to a person(s). The victim and their family are already burdened with the results of the accident financially and emotionally.
They won’t have the capacity to venture and determine who or what was responsible for the incident. The victim and the family will need to find a catastrophic injury attorney in Los Angeles who has a proven track record in dealing similar cases to theirs. This way, they have a better chance of getting better treatment and financial balance via settlement.
A very important factor that needs to be carefully handled is the calculation of losses incurred by the victim because of the incident and damages caused by it. The calculations are majorly divided into two.
Economic Losses
- Loss of current and future income due to inability to return to work: Let’s say an oil rig worker becomes victim to an explosion on-site due to failure in following standard safety regulations. He’s never going to be able to earn again doing the same work.
- Loss of property if it’s a road accident: A car and truck crash totaling your vehicle and causing catastrophic injuries.
- Emergency and long-term medical expenses: In case of any catastrophic injury, the victim is to be stabilized immediately and not allow their condition to worsen.
- Post-discharge medical expenses: Long-term or permanent damages caused by catastrophic injuries mostly require expensive treatments such as physiotherapy to attempt maximum possible recovery.
- Extra costs that are to be incurred for future insurance premiums.
- Familial expenses that used to be covered by the victim’s employment.
Non-Economic
- Pain and emotional anguish by the victim and their family.
- Personal feeling of humiliation, loss of reputation due to a potential disability,
- Inability to enjoy activities like a normal person,
- Worsening of prior health conditions.
- Other potential psychological damages such as depression, anxiety and PTSD.
- Physical damages such as scarring and disfigurement.
- Permanent disabilities and impairments.
- A significant decline in quality of life.
- Additionally, the closest family members such as spouse or next of kin may file for a loss of consortium.
Conclusion
As you might notice above, in the generally depicted list of factors that amounts to losses caused by catastrophic injuries, non-economic losses weigh more than economic losses.
The majority most easily concludes that the sum that constitutes the settlement would mostly be of medical expenses and other tangible losses.
An efficient and empathetic catastrophic injury lawyer who has been seeing so many such cases would be able to get the victims and their families compensated better. If you are facing such a situation, we would like to say that we understand nothing in the world could ever pay you back with what you might have lost. All that we could do with expert legal help is to maximum suppress its severity and live on further with what’s been granted by life after all.
