California Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is usually the result of trauma, most commonly related to motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries, falls, acts of violence, or medical wrongdoing where conditions such as infections are not timely diagnosed or treated. SCI is sudden and dramatic, and happens to about 12,000 people a year, and roughly 1,000 in Southern California. The consequences are life-changing and affect not just the injured, but also his or her family and loved ones.
An injured person with SCI, however, can live a long and healthy life, fully active in work, family and community if: (1) connected to good resources; (2) able to obtain medical care; and (3) imbedded in a community of people who understand living with SCI.
What are some common causes of spinal cord injuries?
The basics of spinal cord injury
The spinal cord is well-protected by the backbone. External trauma can exceed the strength of the backbone. In a medical situation, numerous things can increase pressure on the cord, ranging from space-occupying infections or direct compression by ill-placed instruments, or on occasion, surgeons actually accidentally cut through the cord. While you may hear that a person’s spinal cord was “severed,” that is rarely the case except in knife, gunshot wounds or extreme surgical negligence. In most cases of SCI, the cord is pinched, or bruised, or its blood supply is otherwise compromised.
Types of spinal cord injuries
The level and severity of the injury determines losses from the injury
Level C1-3
The highest levels of spinal cord injury involve total paralysis of the trunk and arms and legs. People injured at the top of the spinal cord, often referred to as high quads, may require mechanical ventilation and will need 24-hour-a-day assistance to perform daily activities, including management of bowel, bladder, bed mobility, transfers, eating, dressing, grooming, bathing, and transportation. High quads may require a mechanical lift with a sling and may be able to use powered wheelchairs with special controls.
Level C4
Full body paralysis with some neck and shoulder movement, usually able to breathe without a ventilator. Similar profile as above for the high quad group. People injured at C4 usually require a wheelchair with a power recline and/or tilt. They usually can use a standing table. Total assistance is needed for all tasks of daily living, but they are generally able to communicate needs.
Level C5
People injured at C5 can raise their arms and bend their elbows but are likely to have some or total paralysis of wrists, hands, trunk, and legs. Many C5s use hand splints. They can speak but breathing endurance is reduced and they may not be able to cough, thus needing help with secretions. They will need assistance with most activities of daily living, but once in a power wheelchair, they can move from one place to another fairly independently. C5s can eat independently if meals are set up. Personal care assistance is needed daily, especially for grooming, bed transfers, and dressing. Some C5s can drive a vehicle with the right specialized gear and training.
Level C7/8
C7/8 injuries typically cause paralysis of the trunk and legs, but greater arm and hand dexterity remain, including elbow, wrist, and thumb extension. People injured at this level can usually perform most activities of daily living but need assistance with more difficult tasks. They may also be able to drive an adapted vehicle. They have little or no voluntary control of bowel or bladder, but may be able to manage with special equipment. A personal care attendant will still be helpful.
Level T1-5
T1-5 injuries usually cause lower trunk paralysis and somewhat limited trunk stability, but full arm and hand function remain. Vital capacity may be somewhat impaired. People injured at these levels are usually able to use a manual wheelchair and can learn to drive a modified car. They also can stand in a standing frame while others may walk with braces.
Level T6-T12
T6-T12 injuries cause paralysis of legs but injured people retain good trunk stability and should be able to cough productively (if abdominal muscles are intact). They usually have little or no voluntary control of bowel or bladder but can usually manage on their own with special equipment. People injured at these levels are usually able to use a manual wheelchair and can learn to drive a modified car. They also can stand in a standing frame while others may walk with braces.
Level L1-S5
Those injured at L1-S5 have some loss of function in the hips and legs and have little or no voluntary control of bowel or bladder but can usually manage on their own with special equipment. Some may need a wheelchair, but others may be able to walk with braces. This article does not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding the outcome of your legal matter.
No two spinal cord injuries are exactly alike. Two people who injure their cord at the same level can have very different outcomes. One might recover some ability to walk while the other cannot move a muscle below the injury. Besides level of injury, the other major factor in functional loss is the degree of damage that the cord sustains. How badly was the cord squeezed, crushed, or bruised?
Doctors will assess the injured person to determine the extent of the damage using a detailed chart called the ASIA Impairment Scale to determine remaining motor (movement) function. Through testing ten muscle groups in the elbow, wrist, fingers, hips, knees, ankles, and toes, the physician determines the patient’s motor score. The examining physician will also measure sensation and determine a score using light touch or pinprick across the 28 sensory zones in the body.
If a person has no motor or sensory function, that’s called a complete injury. There are many degrees of incomplete injury.
In many cases of SCI people improve beyond their initial diagnosis. Generally, however, improvement plateaus after 6-18 months.
If you are considering filing a lawsuit to recover compensation for your injuries, it is important that an investigation into the facts of the case begin as soon as possible to preserve evidence, to get information while memories are fresh, and to avoid losing your right to bring a lawsuit.
You not only have the right to be compensated for your pain and suffering and the loss of enjoyment of life, but, most importantly, you deserve to be free from your new financial hardships. You may no longer be able to work to support yourself or your family, to pay for your mounting medical bills, or to afford the extra costs of hiring help to do what you can no longer do around the house.
Yet in most cases you will face an army of people fighting you to avoid paying you the money you desperately need. In other words, their whole focus is to avoid claims or to settle with you for the least amount of money possible.
The knowledgeable California spinal cord injury lawyers at Heimberg Barr LLP are here to protect the rights of clients suffering from spinal cord injuries from accidents caused by someone else’s negligence. The California SCI attorneys of Heimberg Barr LLP fight for the maximum compensation you and your family need for your future. The firm has obtained millions of dollars on behalf of its clients, including:
- $9 million awarded to a man who became paralyzed after a solo auto accident in the rain that resulted due to negligently designed roadway.
- $8.225 million for the victim of negligent unsupervised intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring (IONM) and negligent spinal surgery, resulting in quadriplegia.
- $6 million for a boy who became paralyzed after being dog-piled in the playground because the school failed to implement safety measures and negligently supervised students.
- $5 million malpractice settlement for a patient whose undiagnosed epidural abscess after a successful neck surgery resulted in quadriplegia.
If you are considering filing a lawsuit to recover compensation for your injuries, it is important that an investigation into the facts of the case begin as soon as possible to preserve evidence, to get information while memories are fresh, and to avoid losing your right to bring a lawsuit.
You not only have the right to be compensated for your pain and suffering and the loss of enjoyment of life, but, most importantly, you deserve to be free from your new financial hardships. You may no longer be able to work to support yourself or your family, to pay for your mounting medical bills, or to afford the extra costs of hiring help to do what you can no longer do around the house.
Yet in most cases you will face an army of people fighting you to avoid paying you the money you desperately need. In other words, their whole focus is to avoid claims or to settle with you for the least amount of money possible.
The knowledgeable California spinal cord injury lawyers at Heimberg Barr LLP are here to protect the rights of clients suffering from spinal cord injuries from accidents caused by someone else’s negligence. The California SCI attorneys of Heimberg Barr LLP fight for the maximum compensation you and your family need for your future. The firm has obtained millions of dollars on behalf of its clients, including:
Heimberg Barr LLP as well as its Senior Partner, Steven Heimberg, have received an astounding number of prestigious honors and accolades reflecting these recognition of their legal excellence, the quality of representation of their clients, and how others, both in the legal community and greater society, view the firm as a whole.
Dr. Heimberg has over two decades of experience, which allows him to recognize the full extent of medical issues resulting from spinal cord injuries, uncover hidden facts, decipher complicated medical records, recruit top medical experts, and simplify and communicate the full impact of life altering injuries to juries so that they also understand and can award just damages.
The firm also has years of practice facing down insurance companies and their lawyers. Because they understand the medical and legal issues inside and out, they know how to hold people and insurance companies accountable. They know what it takes to get insurance companies to do their job and pay claims that should be paid. That knowledge combines with a passionate commitment to justice and a rigorous work ethic to form the foundation on which Heimberg Barr LLP is built.
Dr. Steven Heimberg possesses a very rare and dangerous (for his opponents) background. He is a medical doctor and a lawyer.
Dr. Heimberg has been named Los Angeles Trial Lawyer of the Year, an honor for which he has been nominated nine times (can only win once). His honors also include being named-
1. Best Lawyers and The Wall Street Journal
2. Lawyer of the Year in 2017,
3. Top 100 California Trial Lawyers 10 consecutive years,
4. Top 100 Southern California Super Lawyers for 9 consecutive years,
among numerous others. Steven Heimberg is an experienced litigator who has dedicated his entire career to helping injury victims and their families.
In recognition of his dedication and tireless work for their clients, of its attorneys, Heimberg Barr LLP was voted #1 Medical Malpractice firm in America by The National Law Journal in 2019. The firm is also recognized as Top Tier, the highest distinction given, by Best Lawyers and US News and World Reports in the fields of Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury.
