Diagnosis and Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury Cases

Spinal cord injuries can have catastrophic consequences. These injuries may be complete, meaning that the injured person can’t move anything below the part of the body that was injured, or incomplete, meaning that the injured person still has some function in body parts located below the level of the spinal cord that was injured. If you are concerned about diagnosis and treatment of a spinal cord injury caused by someone else, you should consult the Syracuse personal injury lawyers of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys. We have more than 35 years seeking the best results for spinal cord injuries.

In order to recover damages to compensate for the treatment of spinal cord injuries arising out of an accident, our lawyers will need to prove: (1) the defendant owed you a reasonable standard of care, (2) the defendant breached this standard, (3) causation and (4) damages. One of the differences in a medical malpractice case that results in spinal cord injuries is that we will need to show what the professional standard of care was and how your health care provider breached it.

Diagnostic treatments for spinal cord injuries include X-rays, CT scans, MRI imaging, and neurological exams. There are circumstances in which a failure to diagnose a spinal cord injury is the result of radiology malpractice or a primary care physician’s error. The critical question in those cases is whether the defendant failed to abide by accepted standards and practices of other health care providers in the same specialty and geographic region. Sometimes diagnosis of a spinal cord injury inflicted during surgery is delayed or missed by the surgeon who performs a spine surgery or another provider who is misses signs in the course of providing post-surgical care. It may be appropriate to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit against any providers who are at fault.

Spinal cord damages cannot be reversed. However, there are a wide range of treatments that might be available to address spinal cord injuries. If we are able to establish liability in Syracuse or Upstate New York, whether ordinary negligence or medical malpractice is at issue, we may be able to recover the costs of emergency actions that needed to be taken at the scene or just after an accident, along with the costs of providing early stages of treatment at the emergency room, such as preventing shock and immobilizing your neck and emergency surgery.

Additionally, we may be able to recover the costs of medical treatment for a spinal cord condition caused by malpractice, including the costs of care at a spine injury center, medications like methylprednisolone, surgery to stabilize the spine, and sometimes treatments like lowering body temperature to prevent inflammation.

Ongoing care may be needed for treatment of spinal cord injuries. Our Syracuse lawyers may be able to recover losses incurred while trying to prevent complications and problems arising from spinal cord injuries. This may require us to seek damages like the costs of ongoing medical care, hospitalizations, rehabilitation, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and services from a physiatrist. We may need to seek recovery of monetary expenses such as the cost of a wheelchair, electronic aids, computer adaptations, and electrical stimulation devices. Additionally, we may be able to recover the costs of medications to control your pain, spasticity, bowels, and bladder.

Sometimes spinal cord injuries are so severe that an accident victim requires a lifelong caregiver. These are economic losses that may be recovered in a lawsuit in which liability is successfully established.

Spinal cord injuries may be accompanied by significant pain and emotional distress. It may be appropriate to seek not only past, present, and future economic losses but also an amount to address the physical and emotional pain you suffer as the result of a spinal cord injury, as well as mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium.

If you or a loved one is concerned about diagnosis and treatment of spinal cord injuries caused by another, the Syracuse lawyers of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys may be able to provide legal representation. We’ve recovered more than $100 million in personal injury awards and settlements in the course of representing the injured and their families in Albany, Buffalo, Auburn, Wampsville, Oneida, Rochester, Utica, Watertown, Lowville, Elmira, Oswego, Canandaigua, Lyons, Ithaca, Cooperstown, Herkimer, and Binghamton. Complete our online form or call us at 833-200-2000.