South Carolina allows accident victims to pursue recovery of both economic and non-economic damages. The term “damage” refers to a payment for harm done. Economic damages refer to the out-of-pocket expenses that a family has incurred because of a child’s injury, or that the child will experience in the future as a result of the injury.
Examples of economic damages include:
- Past, current, and future medical expenses related to the injury, including treatment at the scene of the accident; transport to the hospital via ambulance or air; treatment in the emergency department; diagnostic testing; hospitalization; physician and surgical expenses; prescription medication; physical therapy and rehabilitation. Assistive devices, such as prosthetic limbs, a wheelchair, or handicap accessible features in the home, needed to accommodate your child’s injury are also recoverable medical expenses.
- Loss of future earning capacity if the injury renders your child unable to work in the future.
Non-economic damages compensate injured individuals for the impacts that their injuries have on their lives.
Some examples of the type of impacts that result in non-economic damages include:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Loss of the enjoyment of life