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The True Costs of Living with a Spinal Cord Injury

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The true costs of living every day with a spinal cord injury depends on many different factors including, the type and severity of your injury, your age and your prognosis for recovery.

There are many types of spinal cord injuries with different degrees of severity, and all of them requiring specialized care. Your age, too, affects the long-term financial impact your injury will have on your life.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The University of Alabama National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, someone suffering from High Tetraplegia, one of the most severe cases that involves damage to one of the eight cervical segments of the spinal cord, will require over $1 million in specialized care in the first year after suffering their injury. They will need approximately $170,000 per year after that, totaling well over $4 million over the course of the average lifetime if injured at age 25.

The same sources state that someone injured at age 25, suffering any level of incomplete motor function resulting from lesions in the thoracic, lumbar, or sacral regions of the spinal cord, may require nearly $2 million over the course of an average lifespan.

In addition to medical attention immediately following your injury, other costs you will incur may include;

  • Adaptions to your home, such as ramps, bath lifts, extensions, etc.
  • A special vehicle that you can drive/access easily
  • Lost wages
  • Private health care to insure you receive the best possible care in a timely manner
  • Pain and suffering
  • Out of pocket expenses, such as travel costs to and from doctors’ appointments
  • Rehabilitation and therapy to maximize your independence
  • Nursing home costs in a worst-case scenario

If your life has been impacted by a spinal cord injury, you already know how different things are going to be. Everyday tasks that you once took for granted, such as personal hygiene, shopping, and household chores have taken on a whole new level of difficulty. Money will not make everything like it was before the injury, but it will certainly help as you adjust to your new lifestyle. Spinal cord injury claims require an attorney who has expertise in this field, and a proven track record of getting clients the right amount of compensation for their injury. If you or someone you love has suffered a spinal cord injury through the actions of another person, an experienced personal injury attorney at Phillips Law Firm can help.

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Traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries on the Rise

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Recent research from John Hopkins shows that traumatic spinal cord injuries are on the rise, due to an increase in falls. In particular, elderly victims are experiencing the highest rise in spinal cord injuries. These findings may be particularly important in premises liability cases, where a property owner’s negligence could increase the risk for a serious fall.

In the John Hopkin’s study, researchers analyzed 43,137 adults that were treated in emergency rooms across the country for a variety of spinal cord injuries between 2007 and 2009. They found that in victims over the age of 65, the prevalence of spinal cord injuries increased to 87.7 per million in 2009—up from 79.4 in 2007. Over the three-year period, falls were the leading cause of traumatic spinal cord injuries, followed closely by motor vehicle crashes. The elderly accounted for 30% of these injuries.

Sadly, elderly victims who suffer traumatic spinal cord injuries are also 4x more likely to die in the emergency room, compared to younger victims. Even if they survive the initial injury and make it out of the emergency room, they are then 6x more likely to die from complications during their inpatient stay.

Spinal cord injuries are also a financial burden on the healthcare system in America with charges totaling more than $1.6 billion from 2007-2009 alone. The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center estimates that the lifetime costs of caring for a family member with a spinal cord injury ranges between $1 million to $5 million. This is due in large part to improvements in rehab care that enables spinal cord injury victims to live longer lives.

If you or someone you love has sustained a traumatic spinal cord injury in a slip and fall accident on another person’s property, you may be entitled to seek compensation for your injuries. If your injury was the result of negligence, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit against the responsible party to recover damages. Spinal cord injuries can be severe, requiring a lifetime of care. As such, you need a Seattle personal injury attorney who can fight the insurance companies and ensure that you receive the money you need to adjust to your new disability and changes to your lifestyle.

Contact Seattle Personal Injury Attorneys

If you are interested in learning more about your legal options, call us at 1-800-708-6000. Our Seattle personal injury attorneys are waiting to assist you 24/7, offering a free case evaluation. Remember our no fee promise. If we do not recover anything for you, you do not owe us an attorney fee.

The personal injury lawyers at Phillips Law Firm have successfully represented injured individuals and their families in Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver, Bellevue, Everett, Kent, Auburn, Renton, Federal Way, Bellingham, Marysville, Lakewood, Redmond, Shoreline, and throughout the State of Washington.

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There is Hope for Paralyzed Seattle Accident Victims

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Spinal Injury - Seattle Accident AttorneysSeattle accident victims who sustain spinal cord injuries may have reason to cheer. According to Tufts Medical Center experts, complete paralysis from a broken neck may not always be permanent—and in most cases it isn’t. Unless the spinal cord nerve is completely severed, many spinal cord injury victims can regain some of their movements and feeling again.

After an accident, the spinal cord can be injured, causing swelling, bruising, and bleeding. Yet within 3-6 months, some of the paralysis can improve as the swelling decreases. The bony vertebrae of the spine make the spinal cord difficult to sever, making many spinal cord injuries something victims can recover from, even if it is only partially.

Even when spinal cord injury victims are able to recover, however, the recovery process is slow and can take some time. With aggressive rehabilitation and physical therapy, many paralyzed victims can regain some of their mobility and motor skills. Yet for many, the recovery is never a complete process, and accident victims often find themselves dealing with loss of fine-motor skills years after their initial injury.

The care an accident victim receives immediately following a serious spinal cord injury can make a significant difference between complete paralysis and temporary paralysis. This is why it is so important for first responders to immobilize the neck and back immediately following an accident.

In the initial weeks and months following a spinal cord injury, it can be impossible for doctors, therapists, and victims to truly realize the full extent of the injury itself. As such, it is important to have an experienced Seattle injury attorney on your side from the moment you are injured. Insurance companies routinely offer spinal cord injury victims a fraction of what they need to fully recover—and they often make these offers quickly, when injured victims are at their most vulnerable. This is not by accident. Don’t let the insurance companies take advantage of you and NEVER agree to a settlement without first speaking to a personal injury lawyer.

Contact Seattle Personal Injury Attorneys

If you or someone you love sustains a spinal cord injury in a Seattle accident, an experienced Seattle personal injury attorney at Phillips Law Firm can help. If you are interested in learning more about your legal options, call us at 1-800-708-6000. Our Seattle personal injury lawsuit attorneys are waiting to assist you 24/7, offering a free case evaluation. Remember our no fee promise. If we do not recover anything for you, you do not owe us an attorney fee.

The personal injury lawyers at Phillips Law Firm have successfully represented injured individuals and their families in Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver, Bellevue, Everett, Kent, Auburn, Renton, Federal Way, Bellingham, Marysville, Lakewood, Redmond, Shoreline, and throughout the State of Washington. 

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