Spinal Cord Injury: What Qualifies for a Lawsuit?

There is a lot of confusion around the world of lawsuits – especially those involving catastrophic injuries. Most people think that anyone can sue anyone else for anything. In reality, however, anyone can file a lawsuit, but not every should. There are high costs involved in terms of spinal cord injuries (SCIs) so it is no wonder that the victims of SCIs may be interested in filing suit in order to recover their expenses.

In order to determine whether or not you are eligible to file a lawsuit, the best thing is to consult a skilled personal injury lawyer. Here are some questions you can ask yourself in order to understand if your case includes the legal basics:

Who is Responsible for the Injuries?

If you want to file a suit, someone else must be responsible for the injuries you sustained. The responsible party is not always clear – in some cases, you can sue even if you injured yourself. For example, if you own a smartphone and it explodes and you end up injured, the manufacturer of the smartphone can be sued.

In general, you must be able to prove that the other party was negligent and failed to meet a clear duty. Some of the common defendants in spinal cord injury lawsuits are the following:

*Doctors and medical providers who do not provide the appropriate care

*Businesses that do not provide a sufficiently safe environment

*Manufacturers or devices that malfunction

*Businesses whose employees engage in dangerous behaviour

*People who injured you

Did Someone Make Your Injuries Worse?

There are also cases in which liability is not a clear issue. It can be that no one is liable for your original injury, but someone else made the injury worse. For instance, a doctor fails to treat your injuries in a timely manner, or a business owner interferes with your ability to get to the hospital.

Several spinal cord injury lawsuits involve multiple parties. Can you sue all of the parties involved? Yes.

Can the Responsible Party Afford to Pay?

As mentioned earlier, spinal cord injuries are not cheap and this is majorly considered when filing a lawsuit. People sue individuals for inexpensive civil offences every day, but the odds that a person will be able to afford the costs SCIs are slim. If you were injured by an individual, and he or she is not covered by insurance, it might not matter how much you win.

To learn more about how to file for spinal cord injury lawsuit, call us at 1.855.905.9222.