Catastrophic Spinal Cord Injury Lawsuits
Spinal cord injuries are often sudden, life-altering, and medically complex. High-energy crashes, falls from height, surgical mistakes, infections, violence, or defective products can cause damage that disrupts movement, sensation, and bodily functions below the level of injury. In the first hours and days, families are asked to make high‑stakes decisions about surgery, rehabilitation, insurance, and benefits while trying to understand an uncertain prognosis. We move quickly to preserve evidence, notify the right parties, and protect your claim so you can focus on recovery.
From day one, we assemble the right team for catastrophic cases: trauma and rehabilitation physicians, neuroradiologists and neurosurgery/orthopedic experts, life‑care planners, vocational and economic specialists, and when products are implicated – engineers and human‑factors experts. We build liability and damages in parallel so nothing is left to chance.
How Much Is Your Case Worth?
Our Results
McEldrew Purtell has a proven track record of maximizing recovery for our clients.
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.
Ways We Can Help
Below are common causes and contexts for spinal cord injuries. For each, we develop the evidence and pursue every responsible party to seek full compensation under the law.
Trucking & Commercial Vehicle Crashes
High‑energy impacts and underride/override events can cause fracture‑dislocations, burst fractures, and traumatic disc herniations leading to cord contusion or transection. Potentially liable parties may include the truck driver, motor carrier (hiring/training/Hours‑of‑Service violations), shipper/broker (load securement), maintenance contractors, and component manufacturers if a defect contributed.
Unsafe Premises (Falls, Stairs & Elevators)
Falls from height, collapsed structures, defective stairs/railings, or elevator/escalator malfunctions can cause axial‑load injuries and spinal instability. Potentially liable parties may include property owners/managers, tenants in control, maintenance vendors, security/safety contractors, and equipment manufacturers/installers when defects contributed.
Medical Negligence
Missed epidural hematoma or spinal epidural abscess, delayed diagnosis of cervical instability, anesthesia positioning injuries, or errors during spinal surgery may cause or worsen spinal cord injury. Potentially liable parties may include hospitals, surgeons, emergency physicians, anesthesiologists, nurses, rehabilitation facilities, and home‑health providers when care fell below the standard and caused harm.
Defective Products & Safety Systems
Defective vehicle seats/seatbacks, roof structures, restraints, helmets or protective gear, industrial machinery, or consumer products can cause spinal trauma or fail to protect against foreseeable injury. Potentially liable parties may include manufacturers, component suppliers, designers, distributors, and retailers (design/manufacturing defects or failure‑to‑warn theories).
Workplace & Industrial Incidents
Falls from scaffolds or ladders, struck‑by events, crane/forklift incidents, and trench or structure collapses can cause catastrophic SCI. Potentially liable parties may include equipment manufacturers, site GCs/subcontractors, premises owners, maintenance vendors, and safety‑staffing firms (third‑party claims; workers’ compensation may limit suits against a direct employer).
Railroad / Public Transportation
Sudden deceleration, collisions, and platform or station hazards can cause high‑energy spinal injuries. Potentially liable parties may include carriers, maintenance contractors, component manufacturers, and third‑party operators.
Sports & Recreation
Diving into shallow water, high‑speed skiing or cycling crashes, and contact‑sport impacts may lead to cervical SCI or thoracic/lumbar injuries. Potentially liable parties may include event operators, premises owners, equipment manufacturers, and coaching/organizing entities where negligence or defective equipment played a role.
Violence & Negligent Security
Gunshot wounds and assaults are a major cause of spinal cord injury. Potentially liable parties may include property owners/managers, security contractors, and businesses that failed to take reasonable measures despite foreseeable risks.
Care Facility Negligence & Secondary Harm
Improper transfers, preventable falls, pressure‑injury complications, or delayed treatment of bowel/bladder or autonomic issues can worsen outcomes for people living with SCI. Potentially liable parties may include nursing homes, rehabilitation facilities, and home‑health agencies when negligence causes additional harm.
Don’t Just Take Our Word For It
Hear From Our Clients
At McEldrew Purtell, results matter and so does the way we achieve them. While our case outcomes reflect our tenacity in court and at the negotiation table, it’s the voices of our clients that truly capture who we are and why we do this work.
We represent people at the worst moments of their lives: after catastrophic injuries, workplace tragedies, and preventable losses. Through every case, we aim to deliver not just compensation but clarity, confidence, and care.
If you’re considering working with a Philadelphia trial lawyer, we invite you to read what our clients have said about their experiences with McEldrew Purtell. Their words are the most powerful testament to our values, our dedication, and our results.
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FAQs
Get answers to commonly asked questions regarding spinal cord injuries and learn how we can help with your case.
What qualifies as a catastrophic spinal cord injury?
Injuries that permanently impair motor/sensory function or autonomic control, require major surgery or long‑term assistive care, and significantly limit independence (e.g., injuries resulting in quadriplegia or paraplegia).
What’s the difference between complete and incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI)?
A complete SCI eliminates motor and sensory function below the level of injury; an incomplete SCI preserves some function. The classification informs rehabilitation options and damages analysis.
I felt okay after the crash but worsened later. Do I still have a case?
Often, yes. Spinal injuries can be delayed, evolve with swelling/bleeding, or be missed initially. If negligence caused the incident and medical proof links your deterioration, you may have a viable claim.
How are spinal cord injury cases valued?
By linking liability to lifelong needs—surgeries and follow‑up care, medications and supplies, inpatient/outpatient rehab, attendant care, mobility devices and technology, home/vehicle modifications, lost earnings/benefits, and non‑economic harms. Every case is fact‑specific.
What if I had prior back or neck problems?
Pre‑existing conditions do not invalidate a claim. The question is whether negligent conduct aggravated or accelerated your condition. We use comparative imaging and expert analysis to establish causation and incremental harm.
What if the at‑fault party has minimal insurance?
We look for all coverage sources: multiple defendants, commercial policies, employer liability, product liability, and your own UM/UIM and med‑pay benefits. We also address hospital and insurer liens early to protect your net recovery.
What happens when the spinal cord is injured?
A spinal cord injury is damage to the spinal cord that often results in a loss of function, mobility, or even paralysis. Damage to the vertebra (the bones protecting the spinal cord) can occur without there being a spinal cord injury. The outcome of any injury to the spinal cord depends upon the level at which the injury occurs in the neck or back, and the amount of axons (nerve fiber that protects a nerve cell) and cells that survive in the injured region. The more axons and cells that survive in the injured region, the greater the amount of function recovery.
A sudden blow to the spine can fracture or dislocate a vertebrae in a manner that can displace bone fragments, disc material, or ligaments, and bruise or tear spinal cord tissue.
What other symptoms are there in spinal cord injuries?
People who survive a spinal cord injury often have medical complications resulting in bladder, bowel, and sexual dysfunction. They may also develop chronic pain, autonomic dysfunction, and spasticity (increased tone in and contractions of muscles of the arms and legs). Higher levels of injury (in the upper back and neck) may have an increased susceptibility to respiratory and heart problems. Here are a few common symptoms seen in spinal cord injuries:
- Spasticity and muscle tone
- Autonomic dysreflexia
- Bladder and bowel problems
- Breathing
- Circulatory problems
- Depression
- Neurogenic pain
- Pneumonia
- Pressure sores/ulcers
- Sexual function
What are the four key principles of spinal cord repair?
- Neuroprotection – protecting surviving nerve cells from further damage
- Regeneration – stimulating the regrowth of axons and targeting their connections appropriately
- Cell replacement – replacing damaged nerve cells
- Retraining central nervous system circuits to restore body functions
What is the cost of treating a spinal cord injury?
The average lifetime cost of treating a spinal cord injury is more than $1 million in health care costs and living expenses. The first year of treatment alone can range from $300,000 to $1 million depending on the severity of the injury. Each subsequent year of treatment ranges in cost from $40,000 to $200,000. These figures do not include indirect costs, such as lost wages, that average approximately $70,000 per year.
