I lost a limb or suffered a life-changing injury. How is that valued?

A catastrophic injury is valued over a lifetime

An amputation, a spinal cord injury, or a severe brain injury changes the rest of a person’s life. The medical bills from the first hospital stay are only the beginning. What matters is what the injury will cost over the decades ahead — in care, in equipment, in income, and in the loss of the life the person had planned. A settlement that does not account for all of it cannot be reopened later.

How these injuries happen

Amputations and crush injuries are most common where heavy equipment and heavy vehicles are involved: 18-wheeler and motorcycle crashes, pedestrians struck by trucks, and industrial accidents with forklifts, cranes, conveyors and machinery. Sometimes the limb is lost at the scene; sometimes it is amputated later, after a limb damaged by a crush injury or infection could not be saved.

What goes into the number

Serious cases are valued with evidence, not estimates. A life care plan, prepared by a qualified planner working with the treating doctors, lists the care the person will need for life: surgeries, therapy, medications, attendant care, home and vehicle modifications, and, for an amputation, prosthetic limbs. A prosthesis does not last forever. It has to be refitted as the residual limb changes and replaced periodically — anywhere from every several months to every several years, and advanced prosthetics are expensive. An economist then calculates the present value of that care and of the income the person can no longer earn.

Texas law also recognizes physical pain and mental anguish, physical impairment, and disfigurement as separate parts of the claim, past and future. In an ordinary Texas injury case against a private person or company, those damages are not capped. Claims against a government entity or a health care provider follow different rules, including limits on damages. For the injured person’s spouse, Texas also recognizes a claim for loss of consortium in serious injury cases.

Finding enough insurance

A lifetime of care can exceed any single insurance policy. Recovering the full value of a catastrophic injury often means identifying every responsible party and every policy: the driver and the trucking company, the company that loaded or maintained the truck, the owner of the property or equipment, the manufacturer of a defective product, excess and umbrella policies, and your own underinsured motorist coverage. That work has to start early, while evidence still exists.

Protecting the recovery

How a large recovery is received matters as much as its size. Health insurance, Medicare and Medicaid liens have to be resolved. Someone who relies on needs-based public benefits may need the recovery placed in a trust so those benefits are not lost. Part of a settlement can be paid out over time through a structured settlement. Those decisions affect the injured person for decades and should be made with care, not in a rush at the end.

At work

If the injury happened on the job, workers’ compensation may apply if your employer carries it, while companies other than your employer can often still be sued. If your employer is a non-subscriber, a direct lawsuit may be possible. Either way, a catastrophic work injury needs the same full investigation as a catastrophic crash.

Spinal cord injuries

A spinal cord injury can cause partial or complete loss of movement and feeling below the level of the injury, and it affects nearly every part of daily life: mobility, bladder and bowel function, skin, breathing in higher injuries, and the risk of infections and other complications over time. The lifetime cost of care for a serious spinal cord injury can be very large, and much of it falls years after the injury. The same approach applies: a life care plan built with the treating physicians, an economist’s calculation of present value, and a search for every source of insurance, all completed before any settlement is discussed.

Authority: Golden Eagle Archery, Inc. v. Jackson, 116 S.W.3d 757 (Tex. 2003) · Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 41 (damages)