Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Virginia Beach
Spinal cord injuries are catastrophic injuries that can adversely impact the rest of a victim’s life. When an accident damages or injures the spine, it can cut off the pathways the brain uses to communicate with the body. This often leads to long-term health complications, including neurological conditions that leave the patient paralyzed. On top of that, living with this type of injury also means paying for numerous long-term expenses associated with medical treatments.
Before you accept a settlement offer for a spinal cord injury in Virginia Beach, it’s important to understand the full scope of your long-term costs. If you or a loved one were left paralyzed after a personal injury accident through no fault of your own, please reach out to the skilled Virginia Beach spinal cord injury lawyers at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp as soon as possible.
What Expenses Are Commonly Associated With Spinal Cord Injuries?
Unfortunately, after experiencing a serious spinal cord injury, victims also must face multiple ongoing medical expenses. The precise care and medical treatments they need will hinge on their specific prognosis and diagnosis. Most injuries to the spinal cord are permanent, leaving victims paralyzed below the point of injury. Almost all spinal cord injuries require multiple types of medical treatments, including:
- Surgeries
- Aftercare
- Physical therapy
- Specialists
- Rehabilitation
- Occupational therapy
- Prescription medicines
- Mobility-assistive devices
- Home carers
- Vehicle or house modifications
- Disability accommodations
The medical bills associated with a spinal injury can quickly and easily exceed $1,000,000 during the patient’s lifetime. To determine your economic spinal cord injury damages, you can total all of your hospital bills. Then, with the aid of a Virginia Beach spinal cord injury lawyer, estimate your anticipated future medical expenses.
To prove the full extent of your damages and recover full and fair financial compensation, you will need evidence, including paperwork from your treating physician, bills, and pay stubs.
What is the Average Lifetime Cost of a Spinal Injury?
The price of living with a spinal cord injury will hinge on the severity of the spinal cord injury, how old the victim was when their injury occurred, and how it will impact the rest of their life. Every year, the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center releases revised estimates on the lifetime costs of living with a spinal cord injury.
In 2020, data sheets estimated that the lifetime expense of a spine injury ranged anywhere from $1,202,832 for a 50-year-old victim who retained some motor function to $5,100,941 for a 25-year-old victim who experienced quadraplegia. The cost of managing paraplegia over the course of a victim’s life is estimated to be just over $1.5 million for a victim who was 50 when their injury occurred, to $2.5 million for someone whose accident took place when they were 25.
It is important to note that these estimations are for a victim’s lifetime costs related solely to living expenses and health care and do not take into account any indirect costs related to the injury, such as lost earnings and diminished quality of life. The total expense of a lifelong spinal cord injury can easily exceed the largest estimate for medical bills alone.
What Other Damages Do You Get for a Spinal Injury?
After a spinal cord injury, medical expenses will represent only a portion of your overall damages. An experienced Virginia Beach spinal cord injury lawyer can account for other damages arising from your accident, which will allow you to recover compensation for your:
Pain and Suffering
We have seen firsthand the mental anguish and emotional trauma victims can face after receiving a serious spinal cord injury. When you partner with our Virginia Beach personal injury firm, we will ensure that your pain and suffering are considered in your settlement.
Lost Earnings
In most cases, a spine injury will require time away from work. If this is the case, the settlement should also cover lost pay, raises, commissions, and bonuses. Also, many spinal cord injuries result in partial or full paralysis, which can prevent victims from physically going back to work. In this situation, the experienced Virginia Beach spinal cord injury lawyers at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp can help you obtain financial compensation that covers your lost earnings as well as your diminished earning capacity.
What Steps Can I Take to Obtain Maximum Compensation for a Spinal Cord Injury?
Virginia civil law allows plaintiffs with negligence-based spinal cord injuries to pursue losses for full-time care and ongoing medical treatments as well as noneconomic damages. Non-economic damages include mental anguish, emotional distress, reduced quality of life, loss of consortium, disfigurement, scarring, and psychological trauma. The overall value of a victim’s noneconomic damages, also known as pain and suffering, can be enormous for those with a permanent spinal cord injury.
Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp
In order to accurately calculate how expensive a spine injury will be in the long run, it is necessary to consult with an experienced Virginia Beach spinal cord injury lawyer. If certain damages are excluded from the initial demand, it could lead to injured victims accepting less than their injury is worth over the course of their lifetime. For example, in one case, the Virginia Beach spinal cord injury lawyers successfully mediated a significant settlement for a client who experienced a fractured vertebra when he was hit head-on by a wrong-way driver on I-64 in the area of Norfolk Naval Station.
Our reputable personal injury attorneys have more than a century of combined experience successfully managing spinal cord injury claims and are more than familiar with the current and projected expenses arising from them. They also have time-tested strategies they use to effectively negotiate for full and fair financial compensation from an insurer on your behalf.
If you recently sustained a spinal cord injury through no fault of your own, Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp can help you calculate fair financial compensation for your injury. Your damages should include more than just your current medical bills and pain and suffering, but diminished earning capacity, reduced quality of life, and additional factors specific to your case.
Seeking compensation from the responsible party is essential to accessing the medical treatment you need and preserving your quality of life. To schedule a free consultation, call (833) 997-1774 or fill out our online contact form. Our offices are located in Virginia Beach, Hampton, Norfolk, and Portsmouth.
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