Florida Back Injury Cases

Back pain is one of the most debilitating injuries a person can receive – every movement can feel like agony if the injury is severe enough, and sometimes these injuries cannot be fully healed. However, these cases can also sometimes be among the easiest to collect on if the injury has been caused by someone else’s negligence. If you have been injured because of another person’s reckless conduct, you may be able to seek compensation.

Types of Injuries Will Vary

As one might imagine, there is no uniform back injury, given the multitude of ways that one can hurt their back. Most back injuries do involve the spine, but even that category has to be broken down further – a herniated disc, for example, will not cause the same type of pain and limited mobility that an injury to the cervical vertebrae might cause. Generally, spinal damage is grouped into four types: herniated discs, injuries to the thoracic vertebrae, injuries to the lumbar vertebrae, and injuries to the spinal cord itself.

Injuries to the thoracic vertebrae can be among the most severe, because these vertebrae are relatively well protected – the thoracic vertebrae are some of the highest positioned, so if they are injured, it often means that the ribs and/or chest region have been harmed first. Permanent nerve damage may be a possibility. Herniated discs and lumbar injuries can be quite painful, but tend to be less long-lasting and have less far-reaching consequences. Spinal cord injuries, if they occur, are almost always significant and severe. The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) reports that the most common outcome for such injuries is incomplete tetraplegia – a loss of feeling and/or function in all four limbs, which can be a major life change for most people.

Be Aware Of Potential Damages

If you have sustained a back injury due to someone else’s negligence, you can try to file a negligence suit against them to establish liability. There are four things that you must establish in order for the court to find the defendant liable: (1) a duty to exercise reasonable care existed between you and them; (2) that duty was breached; (3) the breach of duty was caused directly because of the defendant’s conduct – that is, no other event could be a superseding cause; and (4) you suffered tangible, actual harm as a result of that breach of duty. The harm to you does not have to be physical; emotional and mental health related conditions like PTSD do count in most cases.

It is important to keep in mind that in Florida back injury cases, it is sometimes possible to get what are called non-economic damages – that is, damages to compensate you for losses that are hard to quantify, such as pain and suffering or loss of consortium (also known as loss of marital companionship). Unlike many other states, Florida has no cap on non-economic damages in standard personal injury cases – a cap which applied to wrongful death and medical malpractice cases was ruled to be unconstitutional in 2015. This does not mean that the sky is the proverbial limit, but it does mean that any damages you are awarded are more likely to be in line with your actual needs, rather than restricted to a certain sum which may not be sufficient to pay your bills.

Call An Experienced Orlando Back Injury Lawyer

Given how severe and life-changing back injuries can be, it is important to make sure you have knowledgeable legal advice on your side if you choose to bring suit. The Orlando back injury attorneys at the Hornsby Law Group can sit down with you and try to help answer any questions you may have about a suit or other issues going forward. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.

Resources:

orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-medical-malpractice-florida-20150706-story.html

nscisc.uab.edu/Public/Facts%20and%20Figures%20-%202018.pdf