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Houston Amputation Lawyers
How Much is an Amputation Worth?
The out-of-pocket cost for an amputation without health insurance generally ranges somewhere between $20,000 to $60,000. The extremity being amputated as well as the surgeon’s fee and the specific location all factor into the total amount. The facility fee, anesthesia costs, and medical supplies also play a part. However, this estimate does not include aftercare expenses, such as prosthetics and physical therapy, which can add tens of thousands of dollars to the total cost.
For those who do have health insurance, their provider generally covers most of the cost of an amputation.
However, patients may still need to contribute a copay, which can end up being something like ten or twenty percent of the total cost.
Can You Sue for Amputation?
Losing limbs through accidental amputations not only impacts people physically; it also has a dramatic impact on their mental and emotional wellbeing. These are all things that must be taken into account when assessing how much an amputee may receive in compensation. Amputations are also a form of incapacitating injury, which means that they will impair victims after they have fully healed.
Compensation for an amputation claim should be enough to cover every expense and loss that the victim experienced due to their injury.
Economic Damages for Accidental Amputation
The amount should cover the entirety of economic costs, such as:
- Medical bills and expenses
- Emergency care, surgery, ongoing treatment
- Physical therapy
- Prosthetics
- Medication
- Medical supplies and assistive devices
- Wheelchairs, crutches, etc.
- Lost income
- Loss of future earnings and working capacity
- Assisted care expenses
Non-Economic Damages for Accidental Amputation
In addition, the compensation an amputee receives should also cover all noneconomic costs.
These include but may not be limited to:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional trauma
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Physical impairment
- Disability or disfigurement
With all of these expenses and losses in mind, a leg amputation case can sometimes exceed over $1,000,000 in compensation. Of course, each case depends on the specific details surrounding the accident and the skill of your Houston personal injury attorney.
Does Losing Your Limb Shorten Your Life?
There are several adverse effects that come along with the amputation of an extremity.
The adverse affects associated with an accidental amputation include but aren’t limited to:
- Loss of mobility
- Phantom limb pain
- Muscle contractures
- Deep vein thrombosis
- Risk of infection
- Fatigue or exhaustion
- Body image issues
- Mental health issues
- Fatigue and exhaustion
- Overexertion of other extremities
- Social isolation
While the loss of the limb itself might not shorten your lifespan directly, some of the side effects that come along with an amputated limb (especially for a major lower extremity amputation) might negatively impact a person’s life expectancy.
The altered cardiorespiratory function that a person experiences following a major limb loss can also contribute to increased mortality. This is especially so for older and/or inactive patients.
To maintain or improve the life expectancy prior to limb amputation, patients should do their best to retain an active, healthy lifestyle.
What Can I Claim as an Amputee?
Aside from legal compensation for their catastrophic injury, amputees may also be eligible for certain benefit —like disability benefits, for example. For someone to obtain Social Security disability benefits in a general sense, they must be considered totally and permanently disabled and prove that their disability prevents them from working or living independently. This means the individual possesses a serious medical disorder that prevents them from performing everyday tasks such as working, bathing, cooking, dressing, or cleaning. The disability or disorder must be expected to last over a year or inevitably end in death for the individual.
Amputations, of course, last much longer than a year. The permanency of the injury is not an issue. It is the severity of the injury that determines whether the person qualifies for these benefits.
According to the Social Security Blue Book, amputees can qualify for disability benefits if they meet any of these criteria:
- Amputation of both hands;
- One or both lower extremities amputated at or above the ankle with complications that prevent the use of prosthetics;
- One hand and one lower extremity at or above the ankle, with an inability to walk or move effectively;
- Hemipelvectomy or hip disarticulation.
If you meet any of the above criteria, you may be eligible to qualify for Social Security disability benefits.
Victims of traumatic amputation injuries may also qualify for benefits under the National Limb Loss Information Center. The Center offers programs, services, and publications intended to improve patient care, raise awareness and understanding about limb loss, and enhance the patient’s overall quality of life.
Why Do You Need a Houston Amputation Lawyer?
You’re entitled to compensation as well as medical care and treatment that is required after any catastrophic injury. This is especially true for victims of accidental and traumatic amputations. Unfortunately, insurance companies are often more interested in protecting their profits than compensating amputees with hefty settlements.
In addition, entities and corporations whose negligent actions resulted in a person’s amputation will not hesitate to protect the interests of shareholders at the expense of hard-working employees or people who have been injured by their products. This is why it is so important that a person who has experienced a traumatic accident such as this has a legal representative on their side. Your amputation lawyer will fight back against the entities who will no doubt attempt to pay you significantly less than you deserve.
Experienced Houston Amputation Lawyers
The attorneys at Reich & Binstock have the resources and knowledge to help their clients acquire the compensation they deserve for their catastrophic injury in Houston. The recovery of compensation for the traumatic amputation of leg, arm, foot, or hand certainly cannot eliminate the physical and emotional pain this injury has caused. However, it can assist the victim and their family in their journey to recovery and potentially make navigating this new lifestyle a little bit easier on them.
If you experienced a traumatic accidental amputation, get in touch with the Houston amputation attorneys at Reich & Binstock as soon as possible. Please give us a call at 713-622-7271 or send us a virtual message via the contact form below.
There is a never a fee unless we recover on your behalf.
