KW Life Care Planning prepares life care plans and medical cost projections for attorneys handling birth injury cases in American Samoa.
Birth injury matters involve harm to an infant during labor and delivery, including hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, brachial plexus injury, and intracranial hemorrhage. Because the injured child has a full life ahead, the life care plan is usually the single largest component of damages and must address needs from infancy through adulthood.
Pediatric plans address neurology and developmental pediatrics follow-up, physical, occupational, and speech therapy, durable medical equipment sized and replaced as the child grows, seizure management, feeding support, educational and behavioral services, respite and attendant care, and the transition to adult providers and residential options after age 21.
Costs are driven by attendant-care hours, equipment replacement cycles, therapy frequency by developmental stage, and the child's projected life expectancy. Plans commonly present alternative scenarios for home-based versus facility-based care so counsel and the economist can value each.
The plan is built with the treating neurologist and developmental pediatrician and updated at developmental milestones. Life expectancy is analyzed from the child's functional profile rather than population tables alone, and the plan documents the basis for each frequency and duration recommendation.
Birth Injury matters in American Samoa are litigated in the state's trial courts, with life care planning and future medical cost testimony evaluated under American Samoa's expert evidence standard. KW Life Care Planning prepares reports and testimony that account for these requirements.
Highest court: High Court of American Samoa, Appellate Division (American Samoa has no separate supreme court). Federal venues: none.
Civil claims in American Samoa are tried in the Trial Division of the High Court. Provider availability on-island is limited, so a plan documents which services are obtainable locally and budgets travel to Hawaii or the mainland for the rest.
Early enough to attend or review the initial neurodevelopmental evaluations, typically once liability review confirms the case will proceed. Early retention lets the planner document baseline function before growth changes the picture.
The planner documents the child's functional status, feeding method, mobility, and seizure control, and presents the life expectancy analysis with its sources so counsel can decide how to present it. Where the medical literature supports a range, the plan shows the cost impact of each end of that range.
Yes. Pediatric plans project the transition to adult providers, vocational or day-program services, and long-term residential or in-home care through the projected life expectancy.
Contact our team to discuss how KW Life Care Planning can support your case with certified life care planning expertise. Request a Consultation or call (201) 343-0700.