What Is A Spinal Cord Injury In Virginia?
Key Highlights:
- What is a spinal cord injury in Virginia? Virginia’s spinal cord injuries are caused by a traumatic event to the bundle of nerves in the spine, resulting in communication breakdown and loss of sensation or motion.
- Medical expenses for individuals who sustain severe spinal cord injuries will often exceed $1 million during their first year. The average overall lifetime financial burden associated with those injuries goes well over $5 million for young adults.
- Mental health issues such as depression have been documented at rates two to four times greater than those of the general population, and they may be compensated under Virginia law.
- It is important to have a strong legal defense to ensure that you recover any compensation from an insurance company because Virginia’s contributory negligence law states that if you are even 1% at fault, the insurance carrier can deny your claim in its entirety.
In a matter of seconds, the life of a Virginia resident can be drastically altered by a car accident, a fall at work, or an act of violence. The first step each injured person and their family should take is understanding “what is a spinal cord injury in Virginia,” both medically and legally. The injuries from these types of incidents can have catastrophic long-term effects on victims and their families, and the legal proceedings that follow also involve high stakes for everyone involved.
At Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm, our experienced attorneys assist Virginia families with the most complicated personal injury cases in the state of Virginia. If you or someone you know has suffered from a serious accident injury Virginia without warning, please call us today.
Contact us at (800) 529-0804 for a free case evaluation. We accept all personal injury cases on a contingent basis; you will not owe us any money unless we win your case.
What Is a Spinal Cord Injury in Virginia? The Medical Foundation
Cases related to Spinal cord injury Virginia are caused by damage to the bundle of nerves that run through the spine. This is the main way the brain communicates with all other muscles and organs below the head and neck. When the bundle is damaged, all the areas below the injury will be negatively affected.
Doctors classify the extent of the damage and prognosis for people who have had traumatic spinal cord injury using the ASIA (American Spinal Injury Association) Impairment Scale. The two categories from the ASIA scale have both medical and legal evidence for determining prognosis and the scope of the claim:
Complete Spinal Cord Injury
A complete spinal cord injury results in the total loss of motor function and the total loss of sensation to all the parts of the body below the level of the injury. No signal from the brain can travel past the damaged spinal cord. An injury to the cervical spine results in quadriplegia; an injury to the thoracic or lumbar spine results in paraplegia. All complete spinal cord injuries are considered permanent after 72 hours following the injury and with no evidence of sacral sparing on a neurological examination.
Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury
An incomplete spinal cord injury has some level of signal transmission to the affected nerves and results in partial function and/or partial sensation of the body parts below the level of the injury. Central cord syndrome and Brown-Sequard syndrome are examples of injuries classified as incomplete and with different patterns of loss. Recovery from incomplete spinal cord injuries can vary significantly, but significant long-term deficits are common and considered legally significant.
A spinal cord injury resulting from a neck and back injury accident will affect more than just the ability to move around. Other areas that will be affected will include damage to the body’s autonomic nervous system, resulting in autonomic dysreflexia (dangerously high blood pressure), issues with bladder function and bowel function, respiratory issues with very high C1 to C4 injuries, chronic neuropathic pain, and sexual dysfunction. The costs associated with these long-term effects are the basis for the medical expenses you may seek in a Virginia spinal cord injury claim.
From Emergency Room to Lifetime Care: Treatment and Adaptive Needs
After filing a paralysis injury claim with the insurance company, there will be 4 different phases of the medical journey that generate important documents for your case. The 4 phases include emergency stabilization, initial rehabilitation, ongoing rehabilitation, and adaptive living needs for life, which create high costs at each phase of the journey. All of these costs need to be fully calculated to ensure that the insured person’s future is secured after a paralysis injury.
Emergency Care and Acute Stabilization
Emergency and acute care will start with immobilizing the spine, surgically stabilizing fractured vertebrae, and decompressing the spinal cord where necessary. This process will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for these injury-related hospital services.
Inpatient Rehabilitation
Inpatient rehabilitation will be done and take 4-5 weeks in specialized spinal cord injury rehabilitation facilities, and has an average daily cost of more than $10,000 a day.
Ongoing Outpatient and Lifetime Management
Outpatient therapy, pain management, and, when necessary, specialist follow-up will continue for several months up to several years. Long-term care spinal injury management will include, but is not limited to, an annual specialty clinic evaluation; secondary complication management; and ongoing attendant care, meaning long-term care is necessary for the remainder of the life of the spinal cord-injured individual.
Home Modifications and Specialized Equipment
Coming back home involves a planned change in environment and the need for provided instruments made for this purpose, estimated over a person’s life expectancy, for a substantial claim.
- Mobility: Power chairs (which can be greater than $30,000) and lifting devices such as access systems and standing frames.
- Transportation: Modified vehicles with the ability to be hand-controlled and a wheelchair lift system, which can typically cost over $80,000.
- Home modifications: Expanding doorways, roll-in showers, ramps, ceiling lift systems, and smart home systems.
- Respiratory and medical equipment: Ventilators, suction devices, and pressure relief equipment are needed for individuals with a high cervical injury.
The True Cost: Financial Losses, Earning Capacity, and Psychological Harm
Virginia’s permanent disability compensation cases of spinal injury must accurately reflect the full spectrum of economic and social impact resulting from these types of injuries. The total cost of these injuries can be broken down into three distinct categories:
1. Long-Term Medical/Care-Associated Costs
Spinal cord injuries incur high costs, requiring continuous financial support over long periods of time. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center:
- First-year costs can be greater than $1,100,000 for a complete high-cervical spinal injury.
- Annual costs in subsequent years can consistently exceed $200,000.
- The total lifetime cost for an injury sustained during young adulthood is often greater than $5 million.
2. Lost Earning Capacity and Replacement Services
Lost earning capacity and the availability of replacement services are the largest factors in a spinal cord damage settlement. We assess the full range of potential lost income by analyzing future income possibilities, as well as the utilization of replacement services:
- Future Income: Our office collaborates with vocational specialists to evaluate how much of the victim’s previous earning ability would be available after the injury. Our economists then apply a standard formula for calculating the present value of the individual’s pre-injury earning trajectory, taking into consideration economic loss for missed promotions, future retirement benefits, and pension plan contributions. For complete injuries, this amount can be as much as seven figures.
- Replacement Services: Virginia law recognizes that a victim of a spinal cord injury has lost the ability to contribute to the domestic operation of their family and the consequent expense to their family of hiring outside assistance for home maintenance, childcare, or home management.
3. The Psychological Toll
Spinal cord injury has a serious, long-term psychological effect and can be compensated for under Virginia law.
- The Reality: Depression is two to four times more common in individuals who have suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury than in the general population. People who have had a spinal cord injury often deal with very high levels of anxiety, PTSD, social isolation, and grief resulting from the loss of their previous identity.
- Our Approach: At Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm, we employ experienced neuropsychologists and mental health professionals to document these injuries. This allows for proper representation of all aspects of the psychological harm to be shown to insurance adjusters, mediators, and juries in Virginia.
How Insurance Companies Handle Spinal Cord Injury Claims in Virginia and How We Fight Back
Insurance companies have adjusters and attorneys ready to act as soon as you file a catastrophic injury lawsuit Virginia. They all have the same goal, which is to minimize the amount that insurance companies pay to victims in claims.
Virginia is one of the few states that still follows the strict contributory negligence doctrine. The insurance companies take advantage of this doctrine and will use it heavily against the injured party. Under Virginia law, if a plaintiff’s acts of negligence contributed to an accident by even 1%, they will be barred from recovering any compensation.
Common Tactics Insurers Use to Devalue Your Claim
A defense team’s typical strategy for defending its interests includes the following:
- Disputing Causation: Disputing the cause of your current inability to function by claiming these were caused by a pre-existing degenerative condition or an earlier injury.
- Biased Medical Reviews: Using biased medical examiners to downplay your long-term impairment ratings.
- Challenging Future Costs: Challenging the future projected costs of your medical treatment by hiring competing life care planners to give the judge the lowest possible estimates for costs related to your anticipated future medical requirements.
- Covert Surveillance: Conducting covert video surveillance of you on “good days” so that they can misrepresent your capabilities by using the video footage out of context.
- Predatory Early Offers: Pushing predatory offers to settle your claim early, for substantially lower amounts than what the full medical claim would be, before having the scope of your medical needs fully defined.
How Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm Fights Back
Over many years, Tatum and Atkinson Law Firm’s legal team has repeatedly squared off against the insurance companies that employ these business tactics in Virginia spinal injury cases. Rather than just reacting to their defense strategies, we are proactive and take the initiative by developing our own claim-based strategies.
“Our approach has been to build a solid foundation of claims from the moment a case is filed; therefore, through our relationships with established medical professionals, life care planners, vocational specialists, and economic analysts, we have always ensured that the insurance company’s defense tactics do not stand a chance against our claim-based data.” – Robert Tatum
With so much on the line, we will not sit back and allow insurance companies to take advantage of Virginia families who need and deserve full and fair spinal injury compensation Virginia.
Contact Virginia Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys
Understanding “what is a spinal cord injury in Virginia” is only the first step in obtaining the full measure of compensation available to you through the legal system. To obtain the maximum amount of financial compensation, your Virginia brain injury attorney must understand the medical complications, the financial ramifications, and the human cost associated with spinal cord injuries to the fullest extent possible. In addition, your attorney must be willing to fight aggressively against the well-funded insurance company defendants.
Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm handles all spinal cord injury claims in Virginia on a contingency fee basis. This means that we advance all costs associated with your case, and you will not have to pay us anything unless we are able to obtain compensation for you.
Call (800) 529-0804 today to schedule your free consultation with our experienced legal team. The sooner we are able to get involved, the better we will be able to protect your rights and prepare the strongest possible case on your behalf.
Frequently Asked Questions About Spinal Cord Injuries in Virginia!
Can a spinal cord injury occur without immediate paralysis?
Yes. The presence of pain, numbness, or weakness (rather than just paralysis) after an incomplete spinal injury makes it critical to get an immediate MRI and neurological assessment following a serious accident.
Can spinal cord damage worsen after the original accident?
Yes, secondary injuries due to swelling and reduced blood flow can increase damage after the initial trauma. In addition, untreated vertebral instability and delayed surgical decompression can cause continued neurological deterioration following trauma.
What adaptive equipment might be needed after a spinal cord injury?
All needs vary based on the level of injury, but there are some common needs post-injury: power wheelchairs, modified vehicles, ceiling lifts, ventilators for high cervical injuries, voice-activated smart home systems, and pressure relief mattresses to prevent pressure sores.
Can a spinal cord injury affect mental health as well as physical health?
Yes, in the state of Virginia, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and adjustment disorders are common following a spinal cord injury, and those psychological effects are compensable in Virginia and should be documented by qualified mental health experts from the very beginning.
How do doctors determine whether a spinal cord injury is permanent?
Doctors use the ASIA scale, serial neurological examinations, and MRI over a time frame. A spinal cord injury is considered complete if there is no meaningful sacral sparing 72 hours after the initial trauma. In contrast, with incomplete spinal cord injuries, there is greater variability in prognosis or outcomes depending on the specific circumstances surrounding that particular injury.
