Spinal Injury Claims

Encountering a spinal injury can massively affect your life and that of your family. In some cases a spinal injury, can be life-changing. When you take into account the cost of healthcare given that rehabilitation treatment will play a big part in your recovery or potentially the need for mobility aids, adaptations to your home or adaptations to your car sustaining a spinal injury can have a real negative impact on your finances, especially if you cannot work because of it. 

 

If you or a family member has suffered a spinal injury caused by an accident either at work, in public or in other situations, you may be eligible to make a spinal injury compensation claim. Seek expert advice from our experienced spinal injury solicitors at Thompson & Co today. Our solicitors have many years’ experience of dealing with spinal injury claims. If your spinal injury was the result of medical negligence, then see the bottom half of this page.

You will have direct access to one of our Senior Solicitors who will be responsible for your case giving you the opportunity to ask questions and ensure you are fully at ease with the options available to you at each stage of your claim. You remain in control of the decisions in your claim. We do not use legally unqualified staff to deal with cases. All of our solicitors have over 20 years’ of experience in dealing with personal injury and medical negligence claims.  

Get in touch today using an online contact form on our website or by calling a member of our team now. We can discuss your with you in person or by phone, email or by video call online such as Zoom, Facetime or Teams.

We will advise you whether we consider you are likely to have the basis of a claim and if you pursue your claim we will support you at every step of your claim. We will provide you with relevant details to allow you to make fully informed decisions as your claim progresses and will keep you up to date in relation to the progress of your claim. 

What Is A Spinal Cord Injury?

A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage and trauma to the bundle of nerves that make up a spinal cord which runs downward through the canal in the centre of the spine. These nerves carry messages between the brain and the body to enable movement and sensation.

 

When a traumatic injury occurs and the spinal cord becomes compressed, bruised, partially torn or completely torn, loss of movement from below the trauma site can result in permanent disability with loss of movement and sensation. Symptoms can include

 

• Problems walking
• Weakness
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• Feelings of spreading numbness or tingling in the extremities
• Unconsciousness
• Headaches
• Difficulty breathing, coughing
• Back pain
• Pain or stiffness in the neck

If untreated for a prolonged period a Spinal Injury it may lead to

• Complete permanent paralysis

What Causes Spinal Injuries?

 

• Road traffic accidents
• Workplace accidents
• Infection (such as spinal tuberculosis) 
• Medical negligence
• Surgical Errors 
• Sports accidents or injuries
• Falls or slips in public

Spinal Surgery Negligence Claims

Spinal injury negligence can occur during many different types of medical procedures or medical settings. One of the most common is spinal injury that has resulted from spinal surgery. With such close proximity to the spinal cord, any form of spinal injury surgery carries a certain level of risk. If you have suffered from spinal surgery negligence that has resulted in pain, disability, paralysis, loss of bowel or bladder function, or sexual function, get in touch with our team of specialists today.

What Is Spinal Surgery Negligence?

Spinal surgery is a standard treatment for those who are suffering from degenerative lumbar disc disease and spondylolisthesis (where one of the bones in your spine — called a vertebra — slips forward and out of place), any form of spinal fracture or scoliosis (curvature of the spine). 

 

Surgeons who specialise in this area often use methods that require the use of metal rod and screw insertions and bone grafts where just one mistake could lead to serious complications.

 

Surgery success rates are very high without ever leading to complications, however, there are times when avoidable mistakes from the surgeon and medical team can occur which can cause injury to the spine and lead to permanent damage and disability. .

What Makes Me Eligible For A Spinal Surgery Negligence Claim?

You may be able to bring a claim for compensation if you have suffered a spinal injury due to:

• Errors made during cauda equina syndrome surgery;
• Medical professionals not adequately assessing a your suitability for surgery;
• A medical professional failing to explain the risks that comes with spinal surgery and alternative treatment options;
• A medical practitioner failing to obtain the required informed consent
• Unnecessary spinal surgery due to misdiagnosis
• Inadequate postoperative care
• A complication that could have been avoided by the surgeon or medical team during spinal surgery
• failure to refer a patient for physiotherapy 
• Failure to refer a patient for other types of postoperative treatment that is required.
• Delay in recognising signs and symptoms of spinal cord injury

It is important to bear in mind that in order to be successful in making a medical or dental negligence claim, it will be necessary to prove that it is more likely than not that your injury was caused by negligence.

A doctor or surgeon is only negligent if their care, management or treatment of a patient fell below an acceptable level such that no responsible body of medical, dental or nursing opinion, as the case may be, would condone it.

If there is a responsible body of professional opinion that would support the conduct of the doctor or surgeon involved, then there was no negligence, even if the great majority of doctors and surgeons would have acted differently and with a better outcome.

Even if it is proved that the treatment was negligent, this would not be enough to win a case. A claim can only succeed if it is proved that it is more likely than not that the negligence caused you to suffer injury. The usual test is whether “but for” the negligence, the injury would not have occurred. It involves a comparison of the likely outcome without negligence, and the actual outcome after negligence has occurred. The difference between the two outcomes is “the injury”. If, without the negligence, you would have suffered the same outcome then the claim will fail. 

Get in touch today to discuss your claim for Spinal Surgery negligence compensation with one of our experienced solicitors. You can contact us using the online contact form on our website or by calling a member of our team now. Our solicitors are happy to discuss your claim with you in person or by phone, email or by video call online such as Zoom, Facetime or Teams.

Time Limits

 You only have up to 3 years from the latter of

1. i)      the date that you suffered injury; or
2. ii)     the date that you would have been realistically expected to have known that you have

suffered injury due to something a medical practitioner or dental practitioner has done or has failed to do

 otherwise your claim would be out of time.

The court may waive this time restriction and allow a claim to go ahead outside of this 3 year time limit in certain circumstances. 

If the claim involves a child under the age of 18 an adult family member or friend can act on their behalf until the child is 18. They have until their 21st birthday to start court proceedings or else their claim would be out of time. 

Spinal Injury Solicitors That You Can Rely On

If you have suffered a back injury caused by medical negligence, you may be eligible to make a back injury compensation claim. Get expert advice from our experienced spinal injury solicitors at Thompson & Co today. Our solicitors have many years of experience dealing with spinal injury claims for claimants. We deal with claims on a no-win No Fee basis. 

Throughout your claim, you will have direct access to one of our Senior Solicitors who will be responsible for your case giving you the opportunity to ask questions and ensure you fully understand the options available to you at each stage of your claim. You remain in control of the decisions in your claim. We do not use legally unqualified staff to deal with cases. All of our solicitors have over 20 years’ of experience in dealing with personal injury and medical negligence claims including many back injury claims.  

Get in touch today using an online contact form on our website or by calling a member of our team now. We can discuss this with you in person or by phone, email or by video call online such as Zoom, Facetime or Teams.

We will advise you whether we consider you are likely to have the basis of a claim and if you pursue your claim we will support you at every step of your claim. We will provide you with relevant details to allow you to make fully informed decisions as your claim progresses and will keep you up to date in relation to the progress of your claim.