Injuries happen in an instant, but they sometimes leave long-term consequences. In the worst cases, the injury is permanent, with lifelong adverse effects on the rest of the injury victim’s life. While a typical personal injury claim against the responsible party brings compensation for economic and non-economic damages, a catastrophic injury claim for permanent harm seeks a far greater amount of compensation for the lifelong damages the injury victim faces.
One of the most important aspects of a catastrophic injury claim is the life-care plan developed by a Chicago catastrophic injury attorney seeking the maximum compensation available to their injured client.
What Types of Injuries Are Catastrophic Injuries In Illinois?
Most injuries cause temporary pain and a large emergency room bill, often with a few days or weeks of lost earnings; these are the recoverable damages in most personal injury claims, along with an amount for pain and suffering. Fortunately, the human body is amazingly resilient, and injury victims fully recover from most injuries and go on to live full, normal lives.
A catastrophic injury, however, is one from which the injury victim cannot ever fully recover. Common types of catastrophic injury claims occur when someone else’s negligence or wrongdoing caused injuries such as the following:
- Spinal cord injuries resulting in paralysis
- Traumatic amputations
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) resulting in permanent impairment
- Multiple serious fractures, or a hip fracture in an elderly individual
- Loss of vision or hearing
- Severe burns
- Severe scarring or disfigurement
- Organ loss
The above injuries impact all aspects of the injury victim’s life. When seeking compensation, it’s crucial to determine the full, lifelong financial impacts of the injury by formulating a life-care plan.
How Is a Life-Care Plan Developed After a Catastrophic Injury In Illinois?
The International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals (IARP) describes a life-care plan as follows:
“The life care plan is a dynamic document based upon published standards of practice, comprehensive assessment, data analysis, and research, which provides an organized, concise plan for current and future needs with associated costs for individuals who have experienced catastrophic injury or have chronic health care needs.”
A life-care plan summarizes the injury victim’s total lifelong injury-related needs, commonly including the following:
- Medical costs for future surgeries and procedures
- Physical therapy costs
- Medication costs
- Health aides for home or facility care
- Mobility equipment costs
- Costs for adaptive equipment for the home and vehicle
- Cost of vocational therapies
All of the above extraordinary needs are included in a life-care plan, and the document becomes key evidence of the full value of damages in an injury claim against the responsible party. Under Illinois’ modified comparative negligence law, the party that caused the injury is financially accountable for the injury victim’s losses, typically through the appropriate insurance policy.
What Other Damages Are Recoverable After a Catastrophic Injury?
A severe permanent injury not only requires substantial costs for medical needs and assistance, but also often prevents the injury victim from returning to work in their previous capacity—or at all. Additional damages in catastrophic injury claims often include total past and future income loss, compensation for pain and suffering, and compensation for emotional distress, such as depression, anxiety, or PTSD.
An experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer carefully calculates their client’s damages to seek the full compensation available to them.
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