Although the spinal cord is only 18 inches long, and is made up of tiny, delicate nerve cells, a spinal cord injury (SCI) can be a traumatic and devastating injury resulting in a lifetime of pain, suffering and huge medical expenses. At the Scanlan Law Group, we know how devastating these injuries can be, and we have more than 25 years of experience in helping spinal cord injury victims put their lives back together.

An SCI typically involves some type of trauma to the nerve cells that form the spinal cord. As the spinal cord carries messages from the brain to various parts of the body to control functions such as movement, breathing, speaking, and other critical body functions, an injury to the spinal cord disrupts this communication, leading to the impairment of the body's sensory, motor and involuntary reflex functions. Depending upon the nature and extent of the SCI, these disruptions can lead to two devastating conditions: paraplegia (paralysis of the lower portions of the body) or quadriplegia (paralysis of the upper and lower parts of the body).

The principal causes of SCI are motor vehicle collisions, slip and falls, acts of violence, sports-related injuries, and other incidents that cause injury or compression to the nerve cells of the spinal cord. Approximately 250,000 Americans currently suffer form some form of SCI, and there are about 11,000 new cases annually.

The costs related to SCI can be staggering. More than half of all spinal cord injuries result in quadriplegia, resulting in an average hospital stay of 95 days and approximately $120,000 in medical expenses. For individuals who sustain SCI at the age of 25, the average lifetime medical costs for quadriplegia is $1.35 million. And these figure do not take into account the physical and emotional suffering of the victims, the loss of wages and other income, and the financial and emotional burdens that SCI places on the victims' care givers, who are more often than not close family members of the victim.

Because spinal cord injury cases can be very complex, you need experienced and aggressive attorneys to successfully handle them. The Scanlan Law Group has the necessary experience. We have sued doctors and other individuals responsible for spinal cord injuries, and we are not afraid to take them to trial if one of our clients has been injured. Accordingly, if you or someone you know have sustained a spinal cord related injury, contact the Scanlan Law Group for a free initial consultation.