What to Do After a Catastrophic Injury in Pennsylvania

After a catastrophic injury, nobody hands the family a checklist.

One person may be in intensive care. Someone else is calling relatives. Another person is trying to figure out insurance, work, children, transportation, or what happens when the injured person eventually comes home.

Then the phone calls start.

An insurance adjuster wants information. An employer needs paperwork. Bills begin arriving. Someone may ask for a recorded statement or send documents to sign.

Meanwhile, the family may not even know what the medical outcome will be.

We have worked with families going through this, and one of the most important things to understand is that you do not need to solve everything immediately. Medical care comes first.

But there are a few things that should happen early because evidence can disappear, legal deadlines keep running, and decisions made in the first weeks can affect a case years later.

Here is where we would start.

Need Help With Catastrophic Injuries in Pennsylvania?GET A FREE CONSULTATION.

CALL NOW
215-774-5162

1. Focus on Medical Care First

In the immediate aftermath of a catastrophic injury, the injured person’s health is the priority.

Follow the recommendations of the treating doctors. Keep discharge instructions and medication information. Attend follow-up appointments. If new symptoms develop, report them rather than waiting for the next scheduled visit.

This sounds obvious, but catastrophic injuries rarely follow a straight line.

Someone may leave the hospital and return days later. A traumatic brain injury may produce symptoms that become more noticeable over time. A surgeon may initially hope that another procedure will not be necessary and later recommend one. Rehabilitation may reveal limitations that were difficult to assess while someone was hospitalized.

Don’t expect to know the final prognosis in the first few weeks.

And don’t let anyone else pretend that they know it either.

2. Let Someone Else Handle the Administrative Mess

The person who has just suffered a catastrophic injury should not also be responsible for keeping track of insurance calls, receipts, paperwork and appointments.

If possible, designate one trusted family member or friend to help.

That person can keep medical records and discharge paperwork together, save insurance correspondence, track missed work and collect receipts for medications, transportation and other injury-related expenses.

They can also keep a simple record of what is happening.

It doesn’t need to be a detailed diary written every night. Just record important developments: a new diagnosis, another hospitalization, a missed appointment and why it was missed, a new restriction, a piece of medical equipment that becomes necessary, or a change in the amount of help the injured person needs.

Months later, it can be surprisingly difficult to remember exactly when something changed.

3. Be Careful With Insurance Calls

Insurance adjusters sometimes make contact very quickly after a serious accident.

Remember what that call is and what it isn’t.

The adjuster may sound helpful and may genuinely need certain information to process the claim. But the adjuster represents an insurance company with its own financial interests.

You do not have to speculate about how an accident happened or answer questions you don’t know the answer to.

Be especially careful if someone asks for a recorded statement, a broad authorization to obtain medical records, or a signature on something you do not completely understand.

The same is true of an early settlement offer.

Money can be enormously important to a family when someone is hospitalized and unable to work. But an offer made three weeks after an accident cannot account for medical consequences that doctors themselves may not understand yet.

Before signing a release, understand exactly what rights are being given up.

4. Preserve Evidence Before It Disappears

This is one of the areas where families can unintentionally hurt a case without realizing it.

Evidence does not necessarily sit around waiting for a lawsuit.

A business may overwrite surveillance video. Vehicles get repaired or sold. Road conditions change. A defective product may be thrown away. Clothing gets washed. A damaged helmet or piece of safety equipment gets discarded. Witnesses become harder to locate.

If something may be relevant to how the injury occurred, preserve it.

Take photographs if it is safe to do so. Save videos and messages. Keep damaged clothing, helmets, equipment, tools or products in their existing condition. Don’t repair, clean or alter potentially important physical evidence.

And be cautious about social media. A photograph or comment posted without much thought can later be taken out of context.

Some of the most important evidence may not be in the family’s possession at all.

Depending on the case, that could include surveillance video, vehicle data, maintenance records, inspection reports, employee training records, electronic communications, contracts or company records.

When Fulginiti Law becomes involved in a catastrophic injury case, one of our threshold questions is: What evidence exists today that might not exist six months from now?

Then we work to preserve it.

5. Start Paying Attention to What Has Actually Changed

A medical chart is important, but it will never tell the entire story.

Suppose someone comes home using a wheelchair. The medical records will document the injury and probably the mobility restriction. They may not document that the person cannot get into the upstairs bedroom.

A doctor may record weakness in an arm. The chart probably won’t say that a father can no longer pick up his three-year-old daughter.

After a traumatic brain injury, records may describe problems with memory or concentration. They may not show that a spouse has taken over the bills because payments were being missed, or that someone who previously managed 20 employees can no longer concentrate through a one-hour meeting.

Pay attention to those changes.

Who is helping with showers or dressing? Who is cooking? Who drives to medical appointments? Has a spouse reduced work hours? Can the injured person still drive? Take care of the children? Handle stairs? Sleep normally? Return to hobbies or activities?

These aren’t trivial details. They help explain what the injury has actually done to someone’s life.

6. Don’t Assume the Person Who Caused the Accident Is the Only Responsible Party

Catastrophic injury cases can be more complicated than they first appear.

In a serious truck crash, for example, responsibility might involve more than the driver. Depending on the facts, questions may arise about the trucking company, vehicle owner, maintenance provider, cargo loading or other parties.

A defective-product case may require investigating manufacturers, distributors or others involved in putting the product into the marketplace.

An injury on property may involve questions about who owned, occupied, maintained or controlled the area where the injury occurred.

This matters for two reasons.

First, the investigation should determine everyone whose conduct may have contributed to what happened.

Second, catastrophic injuries can create enormous financial losses. Identifying all potentially responsible parties can also mean identifying additional insurance coverage or other resources that may be available to compensate the injured person.

The obvious defendant is not always the only defendant.

Questions About Catastrophic Injuries?GET A FREE CONSULTATION.

CALL NOW
215-774-5162

7. Don’t Wait for Treatment to End Before Talking to a Lawyer

There is a misconception that you should wait until you know the full extent of the injury before starting the legal process.

In a catastrophic injury case, that can be dangerous.

The medical case and the legal case can develop at the same time.

While doctors are determining prognosis and treatment, lawyers can preserve evidence, interview witnesses, investigate what happened, identify potentially responsible parties, locate insurance coverage and protect legal deadlines.

Many Pennsylvania personal injury cases are subject to a two-year statute of limitations. Some cases can involve much shorter notice requirements, including certain claims involving government entities.

The correct deadline depends on the particular case.

If significant time has already passed, don’t assume it is too late. Have the facts evaluated. There may be issues or exceptions that require closer analysis.

8. Give Doctors Enough Time to Tell You What the Future Looks Like

A catastrophic injury case isn’t just about what has already happened.

It may involve decades of future consequences.

Will another surgery be necessary? Will the person need ongoing physical or occupational therapy? Will a wheelchair, prosthesis or other equipment need periodic replacement? Will the house need to be modified? Will someone need assistance for several hours each day?

Then there is work.

A person may technically be capable of working but no longer capable of doing the job they had before the injury. Someone who spent 25 years building a career involving physical labor may have to start over. A person with a brain injury may be physically capable of returning to an office while no longer having the concentration, memory or stamina the job requires.

Those losses need to be understood before a case can be responsibly valued.

Depending on the injury, that may require input from treating physicians, rehabilitation specialists, life-care planners, vocational experts or financial experts.

9. Don’t Let the First Settlement Offer Define the Case

An early insurance offer can be attractive for an obvious reason: families need money.

But there is a fundamental problem with valuing a catastrophic injury too soon.

The insurance company is asking how much it will cost to settle the claim today.

Your family needs to know how much this injury may cost over a lifetime.

Those are not the same question.

Suppose an offer is accepted before doctors determine that another surgery is necessary. Or before it becomes clear that someone cannot return to their career. Or before the family realizes that several hours of daily assistance will be necessary indefinitely.

A settlement generally ends the claim. You ordinarily do not get to return years later because the medical condition became worse or the future care turned out to cost far more than expected.

That doesn’t mean every early settlement offer is bad.

It means you should know what you are settling before you settle it.

What Should a Family Do First?

If someone you love has suffered a catastrophic injury, don’t try to solve the next 30 years during the first 30 days.

Focus on the immediate medical needs. Put one trusted person in charge of paperwork if possible. Preserve photographs, physical evidence and other information about what happened. Be careful about recorded statements and documents from insurance companies. And get legal advice early enough that evidence and deadlines can be protected while the medical picture develops.

The investigation can move forward while the injured person focuses on recovery.

At Fulginiti Law, we represent people and families dealing with catastrophic injuries throughout Pennsylvania. We investigate how the injury happened, identify every potentially responsible party and source of insurance, preserve evidence that might otherwise disappear, and work to understand what the injury will mean not only today, but years from now.

If you or a family member has suffered a catastrophic injury because of someone else’s conduct, contact Fulginiti Law before signing a release or making decisions about the claim that may be impossible to undo later.

Contact Fulginiti Law Today

Recovering compensation for catastrophic injuries in Pennsylvania is a complex process that requires a thorough understanding of the legal framework and meticulous preparation. By taking the right steps immediately after the injury and working with experienced attorneys like those at Fulginiti Law, victims can navigate the challenges and secure the compensation they deserve. At Fulginiti Law, we are committed to standing by our clients every step of the way, advocating tirelessly for their rights and their future.  Contact Fulginiti Law today by calling 215-602-4204 or scheduling your free consultation online.

Related Practice Resources

• Catastrophic Injury

Ready to Discuss Your Catastrophic Injuries Case?GET A FREE CONSULTATION.

CALL NOW
215-774-5162