Portland Catastrophic Injury Attorney
Pursuing Justice for Victims of Catastrophic Injuries in Oregon
The emotional strain following a catastrophic injury can be overwhelming to a victim and his or her family. Such an injury may result in permanent disabilities which may require a lifetime of medical care, nursing care, or personal assistance. At a time like this, you need an advocate who can help resolve your insurance issues and seek the justice you deserve. Our Portland catastrophic injury attorneys offer help to victims of Burn Injuries, Brain Injuries, Limb Amputations, and Spinal Cord Injuries.
- Amputation Injury
- Broken Bones & Fractures
- Burn Injury
- Electrical Injury
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Wrongful Death
If you have experienced any of the following catastrophic injuries and are looking to pursue compensation, immediately contact the Law Offices of Timothy Grabe. Call us at 971-645-7176 or send an email to schedule your free consultation.
Brain Injuries:
Traumatic brain injuries are some of the most severe injuries that can come as the result of an accident. If the catastrophic injuries you or a loved one sustained were the result of a negligent person, you may be entitled to receive damages.
What Causes Brain Injuries?
Falls, blunt force trauma, penetrating brain injuries, and comas can lead to complicated long-term conditions and short-term serious injuries. Any TBI can take months, if not years, to recover from, and the sad reality of these injuries is that sometimes recovery is not an option and victims lose their lives as a result of their injuries.
Common factors that can cause traumatic injuries include: Violence, Sporting concussions, Falls, Car accidents, Shaken baby syndrome (SBS) or Truck crashes.
What are the Signs of a Traumatic Brain Injury?
An important step in treating traumatic brain injuries is identifying them as soon as possible. If you have reason to suspect that a loved one has suffered a TBI, take them to a medical professional as soon as possible. Even with treatment, however, TBIs often leave a permanent mark on victims.
People who have suffered a TBI may experience:
- Memory loss
- Paralysis
- Difficulty speaking/comprehending language
- Impaired motor skills
- Epilepsy
Burn Injuries:
Heat, light, friction, chemical burns, radiation, and electricity can all cause major burn injuries. Depending on the degree of the burn, victims may be facing debilitating scarring, amputation, and complications with breathing and internal organ function. Burns are classified by degrees, with each degree pertaining to the depth the burn penetrates the body.
What Different Types of Burns Are There?
Burns are classified as follows:
- First-Degree Burns – Affect only the outermost layer of skin and can look dry in appearance; they heal within three to five days. Typically, these burns do not require hospitalization; however, medical treatment may be needed for fluid imbalances.
- Second-Degree Burns – There are two types of second-degree burns: full thickness and partial thickness. Full-thickness burns can be red or white in appearance and can sometimes be associated with blisters. Partial-thickness burns usually have blisters but the skin will appear to blanch with applied pressure. Both of these second-degree burns are painful and may take weeks to heal.
- Third-Degree Burns – Extend throughout the entire dermis and usually look dry and leathery, can take weeks to heal and require immediate medical attention. Although these burns look bad, they usually are painless but may require skin grafting or amputations, even with proper treatment.
- Fourth-Degree Burns – Incredibly serious burns that extend completely through the skin layers and sometimes past the soft tissues to the underlying muscle and bone. These charred, blackened burns are painless and require medical attention. Tetanus, gangrene, and amputation are not uncommon to victims of these burns, and they can sometimes result in death. Electrical burns and chemical burns can cause fourth-degree injuries.
If burns go untreated, they may result in infections, skin damage, tissue damage, physical complications, and or loss of a limb. Families and victims of serious burn injuries can face high medical bills and lengthy recoveries. If the catastrophic injury sustained by the victim was the result of another person’s carelessness, he or she may be eligible to receive damages from the wrongful party.
Limb Amputations
Losing an arm, hand, leg, or foot is one of the worst possible kinds of catastrophic injury, as it affects victims for a lifetime. Such injuries can often be attributed to the negligence or recklessness of another individual. For this reason and many others, those who have suffered an amputation have the right to seek compensation.
What are the Physical Effects of Amputation?
There are many impairments that can come from limb loss, including:
- Chronic phantom sensations
- Phantom pain
- Emotional trauma
In a majority of cases that involve victims who have lost a limb, phantom pain is experienced. This is the false perception of pain in the missing limb. In recent studies, about 74% of limb amputation victims experience this residual limb pain impairment. Fortunately, with many advances in medical equipment and surgeries, there are some possible alternatives to limbs.
Injury insurance claims involving amputations are complex. Do not suffer in silence; let a knowledgeable and skilled Portland personal injury attorney fight for you to receive the maximum compensation possible for your injury.
If you’re ready to share your story with us and get started on your claim, call us today at 971-645-7176 or send us an email.
Spinal Cord Injuries:
Spinal cord injuries can happen at any time and for any number of reasons. Something as simple as slipping down a stairway and landing on the wrong side of your spine can cause nerve damage. In many cases, car or truck accidents and any kind of collision that twists or bends the spine can lead to long-term or permanent injuries.
What are the Symptoms of a Spinal Cord Injury?
People suffering from spinal cord injuries may experience:
- Permanent paralysis
- Loss of feeling in hands or legs
- Tingly feeling with small amounts of sensation below the injury site
These injuries are considered medical emergencies, and treatment by a medical professional is always recommended. Proper treatment may prevent further damage. Additionally, timely care from a medical professional can help you determine how much you are eligible to recover in an injury claim.
Living With a Spinal Cord Injury: Expenses and Recovery
The financial burden of a spinal cord injury can affect a victim for years to come. Survivors are often overwhelmed by the costs of medical care alone in the days and weeks following an accident. As months stretch into years, long-term care and other costs may also arise. Even with insurance coverage, a relatively minor injury can lead to significant fees. These expenses include surgery, medication, therapy and caregiver fees.
Medical attention and treatments can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and sometimes victims’ insurance companies don’t pay all the damages up front. Personal injury claims are designed to help you seek compensation for financial damages that are not covered by your insurer. With the help of a Portland injury lawyer, you can seek restitution needed for a lifetime of quality treatment.
Helping Clients Seek Full Compensation for Catastrophic Personal Injuries
Catastrophic injury cases can be extremely complicated because of the enormous expenses involved. People who suffer from injuries like this will typically require ongoing medical treatment and surgical procedures, and miss out on wages – potentially for the rest of their lives if they are disabled. Our Portland personal injury attorney is dedicated to helping our clients seek fair compensation so that they can recover with financial peace of mind.
Compensation for catastrophically injured clients can include:
- Past and future medical treatment, including hospital bills, doctor visits, medication, etc.
- Past and future lost earnings, including wages from missing work and loss of earning capacity
- Cost of care and services, such as money to hire a caregiver
- Cost of accommodations, such as equipment, aids, prosthetics, and other necessary devices
- Pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, etc.
Our service doesn’t end with the settlement, however. In cases where a client has suffered a debilitating injury, such as a brain trauma, we obtain the help of outside counselors or a legal guardian to deal with the client’s health care providers. Together, we see that the recovery is put into a trust fund, which the guardian manages, to protect the victim’s needs.
If you or a loved one has suffered severe injuries, the stakes are high; too much is involved for you not to choose highly-qualified counsel. We advise you to contact our personal injury lawyer to discuss your case in a confidential consultation to find out how we can help to ensure that your financial recovery is commensurate with the severity and permanence of the injuries sustained.
Contact our firm for experienced and comprehensive legal representation in the wake of serious injuries. We can help you get started with your catastrophic injury case today.
