New York Spinal Injury Accident

If you have suffered a spinal injury, you know that these types of injuries can turn your life upside down. You may be reeling from the physical effects of your injury and unable to work; all the while medical bills continue to add up. These injuries occur when a traumatic event leads to the damage of cells within the spinal cord or there is a severing of the nerve tracts which transmit signals throughout the spinal cord and there is a resulting loss of function. Not all spinal injury includes damage to the spinal cord. These injuries may only entail a bulging disk, spinal stenosis, herniated disk or spinal fracture. Our legal staff has discovered each year spinal cord injury appears in an average of 15,000 Americans. Approximately 10,000 of these people will endure permanent paralysis, and many injuries resulting in a wrongful death. If you or a loved one has suffered from a spinal injury, speak with a New York spinal injury lawyer from Stephen Bilkis and Associates. You could be entitled to compensation for your injuries.

Spinal injuries are caused by a sudden blow to the spine that dislocates, fractures, crushes or compresses the vertebrae in the spine. The most common cause of spinal injuries are:

Car accidents (50%)
Trip and falls (24%)
Assault (11%)
Sport related injuries (9%)

A spinal damage can be caused by many different things. Something as simple as coughing or sneezing or a more serious event such as a construction accident, trauma from a head injury from a slip and fall or car accident can induce damage. These conditions may elicit chronic pain, temporary loss of function or permanent paralysis, such as paraplegia or quadriplegia. Some injuries require emergency medical treatment to limit long-term effects. Minimizing the time between injury and treatment is crucial in promoting a positive recovery.

The consequences of a spinal injury can result in different levels of impairment. This can include:

Paraparesis: partial paralysis of lower body

Paraplegia: complete paralysis below the waist

Quadriparesis: partial paralysis of all extremities

Quadriplegia: Complete paralysis of all extremities

In some cases, treatment may only require the use of medications such as corticosteroids to reduce pain and swelling. Other times they may require surgical treatment like decompression laminectomy to correct the damage and hinder further damage. If surgery is performed, post-surgery immobilization of the spine is often necessary for a favorable outcome.

A spinal damage typically creates substantial physical impairments, as in a loss of motor function, loss of ability to breathe, lack of bowel and bladder function or the inability to regulate blood pressure. Spinal injury can often produce a dramatic emotional change as well, like a feeling of hopelessness, depression or denial. Spinal injury may require significant medical treatment and physical, mental and occupational rehabilitation. Enduring considerable medical treatment and rehabilitation usually creates added stress and strain through high medical bills, physical, mental and emotional distress, loss of wages and dealing with a complex legal system.

In some injury cases, the injury occurred due to another person’s carelessness or wrongful act. Consult with our legal team to successfully investigate, file suit and mitigate your spinal injury claim. Every attorney in our office utilizes unique skills and techniques coupled with vast knowledge and litigation experience to help obtain compensation for your medical and rehabilitation expenses, loss of wages, pain and suffering and decrease in quality of life.

If you or someone you love is suffering from a temporary or permanent spinal injury due another’s carelessness or negligence, contact us for a case evaluation. Call us at 800.696.9529 or online. Our firm has offices located throughout the New York area in Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Westchester County and in Long Island in Suffolk and Nassau County.