When you read about a multi-million-dollar settlement achieved with the help of a highly qualified personal injury attorney, at first, the amount may seem to be a staggering sum. However, if you look into the details of the personal injury cases, the large settlement amounts are more reasonable.
Think of a lifetime of suffering with a medical condition like mesothelioma or a disability caused by the fault of another. Getting quality healthcare in America is very expensive. The amount you may have to pay for decades may not be covered by health insurance. Additionally, if the personal injury results in a permanent disability that prevents work or employment, the person may lose a small fortune of lifetime economic earnings that need to be replaced by the settlement.
Let’s take a deeper look at the numbers for a hypothetical case that represents an example.
What happened?
A young girl was hit in a crosswalk by a vehicle running a red light. The driver of the vehicle, which is a company car, was impaired. He got intoxicated from drinking alcohol and using recreational drugs at a company party earlier in the evening.
Not only did witnesses at the party see the intoxicated person leave in the company car, but no one also made any attempt to stop the driver from driving while impaired. When the driver was taken to the hospital after the crash, a blood test showed intoxication at a severe level, and he was charged with a crime.
The young girl survived being hit but was completely paralyzed due to injuries suffered in the accident.
What are the damages?
The damages to the young girl include the cost of medical care for life, the loss of income for life, and an additional amount for pain and suffering.
Medical costs include hospitalization, surgeries, doctor visits, physical therapy, medication, tests, home care, personal care, nursing, and on and on.
A Life Care Plan
In this case, the young girl will need a life care plan for intensive and expensive medical care. The legal case is supported by the analysis of medical and economic experts who developed the financial model to support the needs of the young girl for her life.
Estimates for the life care plan include the initial (first year) medical expenses, annual expenses thereafter, and a lifetime projection of the amount needed for her full life.
Initial Costs
The initial costs include emergency transport to the hospital, trauma care, ICU costs, multiple surgeries, perhaps months of stays in the hospital, medical support equipment, and rehabilitation.
The average range for these expenses in such a case can be $1 to $3 million dollars.
Ongoing Medical Expenses
Ongoing medical care includes 24/7 attendant care, physical therapy and rehab, medication, medical equipment, home modification, routine hospital stays for infections and pressure sores, etc.
The typical cost per year for these expenses is $150,000 to $500,000 per year.
Lifetime Projection
If the young girl was ten years old when hit, her life expectancy is around 60 to 70 years with modern medical care. At an average of $500,000 per year for 70 years, that means $35 million, which could be a realistic demand just for the cost of medical expenses over the lifetime of the young girl.
Hidden Medical Expenses
Another problem in personal injury cases is that there may be a chronic medical condition that comes up after the initial accident, is caused by it, but does not manifest with symptoms right away.
Examples of delayed conditions include:
- A traumatic brain injury that is discovered later by undergoing an MRI, CT Scan, and a neuropsychological exam.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that requires extensive therapy.
- Spinal disc herniation that develops into painful symptoms weeks or months later.
- Delayed Internal Bleeding
- Follow-up surgeries that are needed months or even years later.
Many clients of personal injury attorneys experience delayed problems that were caused by the accident, such as the need to have joint replacement surgery because of early joint degeneration linked to the injury.
Future medical expenses may include problems from this alphabetical list:
- Anxiety and Depression Counseling
- Assistive Devices (braces, mobility aids, adjustable bed)
- Balance Disorder/Vestibular Therapy
- Blood Clot Treatment (deep vein thrombosis)
- Cardiac Monitoring (after trauma-related stress)
- Chiropractic Care
- Chronic Headache Treatment
- Chronic Neck and Back Pain Management
- Delayed Internal Bleeding Treatment
- Dental Problems (cracked teeth discovered later)
- Hearing Loss Evaluation and Treatment
- Home Access Upgrades
- Home Health Care (delayed need)
- Nerve Damage (Neuropathy Care)
- Occupational Therapy
- Orthopedic Specialist Visits
- Pain Management Programs
- Physical Therapy (weeks or months later)
- Prescription Medications (long-term use)
- Scar Tissue Complication Treatment
- Sleep Disorder Treatment
- Soft Tissue Injury Rehabilitation
- Steroid Injections (epidural or joint injections)
- TMJ Disorder Treatment (jaw injury symptoms)
- Vision Problems or Eye Injury Care
That’s just a short list of examples of ongoing medical care that may become a financial burden for you in the future, long after the accident happened.
To reduce the risk of having the burden of these medical expenses without having the money needed, it is vital to work with your lawyer, a skilled doctor(s), and an economic valuation team to make projections that cover them and allow for contingencies.
Lessons Learned
The takeaway from this analysis is the need to estimate a lifetime projection for medical expenses, and that it is completely reasonable to be tens of millions of dollars.
If you or a family member has been injured in an accident caused by another person or has been diagnosed with mesothelioma after worksite exposure, be sure to speak with a qualified team of tireless mesothelioma attorneys about your case. Do this before you talk to anyone, and especially before you accept any offer of settlement, which may be far less than the amount you will actually need.