Catastrophic injuries can have
lifelong impacts
Catastrophic injuries have severe, long-term effects on victims' lives. This article explores common types and causes of these injuries, legal liability, and compensation options under Illinois law.
The term “catastrophic injury” is typically used to describe severe injuries that have long-term effects on the victim’s life. These injuries usually involve permanent disability, significant physical or cognitive impairment, or a drastically reduced quality of life.
Let’s take a closer look at catastrophic injuries under Illinois law.
What are the common types of catastrophic injuries?
Common examples of catastrophic injuries include:
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- Amputations
- Severe burn injuries
- Blindness
- Deafness
- Multiple fractures
- Organ damage
- Severe disfigurement
- Neurological disorders
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) contribute to about 30 percent of all injury-related deaths in the United States.
What are the common causes of catastrophic injuries?
An American is accidentally injured every second and killed every three minutes by a preventable event, according to the National Safety Council.
Although there are countless ways in which you might suffer a catastrophic injury, certain accidents are more likely to cause catastrophic injuries than others. These include:
- Train accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Product defect accidents
- Workplace accidents (particularly construction accidents)
- Football accidents
Craig Pierce, a former lawyer from Bushnell, Illinois, was hospitalized in 2016 with pneumonia, leading to acute kidney injury and dialysis. During his stay, he was diagnosed with arrhythmia and prescribed Coumadin. Post-discharge, while receiving dialysis at a Fresenius Medical Care facility, his INR levels dropped dangerously low without his Coumadin dosage being adjusted. This negligence led to a massive stroke in April 2016, resulting in paralysis and cognitive impairment.
In 2020, Pierce and his wife sued Dr. Sudha Cherukuri, Fresenius, RenalCare Associates, and OSF HealthCare System for malpractice. In 2024, a jury awarded Pierce $41 million, marking one of Illinois' largest malpractice verdicts for a plaintiff over 70.
Who can be sued for a catastrophic injury?
To recover damages for a catastrophic injury, you need to prove that someone else was legally at fault for your injury. Who’s at fault depends on the nature of your accident.
Let’s take a look at some common defendants:
| Type of accident | Potential defendants |
|---|---|
| Motor vehicle accident | Another driver, a motorcyclist, a bicyclist, a pedestrian, or the town that failed to properly maintain the road |
| Slip and fall accident | Owner or manager of the property |
| Dog bite accident | Dog owner |
| Medical malpractice | Doctor, nurse, or another healthcare professional |
| Plane crash or aviation accident | Pilot, plane owner, manufacturer of the plane or plane component, maintenance or repair facility |
| Defective product injury | Manufacturer, distributor, or seller of the defective product |
| Swimming pool accident | Property owner, town or city, or pool occupant |
In most catastrophic injury cases, the legal theory used to prove liability is negligence. Negligence is the failure to behave with the level of care that a reasonable person would have exercised under the same circumstances.
Negligence requires the plaintiff to establish that:
- The defendant owed the plaintiff a duty,
- The defendant breached the duty, and
- The breach was the direct and proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury.
Learn more about establishing negligence, including what happens when the plaintiff is partially at fault for an accident.
Some catastrophic injury cases might be filed on the basis of an intentional act. For example, if a person is assaulted and suffers a traumatic brain injury as a result, the perpetrator could be held liable for intentionally causing harm.
Intentional torts, such as assault and battery, do not require the plaintiff to prove negligence but instead focus on the intentional actions of the defendant.
Other potential theories of liability include:
- Strict Liability: In some cases, strict liability may apply, particularly in cases involving defective products. Under strict liability, a defendant can be held liable for harm caused by a defective product regardless of whether anyone was negligent.
- Vicarious Liability: Employers may be held liable for the actions of their employees if the employee was acting within the scope of their employment when the injury occurred. This is known as vicarious liability or respondeat superior.
- Premises Liability: Property owners have a duty to ensure their premises are safe. If a catastrophic injury occurs due to a dangerous condition on someone’s property, the owner may be held liable under premises liability laws.
What happens if a catastrophic injury occurs at work?
Workers' compensation is a form of insurance that provides benefits to employees who are injured on the job.
With very few exceptions, Illinois employers with at least one employee (full or part-time) must obtain workers’ compensation insurance.
Workers’ compensation covers most injuries as long as the injury occurs while performing a work duty. For example, you’ll be covered if you fall from a ladder while working at a construction site, but you likely won’t be covered if you get into an accident on your way home from work.
Benefits provided by workers' compensation:
- Medical Benefits: Covers all necessary medical treatment related to the injury.
- Temporary Total Disability (TTD): Provides wage replacement benefits if you are unable to work while recovering.
- Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) or Permanent Total Disability (PTD): Provides benefits if you suffer permanent impairments or are unable to return to work at all.
- Vocational Rehabilitation: Offers training and assistance if you need to change jobs due to your injury.
Catastrophic injuries typically result in higher benefit payouts due to the severity and long-term impact of the injury. However, all workers’ compensation benefits are subject to state-specific limits.
What compensation can I recover?
The goal of any personal injury case is to restore the plaintiff to their financial state before the accident. Catastrophic injuries often have severe financial impacts and require significant, sometimes lifelong, adjustments.
Fortunately, plaintiffs in Illinois can recover economic, non-economic, and punitive damages:
- Economic damages represent the monetary losses caused by an accident, including:
- Medical expenses: Costs for immediate medical care, ongoing treatments, and future medical needs.
- Lost income: Compensation for wages lost due to the inability to work and future earning capacity.
- Property damage: Costs to repair or replace property damaged in the accident.
- Non-economic damages represent the non-monetary losses caused by an accident, including:
- Pain and suffering: Compensation for physical pain and discomfort endured.
- Emotional distress: Compensation for psychological impacts, such as anxiety, depression, and loss of enjoyment of life.
- Punitive damages are intended to punish the defendant and deter them and others from engaging in similar behavior.
Damages/Expenses Worksheet
Damages worksheet to track expenses for your injury claim (medical treatment, property damage, lost wages, prescriptions)
Download in PDF format
Post-Accident Journal Form
Sample accident journal/diary to help you document the effect on your daily life
Download in PDF format
Damage caps in Illinois
In Illinois, there are no damage caps in place for personal injury cases. This means that there are no legal limits on the amount of compensation a plaintiff can recover for either economic or non-economic damages.
In 2005, Illinois enacted a law that imposed caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. However, this law was overturned in 2010 by the Illinois Supreme Court, which found it unconstitutional. Since then, Illinois has not reintroduced any damage caps for personal injury or medical malpractice cases.
Need a lawyer?
See our guide Choosing a personal injury attorney.