Spinal Injury Claim

Most Spinal Injuries are as a result of a sudden, traumatic blow to the Vertebrae. Examples of these are trauma following a car accident or a serious fall. Depending on the type and/or location of the trauma, the severity of the injury will vary from chronic pain to Paralysis.

What are the different types of Spinal Injury?

Spinal injuries can be described as ‘Complete’ or ‘Incomplete’. A Complete injury results in total Paralysis below the primary level of the injury.  An Incomplete injury results in some function remaining on one or both sides of the body, there remains some communication between the brain and the body.

The types of injury include:

• A Thoracic Spinal Injury
• A Cervical Spinal Injury
• Cauda Equina Syndrome
• A Lumbosacral injury

There are variety of causes of Spinal Injuries. These include:

• Falling from a height
• Violent assaults or stabbings
• Car accidents
• Negligent spinal surgery
• Sporting accidents
• Failure or delay in diagnosing Cauda Equina Syndrome
• Electrical accidents
• Slip and fall accidents

There are a number of grounds on which Spinal Injury claim can be made

• Medical Negligence – Injury to the Spine can occur during spinal treatment or surgery. It may also occur through an infection entering the spinal canal. If the injury to the spine was preventable, had the appropriate medical care been provided, it may be possible to bring a claim for compensation.
• Negligence – Injury to the spine may be as a result of the negligence of someone else. An example of this would be spinal injuries suffered as a result of a car accident or a fall at another’s premises. It will be necessary to prove the Defendant was negligent.
• Defective Products – Injury to the spine may be as a result of the use of a product that is defective. This includes defective medical products and pharmaceutical products.

Generally, the time limit to bring legal Proceedings is two years form the date you first become aware you were injured as a result of an accident/negligent act done to you.

There are however exceptions to this rule. If someone is under the age of 18, the two-year period does not commence until their 18th birthday.

Also, in cases where a person does not know they have been injured at first and they have taken all steps to find out if they are injured, then the two-year period may not begin until they have established that they are in fact injured in some way.