Catastrophic Injuries

As catastrophic injury lawyers, we are equipped to help people who suffered the most severe injuries.  Some injuries, even those that cause pain and leave scars, can be overcome with medical attention and time.  A catastrophic injury is one that has serious and permanent life-altering consequences, leaving someone with a severe functional disability. Many times catastrophic injuries will require surgeries, sometimes multiple surgeries. Sometimes catastrophic injuries can require no surgery, like some traumatic brain injuries or anoxic injuries that cause neurologic damage.

Many catastrophic injuries are the result of truck or severe car crashes. We also see them often in swimming pool and water sports accidents, shootings, medical mistakes, burns from fires or explosions, defective drugs and consumer products, and falls.  Often they result in traumatic brain injuries, neurologic injury, amputations, and paralysis.

The types of injuries we often see that are catastrophic in nature include:

• Spinal cord injuries
  • Complete or incomplete paraplegia
  • Complete or incomplete quadriplegia
  • hemiplegia
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Amputations of a limb
• Loss of vision (partial or total)
• Loss of hearing
• Complicated orthopedic injuries (often from trauma or crush)
• Severe neurologic injuries, often caused by oxygen deprivation (birth trauma, heart attacks, strokes, partial drownings, etc.)
  • Sometimes this can result in a coma or persistent vegetative state
• Organ damage or loss of organ function
• Severe burns, which are often accompanied by numerous other complications
• Severe scarring or disfigurement, often seen in burns or degloving injuries

Catastrophic injuries usually require some or all of the following:

• Permanent disability of some sort or loss of function
• The need for assistance with activities of daily living
• Inability to work full-time or a change in occupation
• Modifications to a home or change in location, sometimes to a care facility
• Assistive devices such as a wheelchair, braces, walker or other item
• Prosthetics in the event of an amputation
• Lifelong medications and medical devices
• Wheelchair accessible vans or other accommodations for transportation
• Assistive technology and adaptive devices

Injuries that are catastrophic also tend to cost the most to treat.  For our clients who have suffered a catastrophic injury, we often utilize experts in life care planning.  These professionals are trained and skilled in developing plans that calculate the needs for our clients for the rest of their lives.  They will assess what medications, durable and disposable medical goods the client will need, how often certain items and devices will need to be replaced, what their real needs are going forward, what medical treatments are likely to be needed (including surgeries and therapies), and what the cost will be over their lifetime.  This allows us to better represent our clients to obtain the full measure of damages needed to make them whole.

Most clients who suffer catastrophic injuries will also sustain a loss of income or earning capacity.  Because of their injuries, they will never work again as they once did, if at all. Our life care plans may also calculate loss of income and work life expectancy.

These types of catastrophic injuries can completely disrupt families. It is not only the injured person who bears the loss, but their family is harmed in ways that are not always seen on the surface.  Often mental health professional can help identify and assist in the healing process and work to ease the transition everyone in the family will have to make.

Our long track record of representing catastrophically injured people has resulted in some of the largest verdicts and settlements in Florida.

Please review our representative catastrophic injury verdicts and settlements.

• Record $24,100,00 Verdict – Birth Trauma (Cerebral Palsy) – Medical Malpractice (Seminole County, FL)
• $11,250,000 Settlement – Severe Brain Damage from Birth Trauma, Medical Malpractice (Central Florida)
• $9,000,000 settlement – brain damage suffered in hospital
• $5,000,000 settlement – Auto Crash Causing Bone Fractures (Broward County, FL)
• $4,300,000 Settlement – Death from Medical Neglect of Brain Cyst (Chicago, IL)
• $3,750,000 settlement – birth injury to baby
• $3,500,000 settlement – brain injury from motorcycle crash (Orlando)
• $3,250,000 Settlement – Inadequate Security Case: Paraplegia Resulting from Shooting (Broward County, FL)
• $3,000,000 settlement – Paraplegia Resulting from ATM Shooting (Indiana)
• $2,100,000 Settlement – Resort Tort: Closed Head Trauma Resulting from Boating Accident (Broward County, FL)
• $1,760,000 Settlement – Motorcycle & Car Crash (Broward County, FL)
• $1,510,000 Verdict – Inadequate Security Case: Parking Lot Shooting (Aventura, FL)
• $1,136,000 Settlement – Inadequate Security Case: Sexual Assault in Mall (Wisconsin)
• $1,020,000 Settlement – Drunk Driver Strikes Motorcycle (Osceola County, FL)
• $1,000,000 Settlement – Nursing Home Abuse Resulting in Subdural Hematoma (Key West)
• $820,000 Settlement – Stroke Resulting from Weight Loss Supplement
• $1,000,000 settlement – Head injury to minor child
• $1,125,000 settlement – mild traumatic brain injury
• $7,400,000 verdict – leg amputation

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Disclaimer: The information about past verdicts and settlements of the firm’s cases are based on the unique facts of each case. These amounts reflect the gross recovery in each case (before attorneys fees, expenses and medical costs are deducted).  Although these results were obtained by our firm, they may not indicate the success or value of any other case.  By clicking on Verdicts and Settlements you are acknowledging that each case is unique and must be evaluated on its own merits. The information contained here has not been reviewed or approved by The Florida Bar.