Types of Compensation You Can Claim for a Spinal Cord Injury

In Ohio, spinal injury claims can be filed for all of the following types of losses and expenses.

• Medical Bills: Having your spinal cord bruised, severed or damaged in some other way in an accident caused by someone else is a particularly catastrophic injury. Spending months in the hospital and undergoing rehabilitation can be the best case scenario, Consequently, Ohio law allows spinal cord injury victims to seek economic damages for all accident-related medical care, including hospitalization, surgeries, rehab, and medications, both during the period leading up to an insurance settlement or civil jury trial award and for the rest of the victim’s life.

• Loss of Earnings: Spinal cord injury victims often spend long periods unable to work due to total or partial paralysis, poor muscle control, or diminished fine motor skills. Claims for economic damages can, therefore, include demands for the replacement of missed paychecks and compensation for earnings that will be lost as a result of the victim’s permanent partial or total disability. Lost lifetime earnings are calculated from the time of the accident until the victim’s expected retirement age.

• Pain and Suffering: Ohio law recognizes several categories of noneconomic losses from personal injuries. Pain and suffering is the most-widely known, and it encompasses exactly what the name implies — physical pain and emotional/mental distress.

• Other Noneconomic Damages: Spinal injury claims in Ohio can include requests for money to compensate the victim for disfigurement (scarring) and for loss of society, consortium, companionship, care, assistance, attention, protection, advice, guidance, counsel, instruction, training, or education, This list of compensable noneconomic losses comes directly from state law; the unfamiliar terms translate to “no longer being able to participate fully in and enjoy marriage, family life and friendships.”

• Attorney Costs: As a Columbus spinal cord injury attorney, I take almost all my cases on a contingency basis. That means I will only take fees after my client secures an insurance settlement or wins a jury award. I make every effort to have the person who inflicted the spinal cord injury pay my fees so my client receives the full amount of the settlement or award.

In car, truck, or motorcycle accident cases where the at-fault driver was drunk or under the influence of drugs, a spinal cord injury victim may also be able to seek punitive damages. These are noncriminal fines imposed by a civil trial jury to punish reckless behavior and to send a message to other people who might endanger fellow Ohioans by driving while impaired.

Ohio does not set limits on the amounts of economic damages a spinal cord injury victim can claim or receive. The primary goal when filing an insurance claim or pursuing a personal injury lawsuit is to secure the injured person all the money he or she needs to recover financially from the accident. A goal that is nearly as important is to secure additional funds to ensure that ongoing care or lingering disabilities do not again sink the spinal cord injury victim into debt.

You can request a free consultation with a Columbus spinal cord injury attorney by calling Heit Law at (614) 898-5300. We also take appointments online, and we can come to you if your health or mobility issues make visiting our Westerville, OH, offices a challenge.