Spinal cord injuries can happen to anyone. In the United States, there are an estimated 282,000 people living with a SCI. Here is a breakdown of the most common ways SCIs happen:
- Vehicle accidents – 38 percent
- Falls – 30.5 percent
- Violence (mainly gunshot wounds) – 13.5 percent
- Sports accidents – 9 percent
- Medical/surgical errors – 5 percent
Men account for 80 percent of new spinal cord injury cases.
They Are Costly
The first year of treatment is expensive, ranging from $347,000 to over $1 million, depending on the level and severity of the spinal cord injury.
Over the course of a lifetime, assuming someone is injured at age 25, ranges from $1.5 million to nearly $5 million, again depending on the severity of the injury.
And these are just the medical costs.
Hidden Costs
Not counted in the medical costs is the lost income of the person who suffers the injury.
How much will they lose if they are not able to return to work? What does that add up to over a lifetime?
What about the family members who have to miss work to take care of the injured person?
When seeking treatment, often a SCI victim and their family must travel. This means hotel and meal costs.
Many times, there will need to be accommodations to homes and vehicles to make them more accessible for SCI victims.
Psychological and Emotional Costs
Spinal cord injuries often mean entire families have to adjust their lifestyles. They have to watch the person who has suffered the injury suffer, not able to do the things they love to do.
How do you quantify these losses?
How does a parent watch a child never be able to do the things they love?
According to the World Health Organization, people with a spinal cord injury are two to five times more likely to die prematurely than those without a SCI.
What Can You Do?
The team at the Dante Law Firm, P.A. knows you are going through a life-changing injury. While you are trying to recover, the last thing you need to worry about is how you will afford all of your expenses. If someone else caused your injury, let our experts handle your case. We want to make sure you don’t have to worry about medical expenses or how you will feed your family. When you need a spinal cord injury attorney, you can contact us by clicking here or calling 305-949-2526 for a free consultation.
We know that you’ve probably never put much thought into what would happen to you or your family if you suffer a life-changing injury. Most of us don’t go about our daily lives worrying. Unfortunately, sometimes accidents happen that are out of our control.
(954) 365-0000
(954) 365-0000