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Damages in the State of Texas ā€“ Medical Bills and Lost Wages

Oftentimes, people are surprised to learn of the different ways that you can recover money for your injuries in the state of Texas.  These are referred to as your ā€œdamagesā€.

In civil lawsuits, generally, the only way to compensate people for their injuries is through a monetary reward.  If you need surgery of some kind, a jury cannot make your leg or your neck or your back like it was prior to the injury, so the only recourse is a monetary reward to assist in paying either partially or fully for the surgery.  In automobile accidents, the most common damages that you may suffer will be for your past and future medical bills and for your past and future lost wages.

Your past and future medical bills are exactly that; bills that you owe or may potentially incur in the future due to the injuries you have received.  An example of a past medical bill would be your trip to an emergency care facility on the day of the accident.  As this will always be ā€œin the pastā€ from the date you are trying to recover, it is considered a past medical bill.  Until the date of your settlement or the date that a jury renders a verdict after a trial, all of the medical expenses you have incurred up to that point will be considered past medical bills.

A future medical bill would be if any doctor believes you will need medical care in the future.  A common example of this would be if a surgery is recommended to fix the injury you have suffered.  If the surgery has not been done, but the doctor can provide a cost estimate, this would be considered a ā€œfuture medical billā€.  Other examples of future medical damages would be if a medical professional determines that you may need home healthcare in the future to assist with your day to day living, or if they determine that you will need follow-ups in the future with doctors for check-ups on your injuries.

Lost wages may be recovered if you have missed any work due to your injury.  Past lost wages will be for any work you have missed prior to the date of settlement or a jury verdict.  Future lost wages would be any amount of work a medical doctor or other experts/professional determines you may miss in the future due to the injuries you received, such as if you need knee surgery and will be out of work for an extended period of time.  Future lost wages could also apply in a situation where your injuries have caused you to be unable to do the type of work you did before your injury.  For example, if you are someone who works a job with heavy lifting requirements and you injure your back to the point that you can no longer do this type of labor, this could be considered future lost wages if you can only find work for lesser pay.

These are some of the more common damages people suffer in automobile accidents.  Other additional damages may be recovered, and it is important to consult with an attorney to get an estimate on what the value of your claim may be.

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