Spinal cord injuries are typically catastrophic and may affect your mobility or livelihood. If you suffer this type of injury due to someone’s negligence, a Beverly Hills spinal injury lawyer from BD&J Injury Lawyers can help you seek the compensation you deserve. While legal action can’t change the life-altering circumstances you face, it can help you secure your future financially.
Common Causes of Spinal Injuries
Spinal cord injuries happen whenever there’s damage to any part of the spinal cord. You might suffer direct injury to the spinal cord or damage to the vertebrae, which are bones around the spinal cord. Common causes include:
- Auto accidents
- Falls, particularly in older adults
- Sports injuries
- Violence, such as a physical attack, gunshot, or stabbing
Types of Spinal Cord Injuries
There are two types of spinal cord injuries: complete and incomplete. Which type of injury you have determines if you have any amount of control, sensation, or function. The location of the injury determines what part of your body is affected.
- Incomplete: If you have an incomplete spinal cord injury, the nerves can still relay some messages to and from the brain. That means you should have some muscle control and function.
- Complete: With a complete spinal cord injury, all nerve communication ends at the injury site. You no longer have muscle control, function, or feeling below the spinal cord injury.
You can also classify spinal cord injuries based on the location. This includes:
- Cervical: In the neck between the bottom of the skull and about shoulder level
- Thoracic: From the upper back to just below the belly button
- Lumbar: In the lower back below the belly button to just above where the spinal cord ends
- Sacral: In the tailbone area
How Spinal Cord Injuries Can Impact Your Life
The millions of nerve cells located in your spinal cord are essential for transmitting messages between your brain and the rest of your body. Injuries to your spinal cord partially or completely interrupt those transmissions, affecting movements throughout your body. Some effects of a spinal cord injury include:
- Paralysis
- Changes in sensations or complete loss of feeling
- Changes to muscle tone
- Difficulty breathing
- Loss of bladder and bowel control
Spinal cord injuries can affect your physical and mental well-being. After a spinal cord injury, you might lose mobility and may need a wheelchair to move around. This may require you to make changes to your home for accessibility.
You may not be able to care for yourself due to loss of movement or control over your body, causing you to rely on full-time caregivers. Injuries like these often take a toll on mental health, potentially causing depression or anxiety. For some people, a spinal cord injury prevents them from working or participating in their normal activities.
What Damages Can You Recover?
The compensation you can recover depends on the situation. Working with a knowledgeable spinal injury lawyer can help you receive the damages you’re entitled to. Common damages you could receive include compensation for:
- Current and future medical expenses related to the spinal cord injury
- Medical devices
- Accommodation for resulting disabilities
- Loss of wages and future earning potential
- Pain and suffering for the emotional toll
In some rare cases, the judge may award punitive damages. These damages are meant to punish the Defendant if they demonstrated extreme negligence in the incident that caused your injuries.
Who Can Be Held Liable for a Spinal Cord Injury?
If your spinal cord injury is due to someone’s negligence, they can be held liable. This often happens in the case of automobile accidents or slip-and-fall injuries. For example, the driver who causes an accident that results in a spinal cord injury could be held liable. If a property owner’s negligence creates a dangerous situation that causes you to fall, they could be responsible. Product liability is a possibility if a faulty product causes the injury. In such situations, the manufacturer may be held liable. Some spinal cord injuries fall under medical malpractice if a care provider displays negligence during a medical procedure that causes the injury.
Why Should You Work with a Personal Injury Attorney?
Navigating an insurance claim or lawsuit on your own can be overwhelming when you’re dealing with the effects of a severe injury. Insurance companies use a variety of strategies to intimidate people into taking low settlements.
With a spinal cord injury attorney on your side, you have an advocate in your corner to help with negotiations. Our team gathers evidence and builds a case to support your compensation request. We provide legal advice and walk you through every phase of the process. If your case goes to court, your attorney prepares for the appearance and represents you in court.
Working with one of our spinal cord injury attorneys could help you get a larger settlement and make the process easier. Call us to talk to an attorney about your case.
