The Deadline to File a Catastrophic Injury Claim

The deadline for filing most catastrophic injury claims in court in Hawaii is two (2) years from the date when (a) the victim was exposed to the danger and (b) SOME injuries resulted therefrom. There may be some time added on to that for a period of disability in which the individual was unable to recognize and/or assert his/her legal rights. It should be noted, however, that there are exceptions to this rule- for example, claims against the City and County of Honolulu and the various other Counties must generally be filed with the appropriate agency within six (6) months of the date of the accident. You must file your claims in court (or otherwise) prior to the expiration of such deadlines, or your claims may be lost—regardless of their merit. To be wise it is recommended that you contact an attorney immediately after the existence of the claim is recognized and, better yet, immediately after the accident occurs giving rise to a possible catastrophic injury. Please do not hesitate to :

Contact Hawaii Injury Lawyer | Attorney now for a free evaluation of your case.

Catastrophic Injuries

According to the Brain Injury Association of America- each year, brain injury claims more than 50,000 lives and leaves more than 80,000 individuals with lifelong disabilities. The silent epidemic of brain injury is illustrated best by a 1999 statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- there currently are at least 5.3 million Americans living with a disability as a result of brain injury.

The National Spinal Cord Injury Association estimates that approximately 250,000 – 400,000 individuals in the United States have spinal cord injuries. Every year, approximately 11,000 people sustain new spinal cord injuries – that’s thirty new injuries every day. Most of these people are injured in auto and sports accidents, falls, and industrial mishaps. An estimated 60 percent of these individuals are 30 years old or younger, and the majority of them are men.

Catastrophic Injury – Medical treatment

All potential catastrophic injury victims should seek proper medical evaluation from an experienced and qualified doctor as promptly as possible. The residual effects of a catastrophic injury on the individual’s cognitive functioning, activities, emotions, personality and other basic functions can be overwhelming. The sooner that a catastrophic injury is treated, the sooner that the treatment can help to reduce the long term impact of the catastrophic injury on the patient, to prevent further deterioration and to recover any lost functioning to the fullest extent possible.

Living with catastrophic Injuries

Patients who have experienced permanent catastrophic injury symptoms can sometimes learn to retrain other parts of their brain and/or body in order to compensate for some of the lost functioning. Such compensation generally has the best results when the proper catastrophic injury treatment is commenced shortly after the accident has occurred. Such catastrophic injury treatment can be costly. Moreover, it comes at a time when the catastrophic injury patient’s family is already experiencing financial loss and emotional upheaval. When a catastrophic injury limits the victim’s ability to participate in work and social activities- the strain on the patient and the patient’s family can be very challenging. In such circumstances obtaining the assistance of a competent catastrophic injury attorney may help to ease the financial strain. .

To confer with a catastrophic injury attorney, please contact us. Contact Hawaii Injury Lawyer | Attorney now for a free evaluation of your case.