- July 26, 2024
- Attorney Matt Stoddard
- Catastrophic Injury
Victims of catastrophic injuries experience severe physical pain and the emotional distress of knowing their lives are changed forever. But it is not only the individuals who are injured who suffer the impacts. Catastrophic injuries have a ripple effect that spreads far beyond the individual. Family members, local communities, and the healthcare system are all challenged by these most serious of injuries.
What Is Considered a Catastrophic Injury?
Catastrophic injuries are the worst of the worst. And because they are so severe they are the most expensive of all injuries to treat. A catastrophic injury can potentially cost an individual into the millions of dollars over their lifetime.
Types of catastrophic injuries include traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), spinal cord damage resulting in paraplegia or quadriplegia, severe burns, loss of limbs, and organ damage. They can result from car accidents, construction accidents, and other frightening incidents.
Victims often never fully recover from these debilitating and disabling injuries. They can require multiple surgeries and lifelong medical care and experience an uncertain quality of life going forward.
What Do You Mean by Ripple Effects?
If you drop a rock into the center of a pond, the water will ripple outward. It may even ripple all the way to shore, depending on the size of the rock.
In the context of catastrophic injuries, when a person is severely hurt in a serious accident, while that individual suffers the greatest impact in physical and emotional pain and a change in life circumstances, the effects of the injury are not limited to them. The effects of their injuries ripple outward to their families who provide emotional support and must care for them on a day-to-day basis.
These injuries also ripple out to emergency and healthcare providers in the local community and even to the larger national healthcare system in economic costs. The impacts of the catastrophic injury are not felt only by the individual who sustained it, even though they, of course, are most affected.
The Toll on Families
The emotional toll on families of catastrophic injury victims is immense. The injured person may be extremely depressed, anxious, and angry about their changed circumstances. Family members must effectively deal with the emotions of their loved one while also managing their own strong distress, as their lives have now changed as well.
They may find themselves in the role of temporary or even permanent caregiver, having to attend to their loved one’s every need while also handling all the other tasks and duties of getting the kids to school, cooking, and managing the household.
Exhaustion can result when family members are suddenly forced to take on these care responsibilities. Sometimes they may sacrifice their own physical health and mental well-being in taking care of their loved one.
Financial Impacts on Families
In addition to the emotional and possible health effects on family members, the monetary impacts of traumatic brain injuries, burn injuries, and other types of catastrophic injuries on families are severe. While health insurance may cover some of the cost of injuries, even the best insurance can leave people struggling to pay astronomical medical bills.
In addition to emergency medical care after the accident and potentially long hospitalizations, people who suffer catastrophic injuries may need:
- Multiple surgeries
- Extensive rehabilitation
- Ongoing medical procedures and treatments
- Medications
- Specialized mobility and medical equipment such as electric wheelchairs, ventilators, in-home hospital beds, and more
- Prosthetics for lost limbs
- Mental health therapy
- Long-term nursing care
- In-home assistance with the tasks of daily living
- Changes to the home to such as ramps and widened doorways to accommodate wheelchairs.
The list of possible needs can go on and on. And the bills from them quickly add up. If the injured person was a financial provider or if family members must take time off work to care for their loved one, the financial situation grows even more dire. Families may wonder if there is anywhere they can turn for help.
Local and National Ripple Effects
Catastrophic injuries to individuals also have effects on communities, including placing added burdens on local healthcare systems. Local emergency responders who are responsible for caring for and transporting severely injured people to the hospital can feel significant stress. As they continue to respond to catastrophic injury incidents, they may suffer burnout.
Community hospitals, which are often short-staffed, and their emergency room doctors and nurses must deal with the aftermath of catastrophic injury accidents. Some local hospitals may not have the capability of providing care for severe burn victims and other types of catastrophic injuries. These patients may have to be transferred to other facilities, but emergency room doctors must adhere to strict federal requirements for transferring patients under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act that can greatly increase the pressure on them when making potentially lifesaving decisions.
One study estimates the average cost of a traumatic brain injury during an individual’s lifetime is between $85,000 and $3 million. And according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the annual nationwide cost of nonfatal TBIs is over $40 billion annually. This is just one example of the astronomical medical costs of treating catastrophic injuries. These high costs drive up the price of healthcare for everyone.
Turn to The Stoddard Firm to Help Ease the Financial Effects of Catastrophic Injury for Your Family
Catastrophic injuries can be financially devastating. But if your injury or that of your loved one was due to the negligent actions of another party in Georgia, we may be able to help you get significant compensation to pay for medical expenses and care for your family going forward. At The Stoddard Firm in Atlanta, our compassionate attorneys fight hard to help relieve the financial burdens of people severely hurt by the carelessness of others.
Do not hesitate to reach out to us when you need help. We have won millions of dollars for our clients in injury cases. To speak with an experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyer, who understands the full effects of catastrophic injuries, call 470-467-2200. We offer free, no-obligation consultations.
Attorney Matt Stoddard
Matt Stoddard is a professional, hardworking, ethical advocate. He routinely faces some of the nation’s largest companies and some of the world’s largest insurers – opponents who have virtually unlimited resources. In these circumstances, Mr. Stoddard is comfortable. Mr. Stoddard provides his strongest efforts to his clients, and he devotes the firm’s significant financial resources to presenting the strongest case possible on their behalf. Matt understands that his clients must put their trust in him. That trust creates an obligation for Matt to work tirelessly on their behalf, and Matt Stoddard does not take that obligation lightly. [ Attorney Bio ]