Outside of a fatal injury, permanent paralysis is arguably the single most devastating outcome that a traumatic accident can have, regardless of what your life looked like before your accident or what it will look like in the future now. Just like all other types of personal injury litigation, though, no two paralysis injury lawsuits are exactly alike. A big reason for that is the fact that there are multiple unique medical problems that can lead to a permanent loss of sensory or motor function.
Understanding the common causes of paralysis in Pace can help you build a strong civil claim that accounts for your specific losses and other damages that historically factor into claims like yours. Below is a brief overview of the types of paralysis injuries that our lawyers at Emmanuel Sheppard & Condon most often help take legal action over.
Spinal Cord Damage
Spinal cord injuries are the single most common cause of paralyzing injuries in Pace and throughout the state of Florida. This is because the spinal cord is the central pathway all nervous system signals pass through on their way between the brain and the rest of the body. Injuries to the lower half of the spinal cord may cause paraplegia of the lower limbs and sometimes the groin, whereas injuries to the higher half of the spinal cord can lead to quadriplegia in the entire torso as well as all four limbs.
Severe Brain Trauma
A moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be just as disruptive to normal bodily function as a spinal cord injury, and often in unique ways as well. For example, damage to certain areas of the brain can cause a condition known as hemiplegia—which causes either the entire left or right side of the body to become paralyzed while the opposite side functions normally.
Localized Nerve Damage
Even if the brain and spinal cord are both intact, a penetrating injury in one of the limbs—particularly at the shoulders or hips—can destroy enough nerve endings and pathways to cause a total loss of sensation and movement in every part of the limb past that point. This condition is called monoplegia since it involves paralysis in just a single limb as opposed to broad areas of the body.
Diseases and Conditions Affecting the Nervous System
Legally actionable negligence can also lead to paralysis in ways that do not involve traumatic accidents or any kind of external impact at all. For instance, if a healthcare provider in Pace fails to meet a “standard of care” owed to their patient and misdiagnoses a condition like a stroke or a spinal tumor, that condition could get bad enough to cause long-term paralysis. That provider may be civilly liable for the preventable harm their patient sustained.
A Pace Attorney Can Help Take Legal Action Over Common Causes of Paralysis
No matter what the particular cause of paralysis in Pace is, the important thing when it comes to filing suit over this type of injury is proving someone else is responsible. This can be much more challenging in practice than you might expect, especially while you are still dealing with a substantial loss of bodily function.
Fortunately, that is where a skilled paralysis injury lawyer from Emmanuel Sheppard & Condon can step in to help you enforce your legal rights. Call today to learn more.
