Back Injuries Attorney in Pennsylvania
Back injuries can be debilitating, resulting in significant medical bills and lost wages. Whether it be due to a fall, motor vehicle collision, or construction accident, you deserve fair compensation for your losses. What begins as an acute issue can quickly become chronic, impacting your entire life. Thankfully, our Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers are dedicated to helping injured parties recover adequate compensation.
Proving Negligence in a Back Injury Claim
Successful recovery in a back injury claim will depend on proving the wrongful party’s negligence. Negligence is defined as a person failing to take less than reasonable care in a task. To establish that the other person was negligent, you will need to establish the following:
- Duty of care: The wrongful party (defendant) had a duty to take certain precautions given the task at hand.
- Breach of duty: The wrongful party failed to uphold his or her duty of care.
- Causation: As a direct result of the defendant’s conduct, you suffered harm.
- Damages: You sustained measurable losses in the form of lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering (to name a few).
Types of Back Injuries & Conditions
Common types of back injuries and back conditions include:
- Sprains and strains
- Herniated or bulging disc
- Compressed or fractured vertebrae
- Spinal stenosis
- Degenerative disc disease
- Spinal cord injury
- Spondylolysis (small crack between two vertebrae)
Can I Still Receive Compensation if I Have a Prior Back Injury or Condition?
Unfortunately, back injuries are common, with over 600 million people suffering from lower back pain globally. Given its prevalence, many people attempt to carry on as usual, ignoring symptoms until they become unbearable. Ignoring back pain is discouraged, since an acute injury can quickly become chronic and more difficult to treat. A back condition is not always inherited but may have developed due to repetitive stress on your back muscles and spine. For instance, you can develop spondylolysis from lifting heavy boxes with improper technique.
If you sustain a subsequent back injury, insurance may attempt to offer you a lower settlement. A claims adjuster may claim that your injuries were more severe than expected due to your pre-existing condition and that the defendant should not pay for the costs associated with your injuries. However, under the eggshell skull rule, even if you have a pre-existing condition, you are still entitled to full compensation for your injuries, even if your injuries were unforeseeable.
All you must show is that the defendant directly caused your injuries. So, if a person has a herniated disc, even a fender-bender could cause them to experience severe pain, whereas an otherwise healthy person would not have. However, the injured person is still entitled to the full extent of damages (assuming the other party’s liability), even if their medical bills are more extensive than expected.
Potential Damages for Back Injuries
If you have sustained a back injury, you may be eligible to recover economic and/or non-economic damages. Economic damages are any quantifiable losses that take money out of your bank account. In a personal injury claim, these may include:
- Ambulatory services
- Emergency room care
- Medical imaging and laboratory testing
- Prescription costs
- Lost wages
- Physical therapy
- Home modifications
Non-economic damages are intangible losses that impair a person’s quality of life. Albeit, they typically do not have a financial component. In a personal injury claim, these may include:
- Pain and suffering
- Infliction of emotional distress
- Scarring and/or disfigurement
- Loss of companionship and society
- Loss of emotional support
- Permanent disability
- Damage to reputation
Reach Out to Our Pennsylvania Personal Injury Attorneys
If you or a loved one has suffered a back injury due to another person’s negligence, our Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers would like to assist you. For more than four decades, our legal team has advocated for injured persons, obtaining just compensation on their behalf. If you would like to discuss your back injury claim, contact DiLoreto, Cosentino & Bolinger P.C., online or by calling (717) 496-0070 at your earliest convenience.