Paralysis is one of the most devastating consequences an accident can cause. A spinal cord or brain injury can permanently affect a person’s ability to move, work, care for themselves, and participate in everyday activities. Victims may also face extensive medical treatment, rehabilitation, assistive equipment, home modifications, and ongoing care for years or even the rest of their lives.
When paralysis results from another person’s negligence, the financial and personal consequences can extend far beyond the initial medical bills. A paralysis injury claim may need to account for future medical expenses, lost earning capacity, in-home care, and the many other costs associated with a permanent disability.
If you or a loved one suffered paralysis because of an accident, call catastrophic injury lawyers Langdon & Emison at 866-931-2115 to discuss your legal options.
Why Choose Langdon & Emison for a Paralysis Injury Case?
Paralysis injury claims can be significantly more complex than cases involving temporary injuries. In addition to establishing who was responsible for the accident, it may be necessary to determine the victim’s lifelong medical, financial, and personal needs. Langdon & Emison has the experience and resources to build a comprehensive claim focused on the full impact of a catastrophic injury.
Our team can:
- Thoroughly investigate the accident to determine how the injury occurred and identify the parties who may be responsible.
- Document the full extent of the injury using medical records, diagnostic evidence, and opinions from qualified medical professionals.
- Evaluate future medical needs including rehabilitation, assistive equipment, medications, and ongoing treatment.
- Account for long-term care needs such as in-home assistance, nursing care, and necessary home or vehicle modifications.
- Calculate lost earning capacity when paralysis prevents a victim from returning to their previous occupation or substantially limits their ability to work.
- Work with qualified experts including medical specialists, life-care planners, and economic professionals when appropriate.
- Pursue full compensation for the physical, financial, and personal consequences of a catastrophic injury.
- Provide the resources needed to take on responsible parties and insurance companies in complex catastrophic injury litigation.
With $1 billion recovered for our clients, Langdon & Emison has the resources to pursue the compensation needed to address the immediate and lifelong consequences of paralysis.
What Causes Paralysis?
Paralysis can result from damage to the brain, spinal cord, or nerves. When that damage is caused by a serious accident, the resulting disability can affect nearly every aspect of a person’s life. Some of the most common accidents that can cause paralysis include:
- Motor vehicle accidents: High-impact collisions can cause spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and other damage that results in paralysis.
- Truck accidents: The size and weight of commercial trucks can produce tremendous forces during a collision, increasing the risk of catastrophic neurological injuries.
- Motorcycle accidents: Motorcyclists have less physical protection than occupants of passenger vehicles and may suffer severe spinal or brain injuries when thrown from a motorcycle.
- Pedestrian accidents: A pedestrian struck by a vehicle can suffer catastrophic injuries to the brain or spinal cord.
- Falls: Falls from heights, stairs, scaffolding, or other locations can cause spinal cord and brain injuries that result in paralysis.
- Workplace and construction accidents: Construction and industrial accidents can involve falls, heavy equipment, collapsing structures, and other hazards capable of causing catastrophic injuries.
- Defective products: A defective vehicle, safety system, or other product may contribute to an accident that causes a spinal cord or brain injury.
In some cases, paralysis can result from multiple injuries sustained during the same accident. Establishing what caused the neurological injury may require accident reconstruction, medical analysis, and other expert investigation.
When another person’s negligence, a dangerous property condition, or a defective product causes an accident resulting in paralysis, the injured person may have grounds to pursue compensation from the responsible parties.
Common Injuries That Can Lead to Paralysis
Paralysis can occur when an accident causes significant damage to the nervous system. The brain and spinal cord are particularly vulnerable to traumatic injuries, and damage to these structures can interfere with the signals that control movement and sensation.
Common injuries that may lead to paralysis include:
- Spinal cord injuries: Damage to the spinal cord can interrupt communication between the brain and the rest of the body, potentially resulting in permanent loss of movement or sensation.
- Vertebral fractures: Broken or displaced vertebrae can damage or compress the spinal cord and surrounding nerves.
- Spinal cord compression: Swelling, bleeding, displaced bone, or other trauma can place pressure on the spinal cord and interfere with neurological function.
- Traumatic brain injuries: Severe injuries to the brain can affect areas responsible for controlling movement, potentially resulting in paralysis or significant motor impairment.
- Brain hemorrhages: Bleeding within or around the brain following traumatic injury can damage neurological tissue and affect motor function.
- Nerve injuries: Severe damage to peripheral nerves can cause loss of movement or sensation in specific parts of the body.
The location and severity of the underlying injury can affect the type and extent of paralysis. For example, an injury high in the spinal cord may affect the arms and legs, while an injury lower in the spinal cord may primarily affect the lower body.
A person who suffers paralysis after an accident may require extensive medical treatment and rehabilitation. Understanding the underlying injury is also important when determining the person’s future medical needs and the full scope of damages in a legal claim.
How Paralysis Can Affect Your Life
Paralysis can affect far more than a person’s ability to walk or move. A permanent disability may require significant changes to a person’s home, work, transportation, and daily routine. It can also place new responsibilities on family members and caregivers.
Depending on the severity of the paralysis, a person may experience:
- Loss of independence: Everyday activities such as bathing, dressing, eating, or getting in and out of bed may require assistance.
- Need for assistive equipment: Wheelchairs, mobility devices, communication technology, and other equipment may become necessary.
- Home modifications: Ramps, accessible bathrooms, widened doorways, lifts, and other modifications may be needed to make a home accessible.
- Vehicle modifications: Specialized controls, wheelchair lifts, or accessible vehicles may be necessary for transportation.
- Changes in employment: A person may be unable to return to their previous occupation or may need to transition to different work.
- Reduced earning capacity: Permanent physical limitations can affect both current income and the ability to earn income in the future.
- Ongoing personal care: Some individuals may require in-home caregivers, nursing assistance, or other long-term support.
- Changes in family life: Family members may take on caregiving responsibilities or need to make significant changes to accommodate the injured person’s needs.
- Emotional and psychological effects: Adjusting to a permanent disability can be challenging and may affect a person’s emotional well-being and quality of life.
Because paralysis can create needs that continue for decades, a legal claim should account for more than the expenses incurred immediately after an accident. Evaluating the full impact of the injury can help ensure that future medical, care, and financial needs are considered.
The Long-Term Costs of a Paralysis Injury
A paralysis injury can create substantial expenses that continue long after the initial accident. Medical treatment may be only the beginning. Depending on the severity of the injury, a person may require ongoing rehabilitation, assistive equipment, home modifications, personal care, and other services throughout their life.
Potential long-term costs may include:
- Emergency and hospital care: Treatment immediately following the accident, including surgery and hospitalization.
- Rehabilitation: Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other rehabilitation services may be necessary to maximize function and independence.
- Medical equipment: Wheelchairs, mobility devices, specialized beds, and other equipment may be required.
- Home modifications: Ramps, accessible bathrooms, lifts, and other changes may be necessary to accommodate a permanent disability.
- Vehicle modifications: Specialized controls, wheelchair lifts, or accessible transportation may be needed.
- In-home care: A person with significant paralysis may require assistance with personal care, household activities, or medical needs.
- Medications and ongoing treatment: Paralysis-related complications may require continuing medications, medical appointments, and treatment.
- Lost income: A person may lose wages while recovering from the initial injury or receiving ongoing treatment.
- Reduced earning capacity: A permanent disability may prevent a person from returning to their previous career or earning the same income in the future.
Because many of these expenses can continue for years or decades, calculating the financial impact of paralysis requires looking beyond current medical bills. Life-care planners, medical professionals, and economic experts may help estimate the future treatment, care, equipment, and financial needs associated with a catastrophic injury.
Who May Be Liable for a Paralysis Injury?
The party responsible for a paralysis injury depends on how the accident occurred. In many cases, more than one person or organization may potentially be liable for the injuries and resulting losses.
Potentially responsible parties may include:
- Negligent drivers: A driver who causes a collision through distracted driving, speeding, impaired driving, or another form of negligence may be responsible for resulting injuries.
- Trucking companies: A trucking company may potentially be liable when negligent hiring, training, supervision, maintenance, or other conduct contributes to a truck accident.
- Property owners: A property owner or other responsible party may be liable when a dangerous property condition causes a fall or other accident.
- Employers or other businesses: Depending on the circumstances, an employer or business may be responsible for an employee’s conduct or unsafe conditions that contribute to an accident.
- Manufacturers: A manufacturer may potentially be liable when a defective vehicle, safety system, or other product contributes to a catastrophic injury.
- Contractors and other responsible parties: Construction or workplace accidents may involve contractors, subcontractors, equipment manufacturers, or other parties.
Determining liability requires investigating the specific circumstances of the accident and identifying the conduct, condition, or defective product that caused the injury. Evidence such as accident reports, photographs, witness statements, medical records, electronic data, and expert analysis may all be important in establishing responsibility.
Proving a Paralysis Injury Claim
Paralysis injury claims can involve complex medical and legal questions. Establishing liability requires evidence showing how the accident occurred, who was responsible, and how the accident caused the victim’s injuries. It is also important to document the full extent of the resulting disability and its impact on the person’s future.
Depending on the circumstances, evidence may include:
- Accident reports: Police reports, workplace reports, or other official records can provide information about how the accident occurred.
- Photographs and video: Images of the accident scene, vehicles, property conditions, or other relevant evidence may help establish what happened.
- Witness statements: People who saw the accident or its aftermath may provide important information about how the injury occurred.
- Medical records: Hospital records, diagnostic imaging, treatment notes, and other medical documentation can establish the nature and severity of the paralysis.
- Medical expert opinions: Specialists may help explain the underlying injury, prognosis, treatment needs, and connection between the accident and paralysis.
- Accident reconstruction: In vehicle, trucking, or other complex accidents, reconstruction experts may help establish how the incident occurred.
- Employment records: Documentation of wages, employment history, and career limitations can help establish lost income and diminished earning capacity.
- Life-care plans: A life-care planner may help identify and estimate the medical treatment, equipment, personal care, and other services a person may require in the future.
- Economic analysis: Economic experts may help calculate the financial impact of lost earning capacity and future expenses.
Because paralysis can create lifelong consequences, a claim should address both the injuries that have already occurred and the future needs associated with the disability.
What Compensation Can You Recover for a Paralysis Injury?
If another party’s negligence caused a paralysis injury, the victim may be entitled to seek compensation for the financial, physical, and personal consequences of the injury. The damages available will depend on the circumstances of the accident, the severity of the disability, and applicable state law.
Potential compensation may include:
- Medical expenses: Costs associated with emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, medication, and other treatment.
- Future medical care: Expenses for ongoing treatment, therapy, medical equipment, and management of paralysis-related complications.
- In-home care: Costs of personal assistance, nursing care, or other long-term support.
- Assistive equipment: Wheelchairs, mobility devices, specialized technology, and other equipment needed because of the disability.
- Home and vehicle modifications: Expenses for making a home or vehicle accessible.
- Lost wages: Income lost because of the initial injury and resulting recovery or treatment.
- Loss of earning capacity: Compensation for the effect of permanent paralysis on a person’s ability to earn income in the future.
- Pain and suffering: Compensation for physical pain and the emotional impact of a catastrophic injury.
- Disability and disfigurement: Damages associated with permanent physical limitations and other lasting consequences.
- Loss of enjoyment of life: Compensation may be available for the ways a permanent disability affects a person’s ability to participate in activities they previously enjoyed.
- Other damages: Additional economic or noneconomic damages may be available depending on the circumstances and applicable law.
The value of a paralysis injury claim depends on the individual circumstances. A thorough evaluation should account for not only current medical expenses and lost income, but also the long-term costs and limitations the injury may create.
Contact an Experienced Paralysis Injury Lawyer at Langdom & Emison
Paralysis can change nearly every aspect of a person’s life. Beyond the immediate medical treatment, victims may face lifelong rehabilitation, assistive equipment, home modifications, personal care, lost income, and other significant expenses. When paralysis is caused by someone else’s negligence, pursuing compensation can help address both the immediate and long-term consequences of the injury.
Langdon & Emison represents clients nationwide in catastrophic injury cases involving paralysis and other life-altering injuries. With $1 billion recovered for our clients, our attorneys have the experience and resources to investigate the cause of a catastrophic injury, work with qualified experts, and pursue compensation for the full impact of the disability.
If you or a loved one suffered paralysis because of an accident, call Langdon & Emison at 866-931-2115 to discuss your legal options.
Frequently Asked Questions About Paralysis Injuries
Can a car accident cause paralysis?
Yes. A high-impact collision can damage the spinal cord or brain and result in partial or complete paralysis.
Can a truck accident cause paralysis?
Yes. The size and weight of commercial trucks can produce significant forces during the collison of a truck accident, potentially causing catastrophic spinal cord or brain injuries.
Is paralysis always permanent?
Not necessarily. Some paralysis may improve with treatment and rehabilitation, while other injuries result in permanent loss of movement or sensation. The prognosis depends on the underlying neurological injury.
What is the difference between paraplegia and quadriplegia?
Paraplegia generally affects the lower half of the body, while quadriplegia or tetraplegia affects the arms, hands, trunk, and legs.
How much is a paralysis injury claim worth?
The value depends on factors such as the severity and permanence of the paralysis, medical expenses, future care needs, lost income, reduced earning capacity, and the impact of the injury on the victim’s life.
How long do I have to file a paralysis injury lawsuit?
The deadline varies depending on the state, the parties involved, and the circumstances of the claim. Because statutes of limitations can be strict, it is important to speak with an attorney promptly.
