Houston Spine Injury Lawyer
Spine Injury Accident Attorney in Houston
A spinal cord injury is one of the most devastating injuries caused by vehicle or work accidents. All spinal cord injuries are serious and potentially life-threatening due to the spinal cord’s direct connection to the brain and central nervous system. Full or partial paralysis is always a real possibility following a spine injury. Individuals with damaged spinal cords may suffer the permanent loss of sensation in their legs, back, or below the neck. They often have lifelong struggles with speaking, breathing, and incontinence.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a spinal cord injury, you must act now to get the compensation you deserve. Contact the outstanding Houston spinal cord injury lawyers at Baumgartner Law Firm today. As soon as we accept your case, we’ll start seeking compensation for past and future medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost wages.
How Can
We Help You?
How Can a Neck and Back Injury Lawyer Help?
Recovering from a spinal cord injury can take years. The worst-case scenario involves victims who never even partially recover from their injuries. Neck and back injury lawyers utilize the expertise of medical experts to testify on behalf of the accident victim so the victim’s loved ones receive the maximum compensation available under the law.
The lawyers at Baumgartner Law Firm also incorporate empirical evidence into their legal arguments, such as computed tomography (CT) scans and MRIs, to prove the severity of the spinal cord injury. Detailed medical records further support evidence by clinically detailing the past, present, and future condition of the victim.
Lawyers specializing in neck, back, and spinal cord injuries represent their clients by:
- Filing all necessary paperwork on time to the court.
- Evidence of the victim’s financial losses due to medical costs lost wages, and future expenses (damages) is included.
- Handling correspondence with insurance companies involved in the litigation.
- Obtaining police records and other relevant documents to prove their client was not at fault.
- Demand an out-of-court compensation settlement from the at-fault entities and insurance companies before taking the case to court.
- Argue your spinal injury case in court.
The Baumgartner Law Firm will keep you fully informed and accessible throughout your case, from start to finish. We understand how confusing the legal system is and commit to carefully answering all questions you have about your case and the legal processes involved.
Spinal Cord Injury From a Car Wreck
There are many ways to suffer a serious spinal cord injury; perhaps one of the most frequent is a car accident. And our truck accident lawyers see neck and back fractures frequently.
An overview of spinal cord injuries and truck accidents shows how serious this type of injury can be with large impacts.
In some cases, the spinal cord’s trauma is immediately evident and diagnosed in the emergency room. Generally, these are fractures; sometimes, the victim is operated on relatively quickly to prevent spinal cord damage and further injury.
The cost of a spinal cord injury can vary substantially depending on the diagnosis and treatment.
More frequently is the situation where the personal injury victim is taken to the emergency room, and x-rays show no fractures. The victim is discharged to follow up with his or her treating physician or recommended orthopedic doctor.
In many of these cases, the seriousness of the spinal cord injury is not diagnosed until weeks or even months after the crash, when an MRI is done, which reveals the damage.
Why Get an MRI After an Auto Accident
It is a myth that x-rays show all spinal cord injuries – they do not. More sophisticated tests- an MRI or even a CT scan are necessary to diagnose some neck and back injuries correctly.
Typically, doctors attempt conservative treatment first before ordering an MRI to avoid the excess expense. This can lead to a delay in the correct diagnosis after an automobile accident.
Regularly we see injuries such as bulging discs and herniated discs as a result of a serious car accidents. However, the injury is usually diagnosed after a CT Scan or an MRI.
Surgery Often Required
There are some cases that which surgery is required to help the victim deal with everyday living. Going through surgery is a scary thing for anyone and many people put it off as long as possible.
Others, comment later on how thankful they are that they went through the operation as it allowed them relief from the pain. After being diagnosed with a serious neck or back injury, the most important issue is that the personal injury victim finds the best orthopedic surgeon that they are comfortable with and they may also want to consider getting a second opinion.
Surgical procedures for neck or back injuries have come a long way in the last 15 or 20 years and recovery times on some procedures have been shortened substantially. There is no doubt that certain neck and back injuries can make it extremely difficult for people to enjoy their lives on a disability-free basis.
Cost of Spine Injuries
The University of Alabama, in a recent study, cited the average costs of spinal cord injury to be:
- Length of initial hospital care (acute care)- 15 days
- Average rehabs stay- 44 days
- Initial hospital costs- $140,000
- First-year expenses (all groups of spinal cord injury) $198,000
- First-year expenses with quadriplegics- $417,000
- Percentage of Spinal Cord injury victims unemployed eight years later- 63%
- Percent covered by private insurance -52%
These figures are national averages, and larger metropolitan areas such as Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio have significantly higher costs for medical care. Some of our cases have lifetime medical care, projected to be several million dollars. Add in lost income, and families can easily be financially devastated by the accident.
Fortunately, Houston has some of the finest physicians in the world, is on the cutting edge of spinal cord injury care, and options exist today that were unavailable ten years ago.
What Is a Fractured Vertebra?
Spinal cord injuries frequently involve one or more fractured vertebrae severed or damaged the spinal cord. Accident victims suffering a fractured vertebra almost immediately experience excruciating pain, numbness and tingling in the back and legs, and sometimes unconsciousness.
Protected by the muscles, ligaments, discs, and bones comprising the vertebra, the spinal cord is vulnerable to irreversible damage if even a small section of the vertebral column is compromised. Common reasons a vertebra is fractured include being crushed or trampled (vehicle tires, crowds, heavy objects falling on the back) or suffering an extremely forceful extension of the spine (severe whiplash).
What Are the Effects of a Spinal Cord Injury?
While signs of a spinal cord injury usually emerge within minutes following an accident, other symptoms may not emerge for several days or weeks. The accident victim’s health may deteriorate as ongoing fluctuations in cerebral blood flow and pressure builds inside the skull.
Spinal cord injuries can negatively affect the victim’s emotional, cognitive, and physical condition before, during, and after rehabilitation therapy. They may require a wheelchair to move about, assistance with daily activities, medications to address health problems arising from the injury, and even 24-hour nursing care.
If the victim is the sole provider for a family, they will need financial assistance to cover living, hospital, home care, medication, and therapy costs. This is one of the many reasons why it is imperative to contact a Houston spinal cord injury lawyer as soon as possible if you or someone you know has suffered a spinal cord injury.
Contact an Award-Winning Attorney with Decades of Experience with Spine Injury Claims
Baumgartner Law Firm has been handling significant neck and back injury cases for over 35 years, and we are extremely proud of our track record of success.
We have helped numerous families where the clients received six and seven-figure settlements. Please visit our results section for further information on recent cases.
Contact A Houston Spine Injury Attorney
Call an experienced personal injury attorney in Houston for a free initial consultation regarding your rights and options and know that we charge no fee on the cases we accept unless we win your case.
Call (281) 587-1111 or send us an email asking for a consultation!
Causes of Severe Spine Injury
The harder the impact the more likely a severe spinal cord injury can occur. Vehicle accidents such as car wrecks at higher speeds easily can lead to spinal injury. A collision with a big rig is very likely to cause a severe injury and one should consult the best truck accident lawyer they can find to fight for justice!
Also falls at construction sites are a leading cause of critical back injuries. Our construction accident attorneys in Houston have helped many families after crippling or fatal accidents.
Do you make house calls or hospital visits?
What kind of cases do you accept?
We are very selective in the cases that we agree to handle to provide the best possible service to our clients. By limiting the number of cases that we accept, we can provide the time attention, and resources required to maximize compensation for our clients.
Accordingly, our practice is limited to cases involving substantial injury or a family who has lost a loved one. We have gained a reputation for handling 18-wheeler truck accidents, car and drunk driving crashes, daycare injury cases, and other serious injury and wrongful death matters. To learn more about the cases we cover, visit our practice areas page.
Do I have to pay money out of my pocket to hire you?
Do you handle all types of personal injury cases?
No, we are very selective in the cases that we agree to accept. We intentionally limit the number of cases that we handle and the practice areas for the cases we take to provide the best possible personal service for our clients. To learn more about the cases we cover, visit our practice areas page or you can contact us for individual consultation about your case. (281) 587-1111.
What is the best way to contact you?
We prefer to be contacted by telephone and also respond to our online consultation requests. You can call us 24/7 at (281) 587-1111. We offer Zoom consultations as well.
How successful have you been with your cases?
We are a personal injury law firm with over three decades of experience and are extremely proud of our winning track record of success. Our founder is nationally recognized as among the best personal injury lawyers in the USA. We are undefeated in truck accident cases, wrongful death cases, and daycare negligence and invite you to check out our results page for recent results in cases we won.
For the last 35 years, we have concentrated on maximizing our client’s compensation in serious injury and wrongful death cases. If you are looking for the best personal injury lawyers in Houston – Call us! (281) 587-1111.
Thank you
for a job well done!
"I can never express how grateful me and my family are to Greg Baumgartner and his team of truck accident lawyers in Houston. He took care of our injury case and got us a great settlement. Thank you for a job well done!"
- R. G. Client
Houston Personal Injury Victim
Highly
Recommended!
"I was hit in the rear by an 18 wheeler and was lucky enough to have found Greg – I was overjoyed with the results and highly recommend him."
- Raymond
Houston Personal Injury Victim