Find Representation With a Spinal Cord Injury Attorney

Your spinal cord plays a significant role dispatching signals between the brain and the rest of the body. The financial losses from a spinal cord injury can be catastrophic, necessitating legal action. That’s when you’ll need a spinal cord injury attorney to represent you by opening a personal injury case.

Depending on the damage, a spinal cord injury can have you lose major bodily functions. You may face life-altering effects such as:

• Loss of movement
• Loss of bowel or bladder control
• Organ failure
• Unconsciousness, or even death

According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC), around 54 cases per 1 million people in the United States suffer traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCI). The report leads to about 18,000 new SCI cases each year.

Here is a guide on spinal cord injuries and how to acquire compensation for a spinal cord injury claim. Make the negligent parties responsible for the losses you sustained.

The Nature of Spinal Cord Injuries (SCIs)

The spinal cord is made up of bone discs and soft tissue that support the nerves throughout the body. The spinal cord starts at the base of your skull and extends to your back, ending at your tailbone.

A spinal cord injury may involve a dislocation or fracture of these discs, damaging the nerve linings surrounding it. 

There are two different categories of spinal cord injuries you should know—complete and incomplete SCIs. These categories are determined by the location of injury and whether a noticeable amount of nerves survived.

There may have been other medical conditions caused by your spinal cord injury you may not know about. Make sure all damages are accounted for with your doctor, and bring them up with your spinal cord injury lawyer to arrange a legal claim.

Complete SCIs

A complete SCI means no nerve communication, feeling, or muscle control underneath the injury. Complete SCI is a result of permanent damage and may lead to:

• Paraplegia—paralysis affecting the lower parts of the body such as legs and pelvic organs.
• Tetraplegia or quadriplegia—this involves paralysis from the neck down caused by damage in the cervical sections of your spinal cord. The higher the location and severity of the spinal cord injury, the higher the likelihood of permanent harm.

Incomplete SCIs

An incomplete SCI involves damage with little sensory, function, and muscle control below the injury. There are still nerve lanes preserved, transmitting signals to various parts of the body despite the injury.

NSCISC studies show incomplete tetraplegia is the most frequent neurological category. The frequency is about the same for incomplete and complete paraplegia.

The healing process of an SCI depends on the severity of a person’s injury. There is no cure-all yet for an SCI, but one can regain some function and improve their quality of life with rehabilitation strategies and physical therapy.

Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries in the U.S.

Oftentimes, spinal cord injuries are a result of another party’s negligence or unintentional action. If that’s true, legal assistance from a spinal cord injury attorney is invaluable when setting up a case.

These issues are often from personal injury cases, where a victim can file a lawsuit against the negligent party for compensatory damages.

Some common causes of spinal cord injuries are:

• Vehicle collisions including automobiles, trucks, bicyclists, pedestrians, etc.
• Slips and falls from ice, wet floors, ladders, mismanaged property, etc.
• Falling merchandise or objects in public places
• Medical malpractice in surgical errors, anesthesia mistakes, birth trauma, etc.
• Recreational activities like swimming, skiing, boating, or other sports activity
• Workplace accidents

According to the NIH, car crashes and severe falls are the most common causes of SCI in the U.S.

You may not recover all your motor functions after an SCI, but certain actions can be regained with a proper healing regimen. If you’re suffering from a spinal cord injury, seek medical and a spinal cord injury lawyer as soon as possible.

Symptoms of a Spinal Cord Injury

A spinal cord injury can cause a variety of symptoms associated with a disrupted neural network.

Sensory symptoms like pain or numbness may occur as the nerves in charge of carrying signals to that body part may be damaged.

You may experience reduced motor functions like reduced muscle strength or even paralysis if neural passageways were partially or fully cut off.

In more severe cases, functions your body does automatically like breathing or specific organ processes may be compromised.

An SCI can cause one or more of the following symptoms such as:

• Numbness, tingling, or loss (changes) of sensations
• Paralysis
• (Chronic) pain or pressure in the head, neck, or back
• Physical weakness
• Unnatural positions of the spine or head
• Loss of bowel or bladder control
• Unable or difficulty to move or walk
• Heavy or hard to breathe
• Muscle spasms or stiffness
• Changes in sexual function or sexual sensitivity

Severe cases of spinal cord injury can lead to life-threatening emergencies. If you’re experiencing any of the above symptoms, get immediate medical help.

Spinal cord injuries caused by negligence always require an emergency response, no matter how minor the injury.

Spinal Cord Injury Statistics You Should Know

The World Health Organization (WHO) works to prevent SCI by enhancing trauma care, reinforcing health and rehabilitation services, and providing help for people with SCI. Some statistics you should know from the WHO are:

• Globally, more than 15 million people live with spinal cord injuries
• Most SCI cases caused by slips and falls, motor accidents, or violence are entirely preventable
• The majority of SCI cases are male, about 78% since 2015
• The average age of SCI has increased from 29 years during the 1970s to 43 since 2015

According to the Dana and Christopher Reeve Foundation, average expenses for spinal cord injuries can amount to $1 million for high tetraplegia.

Low tetraplegia costs about $769,000 in medical care, whereas paraplegia costs about $518,000. An incomplete SCI of any level can cost around $347,000 in medical fees on-average.

Damages You May Qualify For After an SCI

The medical costs to rehabilitate an SCI are staggering, and most Americans don’t have the money on-hand to pay for treatments. It would be unfair to pay for such injuries if it wasn’t your fault.

If the other party refuses to pay, a spinal cord injury attorney can help arrange a legal claim so you receive the damages you deserve.

The types of damages you may qualify for after an SCI are:

• Compensatory damages
• Punitive damages

Not all damages from a spinal cord injury are medical in nature. You may have had lost wages because your injury prevented you from working. If the SCI was so severe that you can never work in the same capacity again, you may deserve further damages.

Compensatory Damages

Compensatory damages are meant to financially cover the losses you suffered due to negligence done by the other party. This form of damages is divided into two sectors–economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages are the monetary, calculable losses from the accident. These losses include:

• Hospital bills
• Rehabilitation services
• Out-of-pocket expenses (doctor visits, prescriptions, etc.)
• Loss of income
• Property damages

You may also acquire compensation for non-economic damages, or the intangible, oftentimes emotional losses from the accident.

This includes pain and suffering, loss of consortium, loss of quality of life, emotional distress, etc.

Punitive Damages

Also known as exemplary damages, punitive damages are financial penalties levied to the defendant due to excessively reckless or malicious behavior.

The purpose of punitive damages is to punish the defendant for reckless conduct and deter others from doing the same thing again. Punitive damages can be awarded for personal injury, medical malpractice, and a variety of other tort lawsuits.

How Can a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Help You?

The main reason to call a spinal cord injury attorney is to potentially raise your chances of approval for an injury claim while fighting for a higher settlement.

It’s a common myth that you won’t need a lawyer if you have insurance. However, oftentimes insurance companies want to avoid paying your full damages to protect their profits. You may need an SCI lawyer to go to bat with these insurance companies so they pay their full share.

If insurance companies refuse to pay and you still believe you’re owed compensation, you can take the trial to court.

A spinal cord injury lawyer can help you organize your claim and offer you legal help based on your situation. They can be a great asset if you’re hospitalized, handling your case while you recover.

Statute of Limitations for Spinal Cord Injury Claims

The statutes of limitations for SCI claims may vary by state and depend on several factors such as:

• When the injury occurred or how it happened
• Victim’s age
• The type of claim being filed

Generally, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases on SCI can be between one to six years. However, some exceptions may apply and you should hire an attorney to help you with the legal matters.

Why Your Spinal Cord Injury Claim May Not Qualify

Your spinal cord injury may not qualify for several reasons:

• Insufficient medical evidence to prove the severity of your SCI
• Your injury doesn’t limit your movements to perform work
• SCI may have been due to a pre-existing condition
• Missed statutes of limitations—your time to file a claim has expired
• Contributory negligence—you were partially or mostly at-fault for the accident
• Failure to follow the blue book criteria—Social Security Administration listings of impairments that show if your disability qualifies

If you believe your SCI qualifies for a personal injury claim, speak with an attorney so they can review your claim. If you were denied qualifications to your SCI claim, you may file an appeal and have an attorney navigate you through the process.

Raise Your Chances of Qualification With a SCI Attorney

Find an SCI attorney to raise your chances of qualifying for a personal injury claim. LegalASAP can help you find an experienced personal injury attorney among the 500+ law firms expanding across the United States in their network.

Start by filling out a quick consultation form here. We will try to get back to you and see if you qualify for a claim. You can also call us at 888-927-3080 to speak to a representative directly.