Blog, Injury Claim
Injuries resulting from accidents can vary widely in their severity and duration. While some victims recover quickly, others are left with long-term injuries that can dramatically affect their lives and the compensation they are entitled to.
Understanding the nuances of how such injuries impact the value of a claim is crucial for anyone involved in a personal injury case. Our injury attorneys at The Morgan Law Group are dedicated to helping you recognize these factors and secure the compensation that reflects the true cost of your injuries.
What Is Considered a Long-Term Injury?
In personal injury claims, a long-term injury refers to any physical or psychological damage that affects an individual for a prolonged period, typically extending beyond one year. Such injuries stand apart due to their potential to necessitate continuous medical treatment and their ability to cause permanent disabilities that alter a person’s lifestyle and capacity for work.
Characteristics of Long-Term Injuries
- Persistent and Recurring: Unlike injuries that heal within a few months, long-term injuries may never fully heal, or they may involve complications that reoccur over time.
- Requires Ongoing Treatment: These injuries often need extensive, sometimes lifelong, medical care, including surgery, rehabilitation, and pain management.
- Leads to Permanent Disability: In severe cases, long-term injuries may result in permanent disabilities, requiring changes to a person’s home and work environment and ongoing personal care.
Examples of Long-Term Injuries
- Severe Back Injuries: Damage to the spinal cord that results in chronic pain or paralysis.
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): Can lead to lasting cognitive deficits, emotional and behavioral changes, and physical impairments.
- Chronic Pain Conditions: Such as fibromyalgia or complex regional pain syndrome, which are resistant to treatment and persist indefinitely.
- Psychological Conditions: Long-term psychological injuries like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that impact an individual’s mental health and daily functioning.
These types of injuries require a comprehensive medical evaluation by specialists who can testify to their extent and the expected future impact on the victim’s life and livelihood. Such evaluations are crucial in quantifying the required compensation in a personal injury claim.
How Long-Term Injuries Influence the Value of Your Injury Claim
The value of a personal injury claim escalates with the severity and duration of the injury.
Long-term injuries complicate your life in several ways, each adding layers to the claim’s value:
Ongoing Medical Costs
Long-term injuries often result in the need for continuous medical treatment, which can include surgeries, rehabilitation, and various therapies. These treatments can be extensive and costly, significantly driving up the financial burden on the injured party.
- Documentation and Projections: Detailed documentation of current and projected medical expenses is critical. This not only includes bills already paid but also estimated costs for future treatments, which might involve ongoing care from specialists and potential medical complications that could arise.
- Expert Testimonies: To substantiate these claims, expert testimonies from medical professionals are crucial. They provide credibility to the projected long-term needs and ensure that all potential future medical scenarios are covered.
Extended Recovery Time
The lengthier the recovery period, the greater the impact on an individual’s professional and personal life, which translates into substantial compensation claims.
- Lost Wages and Opportunities: Compensation for lost wages during the recovery period is standard, but long-term injuries may also impact future earnings capacity. The assessment includes potential career advancements lost and diminished earning potential over a lifetime.
- Quality of Life: Extended recovery impacts more than just financial earnings; it also affects quality of life and general well-being, factors that are considered when calculating compensation.
Permanent Disability
When injuries result in permanent disability, the claim’s value increases to account for the profound and permanent changes to the claimant’s life.
- Lifestyle Adjustments: Costs for modifying homes and vehicles to accommodate disabilities, along with the need for assistive devices, are factored into the settlement.
- Long-term Care: Permanent disabilities might require lifelong care and assistance, including professional caregivers, which adds to the claim’s overall value.
Emotional and Psychological Impact
The non-economic damages associated with long-term injuries are substantial, as these injuries often lead to prolonged or permanent psychological and emotional distress.
- Pain and Suffering: This includes compensation for ongoing pain, discomfort, and the loss of enjoyment in life.
- Mental Health: Conditions such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD resulting from the trauma of the injury and its long-term repercussions are evaluated. Compensation for psychological therapy and mental health treatment is included.
Each of these aspects requires meticulous assessment by personal injury claim lawyers and medical professionals to ensure that all potential impacts of the long-term injury are accounted for in the personal injury claim. This comprehensive evaluation is essential not only for accurately calculating current and future impacts but also for negotiating with insurance companies or presenting the case in court effectively.
Common Causes of Long-Term Injuries
Long-term injuries can result from a variety of incidents, each of which may present unique challenges in a personal injury case. The most common causes include:
Vehicle Accidents
Collisions involving cars, motorcycles, or trucks: High-impact crashes can cause a range of serious injuries, from spinal cord damage to traumatic brain injuries, that may not fully resolve and worsen over time.
Workplace Accidents
Injuries sustained from machinery or during construction: These accidents often involve heavy equipment and the potential for falls or crush injuries, leading to long-term disability.
Slips and Falls
Especially on hard surfaces or from significant heights: Falls are a leading cause of emergency room visits and can result in injuries like hip fractures or serious head traumas that require long-term care.
Medical Malpractice
Errors in surgery or treatment: Mistakes during medical procedures can result in complications such as infections, organ damage, or incorrect medication administration, all of which can have long-lasting effects on health.
Understanding and proving the cause of a long-term injury is fundamental to formulating a robust legal strategy. It involves collecting detailed evidence, securing expert testimony, and demonstrating how the incident directly relates to the long-term injuries sustained.
Consult Our Injury Attorneys About Your Personal Injury Claim
If you are suffering from long-term injuries due to an accident, it is vital to seek experienced legal guidance. Our injury attorneys at The Morgan Law Group are adept at handling complex personal injury claims and are dedicated to securing the compensation you need to support your long-term healing and financial stability.
Call us today or contact us through our online form to discuss your case and learn more about how we can help you navigate this challenging journey toward a fair resolution.
