Articles Posted in Spinal Cord Injury

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Spinal injuries are often severe and life-threatening and can happen without warning. In many situations, spinal cord injuries (SCIs) occur in accidents caused by another party’s negligence. At the same time, spinal cord injuries can also result from intentional wrongdoing, such as assaults or other acts of violence. When spinal cord injuries occur in accidents, it is essential to know that many different types of accidents can result in severe and debilitating spinal cord injuries in Escondido. If you or someone you love got hurt in an accident and suffered an SCI, you should seek advice from an experienced Escondido personal injury lawyer about filing a claim for financial compensation. In the meantime, the following are some key things you should know about spinal cord injuries.

Spinal Cord Injuries Can Take Different Forms

Spinal injuries can affect many different parts of the spinal area, according to the Mayo Clinic, and thus these injuries can take many different forms. Whether or not a spinal cord injury results in paralysis depends on where on the spinal cord the injury occurred and the severity of that injury. As the Mayo Clinic clarifies, the “lowest part of your spinal cord that remains undamaged after an injury is referred to as the neurological level of your injury.” Further, the “severity of the injury is often called ‘the completeness,’ and it can result in a loss of all sensory feeling (a complete injury) or a partial loss that leaves a person with some motor and sensory functions (an incomplete injury).

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Catastrophic injuries can happen in nearly any type of accident in Poway, and spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are no different. In most situations, spinal cord injuries are classified as catastrophic because they result in severe and often permanent disabilities. As the Mayo Clinic explains, spinal cord injuries include any type of injuries that result in “damage to any part of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal,” which typically result in “permanent changes in strength, sensation and other body functions below the site of the injury.” Most medical professionals classify spinal cord injuries as “complete,” in which there is a total loss of feeling below the spinal cord injury, and “incomplete,” in which a person has some functions below the site of the injury. 

In many kinds of accidents that lead to spinal cord injuries, another party’s negligence is to blame for the accident. What kinds of accidents most commonly result in these injuries?

Motor Vehicle Collisions

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Last weekend 21 children ages 5 to 14 were injured when a large wooden viewing platform and staircase collapsed, sending the children to the floor below. In all, 23 people were rushed to local San Diego hospitals, three with spinal injuries. PK Vault is a gymnastics-type facility that offers kids the chance to do parkour in a lively upbeat environment.

 
There will no doubt be personal injury liability against PK Vault, and very possibly others, including the building’s owners. Under California law, a building owner or occupier has a duty to maintain the premises free of dangerous conditions to all invitees. A failure to do so, constitutes premises liability, and the owners and business can be held liable to those injuries.

 
Personal injury law would allow any person injured to seek compensation for their injuries, including payment of all medical bills, and a sum for pain and suffering – damages that compensation for the impact an injury has had on a person’s life.

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91px-Galago_spine_Mivart-46x300According to a recent study conducted at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and reported in Digital Journal, certain hospital-acquired infections at San Diego healthcare facilities can have a long-term negative impact on spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. SCI patients who acquire pneumonia and other infections while at the hospital being treated for their catastrophic injuries see a drastic impact on their ability to recover. Specifically, the report indicates that “hospital-acquired pneumonia and wound infections negatively affect the clinic long-term outcome after acute traumatic spinal cord injury.” The study appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Neurology.

Importance of Reducing Hospital-Acquired Infections in California

One of the most significant takeaways from the recent Ohio State study is that hospitals must do more to prevent hospital-acquired infections if they are going to see spinal cord injury patients recover to the best of their abilities. Patient protection demands that hospitals take additional steps to reduce the rate of hospital-acquired infections if they are going to take patient safety seriously. As the report explains, “rates of microbial infections in hospitals, although falling due to improved hygiene, remain problematic.”

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file0002014909352When an older adult suffers a spinal cord injury (SCI), is it more difficult to recover? According to a recent news release from UC San Diego Health, a new study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the University of British Columbia suggests that “age diminishes ability to regenerate axons, the brain’s communication wires in the spinal cord.” In other words, as we age, it may be increasingly difficult to recover from SCI.

Impact of Age on the Central Nervous System


As the news release notes, more Americans aged 65 and older are continuing to engage in active lifestyles. However, this shift in lifestyles for the aging population means that seniors are at greater risk of sustaining serious personal injuries, including SCIs. The researchers involved in the study wanted to determine whether the older adults who do suffer spinal cord injuries are at greater risk of remaining debilitated—and not able to recover fully—after an accident happens.

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Many Californians who suffered dfile0002014909352ebilitating spinal cord injuries maintain the hope that scientific innovations will result in the possibility to recover from paralysis.  But how realistic is such a cure?  According to a recent article in The Independent, reports of medical breakthroughs often lack the results that most spinal cord injury victims hope for.  Recent reports identified stem cell treatments and the possibility of transplanting regenerative cells into the spinal cord of those suffering from paralysis.  Will these new studies make headway for people across the country who sustained severe spinal cord injuries?

New Treatment May Help Americans with Spinal Cord Injuries

Recently, Professor Geoffrey Raisman of University College London performed a cell transplant on a Bulgarian firefighter who previously suffered from paralysis.  This “pioneering therapy” involved “transplanting regenerative cells from his nasal cavity into his spinal cord.”  According to Raisman, the treatment “represents an historic change in the outlook for people disabled by spinal cord injury.”

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Earlier this month, a cyclist suffered catastrophic injuries after being struck by a wrong-way driver on Fiesta Island, according to a recent story from NBC San Diego.  Other riders in San Diego’s cycling community explained that the victimDSCN1797, Juan Carlos Vinolo, 49, sustained serious injuries after pushing another cyclist out of the way of the oncoming vehicle.  The car accident left Vinolo paralyzed with a severe spinal cord injury.

Wrong-Way DUI Driver Seriously Injures Bicyclists

Vinolo was riding with about thirty other cyclists, members of the San Diego Bicycle Club.  Vinolo’s wife, Emma Irarragorri, told NBC San Diego her husband “is always obsessed with safety when he rides his bicycle.”  When her husband saw the oncoming car, he “instinctively pushed the leader out of harm’s way,” saving that cyclist’s life but suffering serious injuries in the bicycle accident.

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Football field

When our children head onto a high school sports field or court, we don’t anticipate that they will sustain a catastrophic injury.  However, many high school athletes suffer from traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, particular when they play contact sports like football or hockey.  Last November, a Riverside County high school linebacker, Jordan Walker, suffered serious trauma to his spinal cord and neck that left him paralyzed.  Walker was featured in a recent article in The Press-Enterprise because it looks as though he may be able to return home to continue rehabilitation in Southern California.  Since the accident, the high school football player has been receiving treatment in Colorado.

Have you or a loved one sustained a catastrophic injury to the head or neck?  Has your child suffered from a traumatic brain injury or a sports-related spinal cord injury?  You may be able to file a claim for compensation.  While each case is different, an experienced San Diego spinal injury lawyer can examine your case for you today.

High School Football Serious Injuries

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Shifts in Spinal Cord Injury Demographic

A new study conducted at Johns Hopkins University suggests that spinal cord injury incidents are on the rise in America, and there’s a new culprit, according to an article in the Insurance Journal. While automobile accidents used to be the primary source of dangerous spinal cord injuries, falls have caused more of these injuries in the past several years. And more significantly, perhaps, the new Johns Hopkins study, published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, suggests that older adults are at greater risk for spinal cord injuries than Americans in any other age group. As such, we may be able to significantly reduce the risk of spinal cord injuries if we’re able to “prevent falls in the elderly.”

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Have you or a loved one sustained a severe spinal cord injury? You may be eligible to seek financial compensation. These injuries can occur in many different kinds of accidents, including but not limited to car crashes, slips and falls, and contact sports. The California injury lawyers at the Walton Law Firm can discuss your claim with you today.

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Medical research involving brain damage has increased dramatically in the past few years, and researchers have begun to learn more about the long-term effects of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Recent studies reported in U.S. News & World Report suggest that athletes and soldiers may be at even greater risk of memory loss and harmful behavioral changes than originally thought. While the Brain Injury Association of California and other advocacy groups engage in awareness work throughout our state, brain injuries continue to plague many California residents.

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If you or a loved one have suffered a mild or severe brain injury, it’s important to speak to an experienced California brain injury lawyer. In many cases, another person’s negligence may have caused your injury, and you may be eligible to seek compensation.

Brain Scans and Alzheimer’s-Like Symptoms

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