Injury claims involving permanent, disabling injuries raise the stakes for both plaintiffs and defendants. The injury will require a lifetime of care, but you can’t keep going back to the well for more compensation, so the court has to decide how much is appropriate to award for the rest of the plaintiff’s life. And the stakes are rarely higher than in cases involving severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and spinal cord injuries (SCI).
In these situations, the right medical expert can make all the difference. In particular, a physician life care planner is well-suited to build your case for an appropriate amount of damages.
What’s included in a life care plan?
Present and Future Medical Expenses
Treating a TBI or SCI may require medication, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, medical procedures and devices, and so on. An appropriate life care plan should account for the cost of all those future medical expenses.
Long-Term Care
Often, people with severe, disabling injuries, such as TBI and SCI, need to be in long-term care facilities. Or, they may be able to live at home but will still need services, such as a visiting nurse or home health aide. A life care plan should assess the level of care the patient needs and account for those costs appropriately.
Living Expenses
Many people with TBI or SCI are limited in their ability to earn income because of their injuries. Their living expenses need to be accounted for by some other means.
Assistive Technologies and Home Modifications
To accommodate a TBI or SCI, the victim may need assistive devices and modifications to their home or vehicle to live as comfortably and independently as possible.
Mental Health Services
People with disabling injuries may also find their mental health affected by feelings of helplessness, isolation, and more. Appropriate mental health services may be included in a life care plan.
In addition, a life care plan should account for the length of time the victim is expected to live—this essentially acts as a multiplier on the yearly cost of care—and reduce all future expenses to present-day value.
Creating a life care plan that survives cross-examination
In cases involving long-term, disabling injuries, both sides will often present competing life care plans. Creating those competing plans requires a difficult balance for both plaintiff and defense attorneys.
On the one hand, you want to advocate for your client’s interests, which means, for the plaintiff, arguing for maximum value for their case, and for the defendant, just the opposite. On the other hand, a life care plan that is too expansive (for the plaintiff) or too limited (for the defendant) can backfire, as it can damage your credibility with the court and be challenged on cross-examination.
That means each life care plan needs to be based on careful research and medical analysis. Every line item in the plan should be medically justified; just as significantly, anything excluded from the life care plan should likewise have medical justification. Most importantly of all, the author of the life care plan should be prepared to defend it when subject to cross-examination by opposing counsel.
The value of a physician life care planner
While both physicians and non-physicians can provide life care planning services, a physician life care planner can be especially valuable in cases where the plan is likely to be disputed.
First, a physician can conduct an independent evaluation of the patient and make recommendations based on their own medical judgment; those decisions, in turn, might be easier for the life care planner to defend on the witness stand.
Second—even though it’s ultimately up to the jury to decide whether a witness is credible, regardless of their credentials—as a practical matter, a doctor’s testimony may carry more weight with the jury.
For nearly four decades, the team at Rieback Medical-Legal Consultants has been providing the best in medicine to assist the legal community. Our network of medical experts includes highly credentialed physician life care planners who can prepare credible plans and defend them in depositions and, if necessary, at trial. Give us a call or contact us online to find out how we can help.