Assessing Lifetime Costs
ASSESSING THE LIFETIME NEEDS AND COSTS OF BIRTH INJURIES
The pain that a family can suffer from a catastrophic birth injury is immeasurable. In many cases, there are no means of curing or reversing a birth injury. No amount of money can repair these injuries and restore the future the child would have enjoyed before it was stolen away. These types of injuries will stay with a child every day of their life, as will the need for ongoing care. Full justice must be obtained to offset these costs.
Determining Lifelong Needs
For a family affected by a birth injury, full justice requires fair compensation to ensure resources are available to provide a lifetime of optimal care for someone with significant disabilities. These costs can be unimaginably large. Without fair compensation for the birth injury, these costs can crush families under their weight and the quality of life and health of their injured children can be put at risk.
Families coping with birth injuries are in no position to even guess what the long-term needs of their injured children may be. The levels of compensation that are discussed in birth injury cases may seem like more money than many people could ever imagine, but without a clear understanding of the lifetime needs and costs facing the injured child, amounts that seem astronomical may still be inadequate. The Becker Law Firm fights to ensure families of injured children are never in the position of being unable to pay for the care of their children.
We understand how to identify the needs of a severely injured child now and into the future and then accurately project the lifetime costs of those needs. We start by working with certified life care planning specialists to determine a child’s long-term and ongoing needs. We identify all the specialized services, materials, and care they may need throughout the stages of their life.
These may include:
- Ongoing medical care, including office visits, surgeries, and medications;
- Physical, occupational, speech, vocational and/or psychological therapy;
- Personal care attendants, who may be needed around the clock;
- Adaptive devices, such as motorized wheelchairs, braces, and artificial limbs;
- Accessible vans and living facilities;
- Special tutors and schools;
- Needs these children will face as adults, when their parents or family may not be able to care for them.
Projecting Lifetime Costs
Once we know what the child’s needs are likely to be throughout their life, we have to look at how long the child is expected to live, what the costs of fulfilling his or her needs are now, and how those costs may change over time. We first contact either an expert or the injured party's primary physician to project their life expectancy. We then consult with an economist to determine the current and future costs of the lifetime plan.
All expenses associated with the injury are considered. These expenses may include projected personal care fees, quality-of-life expenses, potential pain and suffering awards, and the loss of future earning potential. Considering all of these helps ensure that the compensation received is sufficient to restore opportunities for the child that may have otherwise been lost. Once we have established the child’s life care plan, associated lifetime expenses, and the monetary value of the child’s pain and lost opportunities, we aggressively pursue full compensation for our clients to guarantee the maximum amount of compensation.
Securing Full Compensation and Full Justice Is a Skill, Not a Given
Securing full compensation and full justice for a birth injury depends on the skill of the law firm representing your case. The risks to a family that does not receive full compensation for the harm done to their birth-injured child are too great to leave to chance. The Becker Law Firm has years of experience and a proven record of success in birth injury litigation, and we encourage you to consult us for your medical malpractice legal needs.
Contact Us Today
To learn more about assessing the lifetime costs of a birth injury, please contact The Becker Law Firm to arrange for a free initial consultation. You may use the contact form on this page or call us at (440) 252-4399
We will evaluate your case free of charge, as we believe there is no financial obligation to learning if you have a potential claim for damages. Best of all, we take cases on a contingency basis, which means that we charge you nothing unless we win your case.
