Planning for Prosthetic Costs After a Serious Injury

Why Prosthetic Costs Matter in a New Mexico Injury Claim

A prosthetic is often a long-term need, not a one-time purchase. Its parts wear down, the fit can change, and the device may need replacing years later.

Those costs add up over time, which is why the full list matters. Many people only count the first device. Fittings, repairs and future replacements often belong on the list too. A limb loss case is different from a short-term injury case because the costs can stretch across a lifetime.

Crash data in New Mexico is prepared by the UNM Traffic Research Unit, which produces New Mexico crash data and annual crash reports for NMDOT. Those reports break crashes down by county, including Bernalillo, Sandoval, Santa Fe and Taos. Local crash patterns show how common serious crashes are across the state.

El Gringo Law handles car accidents, trucking accidents, premises liability, negligent security, wrongful death, sexual assault, catastrophic injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and burn injuries. For the wider picture, read our catastrophic injury overview. Josh Wood is the lawyer responsible for this page’s content.

Initial Prosthetic Costs That Can Be Included

Initial costs usually include the device, the prosthetist’s fitting, and the medical care needed to start using it. Each item should match a record from the treating providers. A claim is stronger when every early cost ties back to a note in the chart.

The device itself is usually the largest first item. Fitting visits and early adjustments often follow. Sockets, liners and other hardware that the prosthetist says are needed can count too, when the provider documents why each part is needed.

Rehabilitation and gait training are often part of the same story. Learning to walk or move with a new device takes therapy. Those visits can be tied to the device, so keep the appointment notes and not only the bills.

Some changes happen around the home or the car. Ramps, bathroom changes or vehicle modifications can be a separate category from the device itself. For that topic, see home modifications in catastrophic injury claims.

A common mistake is saving the receipt but not the fitting note. The receipt shows what was paid. The note shows why the device and its parts were needed, and that second point is often the one that matters in a claim.

Future Replacement, Repairs, and Maintenance

Future prosthetic costs cover parts that wear out, repairs, and upkeep visits that repeat over the years. A claim can seek the projected cost of these items, not only what has already been spent.

Prosthetic components have a working life. The prosthetist and the treating physician help set the timing for replacements. That schedule can change as the body changes, as the person grows older, or as the device wears down faster than expected.

Adjustments and maintenance visits also recur. Each one may carry a cost, a trip to the clinic, and time away from work. These small items add up, so they belong in the cost picture even when each bill looks minor.

Claims often look ahead. A projection can estimate what the person will likely need over their life, based on the device type and medical advice. The size of those future costs depends on the facts: the level of amputation, the device, the person’s age and what their doctors recommend.

Keep a running list of every replacement and repair, with dates and receipts. A list made at the time is far easier to prove than a memory of costs years later.

Lost Earning Capacity and Daily-Life Losses Tied to Limb Loss

Lost earning capacity covers how limb loss may affect a person’s ability to earn money in the future. It is separate from wages already missed. Both can be part of the economic losses in a claim.

Lost wages are the pay missed because of the injury, from the accident until the person returns to work or the claim is resolved. Lost earning capacity looks forward. It asks whether the person can still do the same job, or a comparable one, with similar hours and pay.

A person who must change careers, cut hours or retrain may have losses in this area. Job changes caused by limb loss, such as moving from physical work to desk work, can also be part of the picture. These losses need support from records, not guesses.

Wage records, job descriptions and medical opinions about work limits help show these losses. Statements from an employer about changed duties can help too. These losses must be shown with records and clear medical explanations.

When future payments are large, a structured settlement can be arranged so the money is paid out over time. That structure is one option to discuss once the value of the claim is clearer.

Noneconomic Damages for Limb Loss

Noneconomic damages cover pain, suffering, emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life. Limb loss can affect all of these, and the effects often last far beyond the hospital stay.

Adjusting to a prosthetic takes time and effort. Some people describe phantom sensations, or pain where the limb used to be. Others stop hobbies, sports or family roles they once handled. Medical notes, therapy records and statements from family and friends can document these changes.

Noneconomic damages don’t follow a simple formula. The amount turns on the injuries, the evidence and the particular case. Every case is different, and past results do not predict a similar outcome.

Family members may have their own claims. Under Thompson v. City of Albuquerque, loss of consortium damages belong to the claimant with the close relationship, not to the injured person. A spouse or close family member may need to describe how daily life changed after the injury.

Documenting Prosthetic Costs for a Claim

Prosthetic costs are proven with records, and the treating physician’s written recommendation is usually the most important one. Without records that tie the device to the crash, the cost is hard to show.

Gather these records: surgical and hospital notes, prosthetist invoices and fitting notes, prescriptions, and receipts for parts and repairs. Keep the explanation of benefits from your insurer, since it shows what was actually paid.

Causation links the bills to the crash. In New Mexico, a proximate cause is one that, in a natural and continuous sequence, produces the injury and without which the injury would not have occurred, as explained in Herrera v. Quality Pontiac. Records should show the line from the crash to the limb loss to the device.

Offers to pay medical bills are common early in a claim. Under Rule 11-409 NMRA, an offer to pay medical expenses is not admissible to prove liability for the injury. Payments by health insurers or government programs may still need to be addressed in any settlement.

A life-care plan from qualified medical and vocational professionals can estimate future prosthetic needs. If the injured person shares fault, the damages are reduced by that share. Under UJI 13-2218 NMRA, the total damages are reduced by the injured person’s percentage of negligence.

How Fees and Case Costs Work

The first step is a free, confidential initial consultation with no obligation to continue. That consultation is where we review how the injury happened and which records you already have.

Fee questions can be discussed during our free, confidential initial consultation, which carries no obligation to continue.

Records fees and professional reports can add to the cost of a case involving a prosthetic, so the agreement’s terms matter.

Talk With El Gringo Law About Your Prosthetic Costs

A prosthetic costs review goes faster when you have the crash details, the medical records and the prosthetist’s notes in one place. Those documents shape the next steps.

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