Differences Between Serious and Catastrophic Injury Claims
While a serious injury can impede your short-term goals, a catastrophic injury often results in permanent disability. The long-term effects associated with a catastrophic injury will result in a longer recovery period and more extensive damages. Given what is at stake, it is important that you seek the help of a Davidson County catastrophic injury attorney who can help you recover maximum compensation for any harm you sustained. In this blog, the legal team at Raybin & Weissman discusses the main differences between serious and catastrophic injury claims.
Impact of Injuries on Your Life
A personal injury victim may experience a range of symptoms, with more serious injuries preventing a person from being able to perform routine tasks and to earn a living. In contrast, a catastrophic injury is defined as any injury that causes permanent or long-term cognitive, physical, or emotional impairment. Unlike serious injury claims, catastrophic injury claims often impact a person’s ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL). Common ADLs include bathing, grooming, dressing, toileting, eating, and transferring (moving from one location to another or changing positions). Catastrophic injuries are life-altering.
Amount of Recovery Time
Serious injuries are typically temporary, with individuals fully recovering from their injury or reaching maximum medical improvement (MMI) within several months or up to two or three years. MMI is defined as the point at which a person will no longer make any meaningful physical recovery, despite ongoing treatment.
In contrast, a catastrophic injury results in long-term consequences. Given that many catastrophic injuries affect the brain, spine, and internal organs, individuals often experience reduced mobility and severe cognitive impairment. In the vast majority of catastrophic injury cases, permanent disability results.
Extent of Damages
The severity of injury often correlates with the amount of medical treatment needed. Tennessee law defines a catastrophic injury as being either a spinal cord injury that results in paraplegia or quadriplegia, a traumatic amputation, or third-degree burns covering more than 40% of the body or face. Since a catastrophic injury victim generally has a longer recovery period, damages are often more extensive. Hence, catastrophic injury victims typically have more extensive medical costs, with revision surgeries, follow-up visits with physicians, and home modifications being required.
In conjunction with financial losses, a personal injury victim may also experience emotional and psychological hardship. Known as non-economic damages, these losses impact a person’s overall quality of life. However, the state of Tennessee does place a limit on non-economic damages, only allowing maximum recovery of $750,000 in personal injury claims and $1,000,000 in catastrophic injury claims. If you believe that you are entitled to noneconomic damages, it is important that you speak with a member of our catastrophic injury team.
Speak with a Davidson County Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Today
A catastrophic injury can inhibit you from living a full life, making you grieve what you worked so hard to attain. At Raybin & Weissman, we adamantly believe that nobody should be held fiscally responsible for another’s wrongdoing. If you or a loved one has suffered a catastrophic injury, our Davidson County catastrophic injury attorneys would like to speak with you. To learn more about our services or to schedule a free consultation, feel free to contact our office online or by calling (615) 256-6666 today.