When you experience an accident that results in a spinal cord injury, you may be stuck with damages that create financial deficits and other difficulties. Every year, there are 17,730 cases of spinal cord injuries. Spinal cord injuries can create obstacles in everyday living, making it difficult for you to be active and participate in your favorite hobbies.
When you experience temporary or permanent spinal cord damage, you should speak to Tucson spinal injury attorneys. They can work to make sure you receive the correct amount of compensation for injuries someone else has caused you. Their experience in personal injury cases helps them obtain a settlement. To speak to personal injury attorneys about your spinal cord injury case, call Wattel and York today for a free consultation.
Types Of Spinal Cord Injuries You May Have Experienced
Spinal cord injuries can range anywhere from mild to catastrophic. You may be dealing with partial paralysis and long-term damage. Below are the most common types of spinal injuries you may have suffered.
Paraplegia
This is a spinal cord injury that causes the partial loss of movement and some dampened sensation in different areas of your body.
Tetraplegia
You may have suffered spinal cord injuries that caused paralysis that affects all four of your limbs. How severe the injury is will be based on the location of the injury along your spine.
Triplegia
When a spinal cord injury is classified as incomplete, this is considered to be a type of triplegia spinal cord injury. This is when you have complications that are caused by partial spinal injuries.
Ruptured or Herniated Discs
When the spinal discs bleed, rupture from their sheath, or slip out of place, this can cause other complications. Herniated discs can put pressure on nearby nerves, causing sciatica and other forms of discomfort. It can also be the source of chronic back pain, muscle weakness, and strained movement.
How Do Spinal Cord Injuries Happen?
Spinal cord injuries can happen due to traumatic and high-impact accidents. Here are some common ways you may have experienced a spinal injury.
Slips and Falls
When you fall from a tall height or hit the pavement hard, this can cause a severe spinal cord injury. A heavy jolt to the spinal cord can result in enough trauma to cause it to displace discs or permanently severe nerves.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Auto accidents are another source of spinal cord injuries and are one of the frequent causes of traumatic personal injuries. Car accidents result in heavy impacts that can leave you with broken or fractured bones and injuries to the spinal cord.
Sports Injuries
Because sports are fast-moving, high-contact activities, it is not uncommon that a spinal cord injury occurs. Around 8.7% of spinal cord injuries in the US are caused by sports activities.
Medical Malpractice
Your healthcare practitioner may be the cause of your spinal cord injury due to medical malpractice. Your doctor may have performed the incorrect surgery or made the wrong incision on your spinal cord, resulting in injury. Another way you can experience a spinal injury is when your doctor fails to treat an issue promptly, which can worsen and cause additional complications.
How Are Your Injuries Calculated?
Your spinal cord injury can force you to deal with expenses you never planned for, setting you back financially and creating a burden for you and your family. Tucson spinal cord injury lawyers can help recover compensation that reflects the damages personal injury victims experience. Personal injury lawyers calculate damages for spinal cord accident victims by including the following damages.
Medical Costs
After you’ve been in an accident, you may have to pay costly medical bills. Spinal injuries can be quite expensive. The spinal cord is a complex and delicate organ that must be treated carefully, requiring surgery, physical therapy, and medical equipment to help you recover. You may need ongoing medical treatment, imaging scans, and medication. This is why fair compensation must include your medical bills, even if they continue for years.
Lost Wages
When you experience a serious personal injury, it is common that you need to take time off from work. The pain and discomfort your injury causes can make you fatigued, prevent you from focusing on your work, and reduce the quality of your work. You may not even be able to perform normal work-related tasks because of a temporary or permanent disability. This is especially the case if you are partially or temporarily paralyzed because of your injury. What you lost and expect to lose in the future can be included when you pursue compensation.
Pain And Suffering
After your injury, you may experience emotional distress that can reduce your quality of living. You can inform your attorney of any pain and suffering you experienced so they can include it in your claim. Forms of emotional distress can include depression, guilt, and anxiety. With the help of an insurance company adjuster, your attorney calculates pain and suffering using a multiplier. The multiplier is based on a number between one to five or higher, depending on the severity of your personal injury. This number is multiplied by your economic damages. Once multiplied, this sum is added to the total economic damages to estimate the total worth of your personal injury.
What If I Received a Lump-Sum Settlement From the Other Party?
If you received a lump-sum settlement offer from the other party or their insurance company, make sure your attorney reviews the offer before you accept it. This way, they ensure you receive maximum compensation for your damages. Your attorney protects you by properly estimating how much your damages are worth based on accurate and traditional methods. They know how much you’ll be dealing with in damages after your personal injury accident.
Remember, injuries can cause years of medical bills and require expensive surgeries. Additionally, the other party’s insurance company may leave out your pain and suffering damages and only estimate your current medical bills and lost wages. Because pain and suffering damages make up a large portion of your claim, you shouldn’t accept any settlement amount that doesn’t include it.
What If an Insurance Company Requests a Recorded Statement?
If you get a phone call from the other party’s insurer asking that you provide a recorded statement, immediately decline and refer them to your lawyer. Let your personal injury attorney handle the other party on your behalf so that you don’t have to manage phone calls on your own. Your personal injury attorney will do their best to protect you from making common errors that can result in a smaller settlement than you deserve.
I Have Additional Questions About the Spinal Cord Personal Injury Process
Accidents caused by another’s negligent actions deserve maximum compensation. With the help of an experienced spinal cord injury attorney, you can receive the representation you deserve and a fair estimate of your damages. You can ask any questions about your spinal cord personal injury so that you receive fair compensation. Contact Wattel & York today for a free consultation.