Around 450,000 U.S. citizens cope with spinal injuries, conditions, and pain, which is considered a disability for Social Security purposes if the injury lasts at least three months and makes it impossible to work for a year or more.
A South Carolina spinal cord injury lawyer is an essential asset to help secure financial assistance, supplement disability entitlements, and ensure you have the means to seek the full extent of medical treatments, therapies, and medications.
The Medical Process for Determining Whether a Spinal Injury Is a Disability
Spinal cord injuries can be debilitating and permanent and cause profound trauma, but ascertaining the correct medical evidence can make a considerable difference to your future. It is also important to stress that, regardless of whether a spinal injury is deemed a disability, you are very likely entitled to take legal action against a responsible third party to secure fair compensation to help manage the costs of medical care, lost income, and ongoing treatments.
Medical practitioners refer to ‘The Blue Book,’ which sets out specific requirements that indicate whether a spinal cord injury is eligible for disability benefits:
- Spinal injuries that cause a loss of function in any part of the body
- Restricted movement in two limbs, impacting balance and walking
- Injuries that affect memory, cognition, or concentration
To file a successful claim, you will need to collate medical documentation, such as diagnoses, scans, test results, or statements from medical professionals that attest to the nature and severity of your injury. However, qualifying for disability benefits is only one small part of the puzzle, and this income may be minimal, designed solely to help with living costs while you may be unable to work or carry out particular tasks.
How to Claim Financial Compensation for a Spinal Injury
The court system supports a wide range of injury compensation claims. It will uphold your right to financial reparations where an employer, organization, or third-party bears responsibility for your spinal injury.
Examples include workplace accidents, traffic collisions, or criminal assaults that have contributed to or caused a spinal injury. In some cases, these injuries cause temporary disability, inability to earn an income, or require short-term therapies and treatments. In others, the impacts can be life-long, leading to chronic pain, reduced quality of life, physical mobility challenges, and trauma and psychological conditions.
How much can you get for a spine injury? Our skilled lawyers will explore the extent of your spinal injury, its likely ramifications, and the full impact it has had on your life to calculate a fair, reasonable, and sufficient claim value.
We strongly recommend seeking independent guidance before filing a compensation claim. There are several nuances you should be aware of that could affect the strength of your lawsuit or mitigate the value of the judgment made in your favor.
For example, a previous South Carolina Supreme Court ruling supports total disability claims for individuals who have suffered workplace accidents that cause a loss of 50% of their spine–even if that does not necessarily mean paralysis or other severe outcomes. Still, the onus is on you to submit appropriate medical evidence.
Do You Need a Lawyer to File a Spinal Injury Compensation Lawsuit?
Insurance providers are notoriously tough negotiators and will do everything possible to minimize the cost of a claim made against their client. Some employers will also try to downgrade or dismiss reasonable claims to side-step their responsibility to financially support employees who have been injured at work.
Many compensation cases are settled out of court, but having a capable attorney representing your interests and fighting against any attempts to reduce your settlement assures you of a better result. It can also be difficult for individuals to represent their cases without comprehensive knowledge of the law, precedents, and statutes. In contrast, an experienced lawyer will use the full power of the South Carolina legal system to push for the maximum amount.
Relying on ethics and insurance coverage provided through a workers’ compensation scheme commonly means being disregarded or left with a smaller compensation value that does not cover the entirety of the financial impacts a spinal injury can have. Our advice is always to discuss your case with a specialist spinal cord injury lawyer at Strom Law and move forward with confidence that you have the right support to file a robust lawsuit and receive the compensation you are entitled to.
