Spinal Cord Injuries

Spinal cord injuries are life altering, sometimes fatal. They're usually due to a blow to the vertebra(e) of the spine. Motor vehicle crashes account for nearly half of the spinal cord injuries in the U.S., but falls, acts of violence (e.g., gunshot wounds), and sports or recreation activities also cause significant numbers of these injuries. The medical malpractice attorneys at The Berkowitz Law Firm represent individuals whose spinal cord injury was caused by the negligence or intentional harm of another person or company.

An SCI Can Happen to Anyone

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there are approximately 11,000 new spinal cord injuries (SCIs) every year in the U.S. SCIs happen more often to young adults (average age 28 years) and to males (almost 78% of the SCIs). However, anyone can have the misfortune of suffering a spinal cord injury—babies, toddlers, school-age children, teens, adults and the elderly. The consequences of an SCI can be devastating.

Damaging the Nerve Signals

The spinal cord relays nerve messages to the rest of the body. When the vertebrae of the spine are dislocated or fractured from a blow, pieces of the vertebrae may tear into the spinal cord tissue, or press down on the nerves that carry signals to body parts. The results can be severe, sometimes permanent disabilities and conditions such as:

Paraplegia—complete or partial paralysis of the legs and possibly the trunk
Quadriplegia—paralysis of both the legs and arms
Broken back
Spinal cord compression
Spinal fracture
Disk herniation
Loss of bladder and/or bowel control
Loss of sexual functioning
Depression

Secondary Conditions

Secondary medical conditions may also follow an SCI: respiratory complications, urinary tract infections, pressure sores, spasticity, and scoliosis. Surgery and therapy may help in some SCI cases, but for many people with an SCI, lifelong medical care will be necessary.

The Losses that Accompany an SCI

If you or a family member has incurred an SCI, you know that the medical bills from can be staggering. Emergency room bills, treatment and rehabilitation costs, lost income or future income, the loss of a loved one's companionship, and the emotional drain are some of the damages that accompany a spinal cord injury.

If negligence, recklessness, or intentional harm by another person or company contributed to or is the direct cause of your SCI, you should protect your legal rights. Your losses may be eligible for financial compensation.

Contact a Berkowitz Law Firm spinal cord injury attorney in Stamford, Connecticut or Danbury, Connecticut today.

Meet the Attorneys

Recent Headlines at Berkowitz and Reinken

Russ Berkowitz has recently recovered $810,000.00 against a local high school and its school administrators and coaches on behalf of a high school student who sustained a fractured neck during an unsupervised, after school, off-season wrestling practice in the school’s gymnasium.

$2,450,000.00 total award against a hospital for its failure to properly restrain a hospital psychiatric patient who jumped out of a hospital window and fell three stories sustaining a permanent brain injury. Eric Blomberg and Russ Berkowitz represented the plaintiff.

Russ Berkowitz has been selected as a 2010 Super Lawyer...

$4,750,000.00 medical malpractice award on behalf of a child who sustained brain damage as a result of a hospital's negligent airway management.

$9,000,000.00 medical malpractice recovery against an obstetrician and a hospital whose failure to timely deliver the infant plaintiff, despite signs of fetal distress, left her severely brain damaged.

$6,100,000.00 settlement against a hospital and two physicians on behalf of a client who sustained permanent paralysis.

Joanne Sheehan recently settled a medical malpractice case for $1,800,000.00 against an optometrist who caused a female plaintiff to sustain permanent vision loss in both eyes following the improper administration of ophthalmic steroids despite said optometrist's knowledge of the plaintiff's history of steroid induced eye pressure.

$4,000,000.00 medical malpractice verdict

$2,600,000.00 wrongful death verdict