What Is a Catastrophic Injury?
42 U.S.C. § 3796b defines catastrophic injuries as injuries that permanently prevent a person from having gainful employment. Essentially, a catastrophic injury includes any serious injury that causes permanent damage to a person’s quality of life and ability to work. Common types of catastrophic injuries are:
- Severe burns
- Amputations
- Paralysis
- Birth injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Spinal cord damage
- Permanent loss of senses
- Multiple bone fractures
Catastrophic Injuries Resulting from Medical Malpractice
A person can sustain a catastrophic injury in a variety of negligence-related accidents as well as medical malpractice incidents. Common types of catastrophic injuries obtained in medical malpractice cases include:
- Burns. Because of defective medical equipment, improper use of equipment, failure to follow hospital procedures, or other issues, a person can sustain serious burn injuries while they are under medical care. Types of medical malpractice-related burns include thermal burns, chemical burns, MRI skin burns, laser skin burns, and electrical burns. A person who already sustained burn injuries can also suffer from further medical complications and disfigurement if they are improperly treated or treatment is delayed.
- Amputations. Wrong limb amputations are a common type of catastrophic injury caused by medical malpractice. In some instances, a medical amputation can be performed on the wrong patient or on the wrong limb of the correct patient.
- Internal organ damage. A common type of internal injury that can be sustained because of medical malpractice is a TBI. This catastrophic injury can be caused by anesthesia errors, medication errors, misdiagnoses, or birth injuries caused by malpractice. Medical malpractice involving the misuse of medical tools or other errors can also lead to internal organ damage. For instance, it is unfortunately uncommon for instruments to be left in patients, arteries or other organs to be accidentally nicked, or organ failure to occur because of misdiagnosis or improper treatment.
- Paralysis. Paralysis (quadriplegia or paraplegia) can be caused by a number of medical malpractice issues including (but not limited to) surgical errors, misdiagnoses, lab errors, or failure to diagnose.
- Birth injuries. Various acts of medical malpractice can lead to the serious injury of a mother or child during or after birth. Such acts can include failing to use tools safely or correctly during the birth, not properly monitoring the mother or child during or after birth, failing to offer quality prenatal care, not performing a C-section when needing, or overusing labor-inducing medications.
Contact Our Firm
At the Law Offices of David Henderson, our attorney handles medical malpractice and catastrophic injury cases. If you or a loved one have suffered because of a medical professional’s recklessness, you can trust our firm to help you fight to be compensated. You can seek compensation for economic and noneconomic damages including:
- Medical bills
- Lost earnings and earning capacity
- Physical therapy and prescription costs
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of quality of life
Once you retain our services, we can help you understand your legal options, calculate your damages, work with medical professionals to investigate the incident and collect evidence, and handle negotiations with insurance companies. It is important to note that Alaska has a two-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims—thus, the sooner you contact us the better.
Suffered a catastrophic injury? Schedule a free consultation with our firm today by calling (888) 295-6566.