How do I know if a loved one has suffered a catastrophic injury and needs a Lake County injury attorney?

Catastrophic injuries are all too often the by-product of motor vehicle collisions, trucking negligence, and medical malpractice. Understanding when a loved one has experienced a catastrophic injury is vitally important. It can inform your family’s choice to hire an experienced Waukegan and Lake County injury attorney to obtain full compensation.

While there is no specific formula for making this determination, the below criteria may be of assistance:

(1) Was a traumatic brain injury involved? The effects of a traumatic brain injury can be devastating. Effects can include an individual’s cognition being totally impaired to the point they require constant, daily medical assistance and care-taking. Such individuals can incur significant past medical expenses and require compensation for necessary future care.

(2) Can the injured individual return to work? If not, this can cause significant hardship not only on the injured victim, but also on family members that depend on them for monetary assistance. In the event an individual can never return to their job because they can no longer physically or mentally fulfill their responsibilities, then compensation is required to fill the resulting income void.

(3) Is their permanent disfigurement, disability, or pain and suffering? If an injured individual is suffering from deficits such as these that significantly impair their quality of life and ability to return to their normal life, it is truly tragic. Disfigurement, disability, and pain and suffering that will last an individual’s entire life requires compensation for every second that it has to be endured.

(4) Do the injuries require extensive past and future medical care? Oftentimes catastrophically injured people are forced to undergo surgeries, a wealth of diagnostic tests, pain injections, implantation of pain pumps and spinal cord stimulators, and a wealth of additional medical treatment. When catastrophic injury is involved, physicians may project that the injured victim will require such care for the duration of their life. Once again, compensation is necessary to ensure this medical care can be obtained and that the injured party’s best possible quality of life can be achieved.

(5) Has the injured individual undergone the loss of a limb or complete loss of function of a body part? If yes, they almost certainly have suffered a catastrophic, permanent loss. The physical and emotional effects of losses such as these are devastating. Loss of limb can result in being fired from your job, losing your home because of a resulting inability to pay your mortgage, losing your ability to take care of your family, and complete loss of quality of life.

While in no way exhaustive, the above criteria provide some guidance in discerning whether you or a loved one has experienced a catastrophic injury. For questions regarding the above, or regarding your catastrophic injury case, contact the injury attorneys at Ryan, Ryan & Viglione. We are ready and available to handle your Chicago, Waukegan, and Lake County injury cases.