Every accident forces the victim to deal with both economic and non-economic damages. Smart victims claim all of the reasonable damages, in order to receive what they deserve.
Economic damages
• Medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Lost opportunity
• Property damage
• Money spent on a caregiver, if the victim has suffered a long-term injury
• Money spent on a provider of housekeeping services, or home maintenance services
• Present and future economic losses
Non-economic losses: Those that are not easy to quantify
Pain
Discomfort
Possible consequences from injury: Some symptoms show up soon after the accident; others develop as the victim ages.
—Trouble sleeping
—Trouble concentrating
—Loss of appetite: This could include development of unpleasant taste sensations, following surgery, in order to correct an accident-related condition.
—Loss of mobility in certain body regions
—Inability to control certain body functions
—Gradual loss of hearing: This could be a consequence of certain IV medicines.
—Problems with balance
—Vision problems
—Recurring pain
How could a lost opportunity be called an economic damage?
If an older teen had received an athletic scholarship from a university, and then suffered a terrible injury in an accident, that could lead to loss of the scholarship. A personal injury lawyer in Lower Sackville would see that as an economic damage.
If a TBI (traumatic brain injury) were to go undetected and untreated, it could develop into a more serious condition, such as hydrocephalus. The correction for that condition involves the implantation of a ventricular shunt. Over time, some shunts become infected.
If a working adult were to develop an infected shunt, he or she would need to request time off from work, in order to have the device replaced. Depending on how accommodating the worker’s boss might happen to be, that request might cause problems.
Moreover, if the same worker happened to suffer from a series of infections, or other problems, he or she might have a resume with several “holes” in it. That could make it hard for the same individual to find a job. Hence, it would qualify as an economic damage.
Would it not be up to the injured victim to seek medical help, so that the TBI was treated?
Yes, an adult victim could be held responsible for seeking such treatment on his/her own. However, if a child or teen were to suffer such an injury, as the result of an accident, the parents might not link the early symptoms to the unfortunate on-road incident.
Consider some of those symptoms: headaches, trouble remembering information, irritability, depression, and trouble sleeping. A parent might think that any one of those was typical of a teenager. Hence, the victim’s opportunity for seeking out the necessary medical intervention could be one that was lost.
