Damages for sufferers of spinal or brain injuries as a result of accidents or professional negligence
Author:
Andersons Solicitors
Publish Date: December 1, 2008
A spinal or brain injury can cause substantial and long lasting disabilities that can present mountainous challenges for the injured party and give rise to considerable loss of income or additional living costs over a long period of time.
If you or a family member have suffered a spinal or brain injury as a result of another’s negligence, for example as a result of a road accident or a medical procedure, it is vital that you receive the best legal advice to ensure that you are able to recover the full amount of any damages available to you.
Andersons' personal injury lawyers specialise in dealing with spinal and brain injury compensation cases. Through our long experience, we understand the complexities of your medical condition and the treatment options available to you. We understand the immediate challenges you face and are also able to anticipate the future effects of the injury on your life, ensuring that you receive a comprehensive award of damages.
A spinal injury may result in loss or impairment of function below a point in the body. Some degree of rehabilitation may be possible and a sufferer’s condition may improve over time, but the spinal cord does not repair itself, so spinal injuries are generally long term.
Andersons specialises in spinal injury compensation cases and maintains a strong link to the quadriplegic and paraplegic community, including at present through partner David Fabbro’s presidency of the Paraplegic and Quadraplegic Association of South Australia.
Brain injury refers to a very broad range of conditions. Brain injuries may be devastating, involving long term physical, cognitive or behavioural impairments, or may consist of a short term loss of function, such as loss of memory.
The incidence of brain injuries is massively under appreciated by society: it is estimated that 160,000 brain injuries occur every year in
Any loss of brain function is distressing, with sufferers being constantly reminded that they “are not the person that they were”. Brain injury is commonly associated with conditions such as anxiety and panic attacks, depression or agoraphobia. Brain injury can also affect a person’s work, family and social life and can lead to isolation and loss of employment.
Andersons’ extensive experience with brain injury cases allows us to “join the dots” between your brain injury and the ways in which your life has changed since you suffered it.
Not all spinal or brain injuries are compensable. However compensation will be available if your case meets the criteria for a claim under the law of negligence, in simple terms, that a person who owed you a duty of care failed to take reasonable care and you suffered your injury as a result.
If you have suffered a spinal or brain injury it is important that you seek legal advice promptly because claims must be made within a set period of time. It is also important that you are legally represented if approached by parties representing the defendant or insurers.
Please call Andersons on 1800 653 655 to arrange for an initial consultation in relation to your spinal or brain injury case.
