A catastrophic injury is an injury that results in serious, long-term disabilities that significantly alter a person’s life. Some examples of catastrophic injuries include amputations, severe burns, paralysis, coma, spinal injuries, and brain injuries.
Because of the severity of these types of injuries, they often require long-term recovery periods and extensive medical treatment, leaving the victim with hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical debt and requiring long-term care for many months or years. To make matters worse, most individuals who suffer a catastrophic injury will be unable to return to work for several months or years, if they can work again at all.
Understanding how these injuries happen, and who can be held responsible, can help victims and their families understand their legal options.
1. Motor Vehicle Accidents
In the U.S., more than 100 people are killed and thousands more are injured in motor vehicle accidents every day—whether they involve cars, trucks, or motorcycles. Many of these accidents are caused by reckless behaviors like speeding, using cellphones or other distractions, and driving under the influence.
In a motor vehicle accident case, the reckless driver is typically the one who is held liable, but there may be some cases in which other factors contributed to the accident. For example, in truck accidents, the trucking company that employs the truck driver may be held liable if they didn’t properly train their driver or implement unsafe driving habits. Or, if a faulty brake played a role in the accident, the manufacturer could potentially be held liable. There may even be situations in which a government agency, like the Department of Transportation, can be held liable, such as if the road was poorly designed or maintained.
2. Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents
Pedestrians and cyclists are particularly at risk when near traffic. Because these individuals do not have the same protection as a motor vehicle, even a minor impact can cause severe injuries or fatalities. In cases where a cyclist or pedestrian sustains a catastrophic injury, some of the most common causes are situations where a driver fails to yield to the pedestrian or fails to look for them at crosswalks. The driver who hit the pedestrian or cyclist is often liable in these cases, but as with motor vehicle accidents, the details matter. These accidents could be caused or exacerbated by malfunctioning traffic signals, defective vehicle parts, or hazardous property conditions, which means liability may fall on government agencies, parts manufacturers, or property owners, among others.
3. Medical Malpractice
Medical professionals are humans and can make mistakes just like in any other profession. However, Illinois law requires a doctor, nurse, and other care providers to provide reasonable care to patients. For example, if a doctor delays treatment of a serious condition or fails to diagnose a patient after receiving troubling test results, they can be held liable for medical malpractice if their actions (or inactions) were not reasonably careful and caused injury. The same goes for incorrect medication or anesthesia administration, neglectful treatment, or surgical failures.
In some cases, there can be other potentially liable parties. For example, there may have been administrative or systemic failures that caused a patient’s harm. Companies that manufacture defective medical devices or pharmacies that mix up a patient’s prescriptions can also cause harm.
4. Criminal Acts and Violence
In some cases, a catastrophic injury may be caused by acts of violence or crime, such as assault or abuse, rather than pure negligence. In some circumstances, the perpetrators in these crimes can be held liable in civil court for any injuries that occurred as a result of the crime. However, there are some scenarios where other parties may be held liable as well if it’s determined that negligence played a role in the crime. For example, if a tenant is assaulted in an apartment building because the landlord failed to fix a broken security gate or neglected known safety hazards, the landlord could potentially be held liable.
5. Defective Products
Defective products can cause a wide range of severe and life-threatening injuries and can originate from a wide range of sources. These types of cases may include medication with harmful, undisclosed side effects, faulty vehicle parts that cause accidents, or building materials that threaten the structural integrity of a building.
Product liability cases are one of many examples where catastrophic injury liability may fall on several different parties. In some cases, the manufacturer may have failed to produce the product safely. In other cases, the design itself may be flawed. Distributors and retailers can also be held liable if the product was stored or shipped in a way that caused the product to become defective.
If You’ve Suffered from a Catastrophic Injury, Let Us Help You Explore Your Options
Motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, criminal acts, and defective products are just a few of the ways a catastrophic injury can happen. But regardless of what causes them, catastrophic injuries almost always have devastating consequences, from lasting physical pain and emotional trauma to significant financial setbacks.
While filing a personal injury claim can help you recover compensation for these effects, doing so requires collecting substantial supporting evidence, interviewing witnesses, and negotiating with insurance companies. All this can feel like far too much to handle when you’re already dealing with a serious injury.
The good news is that you don’t have to go through it alone. For over 30 years, Power Rogers has successfully handled hundreds of catastrophic injury cases and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of our clients. We are here to help you at every step to ensure you have the best chance at securing fair compensation for your injuries. Contact us today for a free consultation.
