A spinal cord injury can be a horrific and painful injury that could result in a lifetime of medical expenses and rehabilitation. These medical costs can be difficult to afford, which can lead to insurmountable debt. This is where a knowledgeable spinal injury lawyer can help. Spinal cord injury cases can involve a number of personal injury law and should be handled by an attorney with the knowledge and experience required to handle your case.
At Morgan & Morgan, our Louisville spinal cord injury attorneys have decades of experience handling personal injury cases ranging from medical malpractice to truck accident lawsuits. With access to invaluable resources such as medical experts, our Louisville attorneys are well-equipped to help you collect compensation to cover medical bills, lost wages and other losses that resulted from your accident.
If you or a loved one sustained a spinal cord injury, you may have legal recourse to collect financial compensation, and more importantly, justice for another’s negligence. To learn more about your available legal options, contact us by filling out our free case evaluation form today.
Spinal Cord Injuries and Causes
Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of spinal injuries in the United States, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. However, falls from heights and injuries during recreational activities are also common causes. In a given year, there are an average of 12,500 spinal cord injuries in the U.S. — 40 for every one million members of the population. Violent movements, such as in a car accident, can cause the vertebral bones in the spine or the discs that cushion them to move out of place, putting pressure on the spinal cord and other nerve roots.
Our attorneys handle cases involving a number of spinal cord injuries, including spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal column that causes pressure on the spinal cord, or narrowing of the openings (called neural foramina) where spinal nerves leave the spinal column.
Spinal stenosis can cause victims to experience loss of balance, difficulty walking, mobility issues, painful movements, numbness in extremities, and weakness of the back. Other spinal injuries handled by our firm include the following:
- Cervical spinal cord injuries: causes paralysis or weakness in arms and legs;
- Thoracic spinal cord injuries: loss of physical sensation in the legs along with bowel, bladder, and sexual dysfunction;
- Lumbar spinal cord injuries: weakness and paralysis of the legs;
- Sacral spinal cord injuries: weakness and paralysis of the hips and legs;
- Spondylolisthesis/ spondylosis: the forward slippage of a vertebral body;
- Ruptured and herniated disks;
- Paralysis;
- Quadriplegia;
- Paraplegia; and
- Degenerative disc disease.
Spinal Cord Injury Lawsuits
Negligence: Your attorney must establish that the at-fault party owed you a duty of care and that this duty was breached in some way. For example, a surgeon has a duty of care to this patients to protect them from harm, while an automobile driver owes others on the roadway a duty to drive safely to prevent accidents. Your attorney must identify the breach and prove that it directly resulted in your injury.
Product Liability: If a defective or dangerous product contributed to or caused your injury, you may be able to seek compensation from the product’s manufacturer or retailer. Your attorney may choose to pursue a negligence or strict liability lawsuit, depending on the facts of the case.
Why Hire Morgan & Morgan?
In a spinal cord injury case, your attorney must establish and effectively convey the full extent of your injury, while also linking it to another’s negligence. In some cases, including those involving car accidents, medical malpractice, and defective products, it can be difficult to depict exactly how another’s negligence caused your physical, emotional, and monetary losses.
The attorneys in Morgan & Morgan’s Louisville office work effectively with medical experts, spinal cord injury victims, and back injury victims to establish this causal link. For years, we have successfully recovered damages to help cover expenses including present and future medical bills, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life for our injured clients.
Compensation: What Can I Recover?
Spinal cord injuries may require extensive medical treatment, rehabilitation, home modification costs, lifelong reliance on prescription drugs, lifelong nursing care, and other related costs—which can place a tremendous financial burden on the injured party and their family. The type and amount of damages you can recover will depend on the facts of your individual case; however, losses that may be compensable in a spinal cord injury case include current and future medical costs, pain and suffering, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of intimacy, loss of support, mental anguish, medical equipment, and permanent nursing home care.
If you or a loved one sustained a back or spinal cord injury, you may have legal recourse. To learn how our Louisville spinal cord injury attorneys may be able to help you, fill out our free case evaluation form today.