Life Care Planning

Catastrophic accidents happen daily in South Florida, causing devastating injuries that often require long-term treatment and render the injured person unable to live without assistance. Thus, people who suffer sudden harm may not only contend with decreased quality of life but also struggle with high medical costs. If you were involved in an accident that caused catastrophic injuries, you may be able to recover damages and should speak to an attorney as soon as possible. The knowledgeable Boca Raton catastrophic injury lawyers at The Grife Law Firm can assist you in gathering the evidence needed to help you establish the costs of life care planning and proving that you should be awarded compensation.

Injuries that are severe enough to permanently alter a person’s life are often characterized as catastrophic. Examples of catastrophic injuries include spinal cord injuries, which can cause complete paralysis, quadriplegia, and paraplegia, and traumatic brain injuries, which can cause cognitive impairment, loss of motor functions, and memory loss. Severe burns, hearing loss, and vision loss are examples of catastrophic injuries as well.

While catastrophic injuries can occur in many scenarios, they are likely to occur in truck accidents, high-speed car accidents, and industrial and construction accidents. Typically, the accidents that cause catastrophic injuries arise out of negligence. Thus, victims of catastrophic injuries will often pursue damages from the party that carelessly caused their harm in a civil lawsuit. Under Florida law, a plaintiff seeking compensation for catastrophic injuries caused by negligence must prove the existence of a duty owed to the plaintiff by the defendant, a breach of the duty, and measurable harm proximately caused by the breach.

Victims who prove liability for catastrophic injuries may be awarded a variety of damages. Since catastrophic injuries usually cause permanent harm, victims of catastrophic injuries must assess not only the losses that they have already incurred but also the costs that they will incur in the future. Often, this requires retaining one or more experts to develop a life care plan, which describes the nature and cost of any treatment that the victim is reasonably expected to need in the future. In broad terms, a life care plan is an expert report or compilation of reports that sets forth recommendations and the anticipated costs of a victim’s treatment during the rest of the victim’s life. Depending on the nature of the harm suffered, a life care plan may include recommendations for physical, occupational, and vocational therapy, as well as the timeframes and expected costs of medical treatment that the victim is expected to need in the future, including any surgeries. It may also describe rehabilitative or assistive equipment or care that the victim may need, such as modifications to a home, transportation, and in-home nursing care.

In Florida, there are specific parameters for who can offer expert testimony in the form of a life care plan. Florida Statutes Section 90.702 states that if specialized knowledge will assist a judge or jury in understanding evidence, a person qualified as an expert due to his or her skills, knowledge, or experience may offer testimony regarding the evidence. Thus, to be qualified as an expert for the purposes of establishing a life care plan, a person usually must be a medical professional with experience in treating catastrophic injuries. At The Grife Law Firm, our lawyers have ample experience in helping victims of catastrophic injuries seek compensation for their future medical costs. If you suffered an injury, we can retain the experts needed to help you establish your future medical costs. The experts whom we engage are skilled at developing thorough and comprehensive life care plans that aid in the pursuit of available damages.

Catastrophic injuries often cause physical and psychological harm that is so severe that it requires life care planning. If you or a loved one suffered harm in a devastating accident, you should speak to an attorney regarding the evidence that you may need to produce to recover future medical costs in a civil lawsuit. At The Grife Law Firm, we possess the resources and skills to help you establish future medical costs and aid you in pursuing any compensation that you may be entitled to recover. You can set up a consultation with us by calling 855-998-0770 or using our form online. We assist victims in lawsuits in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Miami.