What Factors Affect Pain and Suffering Awards in Oklahoma?

Injuries caused by accidents can result in significant physical pain and emotional suffering. Car, truck, and motorcycle crashes, as well as injuries from product defects, unsafe premises, and oilfield accidents, can affect your ability to function, work, and enjoy your life. Some injuries cause permanent or chronic pain, while others require extensive medical care.

Our Oklahoma City personal injury lawyers have obtained over $250 million in recoveries for our clients. While each case is different, and past results are not a guarantee of future outcomes, we understand the factors that affect the amount of compensation accident victims can receive from those responsible for their injuries.

Establishing liability in pain and suffering cases

Before any accident victim can seek compensation for pain and suffering, the victim must show that the defendant was liable for the accident. To prove liability, you need to show that someone owed you a duty of care, that they broke the duty, that the breach of that duty caused your injuries, and that you suffered physical harm due to your injuries.

The type of accident you have and the force of the accident can affect how much you receive for pain and suffering. Generally, it is more likely that you will suffer more serious injuries (and have more pain and suffering) if you are struck by a car traveling at 50 mph compared to a car traveling at 20 mph. Also, a head-on crash will have more impact than a rear-end collision.

What is pain and suffering?

Pain and suffering refer to your physical pain and emotional trauma. In Oklahoma, recovery for pain and suffering generally requires a physical injury or physical impact, though limited exceptions may apply. Emotional distress alone, such as anxiety from a near collision without physical injury, is typically not compensable.

Accident victims can seek compensation for pain and suffering for every day that they hurt due to their accident-related injuries. For example, if you have pain and suffering for 90 days due to an accident, you can seek pain and suffering for those 90 days. If you can reasonably expect to have pain and suffering for the rest of your life, you can request pain and suffering damages for all the days of your remaining life, based on your life expectancy.

Pain and suffering due to an accident include the following:

• Physical trauma. This includes pain, limited movement, limited use of a body part, itching, inability to sleep, and other physical discomfort.
• Emotional trauma. This includes the times you feel upset, anxious, worried, or depressed. It may also include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

What factors help show that you have pain and suffering?

At Cunningham & Mears, we can work with your medical providers and our own independent medical providers (if necessary) to help show what pain and suffering you have – and the severity of your pain and suffering.

The following types of medical evidence from your doctors can help confirm your pain and suffering.

• How soon did you seek medical help? Seeking prompt medical care facilitates your recovery. It also helps your damage claim to seek prompt medical care; otherwise, insurance companies will argue that delays in seeking care mean that you weren’t hurting too much.
• What types of doctors and health providers did you see? Accident victims may need help from different types of medical providers. These providers include:
  • Emergency transport workers
  • Emergency department doctors
  • Hospitals
  • Doctors, such as specialists and family doctors
  • Rehabilitative professionals, including physical therapists and occupational therapists
  • Psychologists and psychiatrists
• How do doctors diagnose what injuries you have? Your doctors should conduct a medical history exam and a physical examination. They may order various tests, including imaging, blood, and other tests.
• What symptoms did your doctor review? The types and severity of your symptoms may affect your compensation for pain and suffering.
• What treatments does your doctor recommend? Each type of treatment, the length of the recovery process, and the number of treatments may affect your pain and suffering compensation. For example, a surgery normally indicates that your injuries were quite serious.
• How much was the cost of your medical care? We can obtain records from your healthcare providers documenting the date, type, and cost of your care.
• What type of pain and suffering is normal or reasonable for the type of injuries you have? We can work with your doctors to show what types of pain and suffering are reasonably normal for the types of injuries you have.

In addition to medical evidence, the following types of personal evidence can help show the type and amount of pain and suffering you have:

• Your own statements. You have the right to provide statements and testimony about the types of physical pain and mental suffering you’re experiencing, including what limitations you have and the things you can’t do that you could before the accident.
• Verification from your employer that you could not work due to your injuries. The amount of time you lose from work generally indicates that your pain and suffering prevented you from working during the time you missed work. Your employer can provide more information by stating what tasks your job requires and why your inability to perform those tasks due to those injuries prevents you from working.

What methods do insurance companies, defense lawyers, and juries use to place a value on your pain and suffering?

There are several different ways that defense lawyers, insurance companies, and others place a value on your pain and suffering. There’s no precise formula. At Cunningham & Mears, we can work to obtain a just and fair settlement. If there is no settlement, we can argue your case in court. Because pain and suffering are subjective, insurers and juries rely on several commonly used methods to estimate their value.

• A multiplier. Insurance companies may place a value on all your financial losses (including your medical bills and income losses) and then multiply that figure by a specific number (such as 3, 5, or some other number) to place a value on your pain and suffering.
• Insurance companies and our personal injury lawyers may review what similar cases with similar injuries have settled for (or for which there have been jury verdicts) in the past, in the Oklahoma City region.
• Testimony and evidence. If your case goes to trial, we can present testimony and documentation from you, any witnesses who know about your pain and suffering, and your physicians.

Cunningham & Mears has the experience (a combined 105 years) and working relationships to fight for personal injury victims. We can seek compensation for all your medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and property damage. Please fill out our contact form to schedule a free consultation.