Pelvis injuries are not pretty. Fractures often involve two breakage points, and a crushed pelvis can result in many fractures, sometimes leading to organ damage. In a worst-case scenario, this type of injury can be life threatening.
If you (or a loved one) have suffered from a serious pelvis injury due to someone else’s negligence, you may be able to obtain compensation for the many costs that accompany this kind of injury. In this blog post, we will attend to some of the basic losses incurred by a pelvis injury, including both economic and non-economic damages. We will also touch on the differences between short-term and long-term costs. These are all damages that you should seek to recover in a personal injury lawsuit or settlement for your pelvis injury.
Economic Damages
When totaling the cost of a pelvis injury for purposes of compensation, it is important to consider all relevant damages. To begin with, you probably want to add up the concrete monetary losses, such as medical expenses, lost earnings, rehabilitation and “hidden” expenses.
First, you should find out exactly how much money you are spending on medical treatment. According to CostHelper.com, treatment of a hip fracture (hip fractures often occur simultaneously with pelvis injuries) can cost as low as $13,000 and as high as $40,000, depending on how complicated the injury is. More complicated fractures, such as an open book fracture – which is when the pelvis literally opens like a book – can cost $36,830 (and even higher in some cases). Even if you’re covered by health insurance, you may still have to pay thousands of dollars in coinsurance and copays. In the end, treatment of a pelvis injury can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Medical costs may not be limited to short-term expenses. If the injury is severe enough, you might have to alter your home or even hire a live-in nurse, which could mean having expensive ongoing costs. These costs should be factored in as you seek compensation for your injuries.
Pelvis injuries may also result in decreased wages. Due to the relative severity of this type of injury, you may be forced to leave work for a while, if not indefinitely. It is, therefore, important to keep records (such as paystubs) showing losses in income directly related to the injury. If you had the misfortune of losing your job altogether than you may be able to receive compensation for loss of future earnings.
When gathering documentation to substantiate economic damages, you should also keep records of all expenses that arise on your way to the hospital or during your stay there. These might include receipts for meals, vending machine snacks or entertainment experienced at the hospital.
Non-Economic Damages
After considering the concrete monetary losses incurred by the injury, it’s equally important to gather records that bear on the intangible effects of the injury. These intangible effects are sometimes called non-economic (or pain and suffering) damages. For example, you or your family may experience extreme emotional distress following the incident, or you may have constant aggravating pain that never seems to dissipate and is directly linked to the injury.
Non-economic damages are difficult to substantiate, so you should be sure to be as thorough as possible in collecting evidence and documenting your pain and suffering in a diary. For example, when proving that you have suffered severe depression following surgery, you want to be sure you have an official statement from a mental health expert, detailing your condition and showing that the depression came about due to the injury.
As you can see, there are a lot of things to consider when culling records for purposes of compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. That’s why you should consider calling a personal injury lawyer who has experience with pelvis injuries. He or she can help you collect and organize your evidence to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.
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