A spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most serious types of harm a person can suffer after an accident. The effects often ripple across medical, financial, emotional, and daily life aspects. Knowing what kinds of damages are recoverable can help victims and their families make informed decisions.
When you engage personal injury lawyers at MNH Injury Lawyers, you gain experienced advocates who understand how to build and present a strong SCI claim. Their team knows which damage categories apply and how to value them accurately. They also help you avoid common pitfalls in spinal injury litigation.
Below are the major categories of damages you might claim in an SCI case, along with tips on proving them.
1. Economic (Compensatory) Damages
Economic damages refer to quantifiable monetary losses directly tied to the injury. These include medical bills, physical therapy, surgeries, medications, assistive devices, and hospital stays. In an SCI claim, future medical costs and home modifications often dominate this category.
Other economic damages include loss of income, lost earning capacity, and vocational rehabilitation. If the injury prevents you from returning to your old job or reduces your future ability to earn, you can claim for that difference. Also included are out-of-pocket costs like travel to appointments and hiring caregivers.
2. Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages compensate for harms that are harder to price but deeply felt. These include pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of bodily function. In a spinal cord injury case, permanent limitations or paralysis often heighten the value of non-economic claims.
Some jurisdictions also allow damages for loss of consortium, which addresses how the injury affects relationships with a spouse or partner. This may include loss of intimacy, companionship, and support. The spouse’s own emotional suffering may be part of the claim.
3. Future Care Costs
SCI victims often require long-term or lifetime care, which brings significant accrued costs. Future care costs include home care, nursing, rehabilitation, adaptive equipment (e.g., wheelchairs, lifts), and modifications to residence or vehicle. Expert life-care planners or health economists often help quantify these costs for the claim.
It’s wise to project these costs over one’s expected lifespan, adjusting for inflation and changing medical needs. With the right evidence, you can ask for damages that cover decades into the future. Without such proof, insurance companies may undervalue your future care.
4. Loss of Earnings & Earning Capacity
When spinal injuries prevent you from working at all or limit your job choices, you may claim both lost earnings (past) and lost earning capacity (future). Past lost wages are easier to prove via pay stubs, tax records, and employment history. Earning capacity claims require assessing what you could have earned absent the injury, often through vocational experts.
If your limitation is partial (you can work but earn less), you can claim the difference. Injuries that force career changes or early retirement also factor strongly into these claims.
5. Special (Out-of-Pocket) Damages
These are specific, tangible costs incurred because of the SCI that don’t fall cleanly into other categories. Examples include transportation, medical supplies not covered by insurance, legal fees, and rehabilitation aids. Also, costs for home modifications (ramps, railings) or vehicle adaptations may be included here.
Keeping careful receipts and records is essential because special damages are strictly accounting-based. Your lawyers will compile and present these to show the full extent of tangible losses.
6. Punitive (Exemplary) Damages
Punitive damages are awarded in rare cases when the defendant’s conduct was willful, reckless, or malicious. The goal is to punish and deter, not compensate. In SCI claims, punitive damages may be available if the at-fault party’s behavior was grossly negligent or intentional.
Not all jurisdictions allow punitive damages, and proving them requires strong evidence beyond basic negligence. Your legal team must show that the defendant’s conduct was especially egregious.
7. Wrongful Death & Derivative Claims
If a spinal injury leads to death, surviving family members may pursue wrongful death damages. These include funeral and burial costs, loss of financial support, and loss of companionship. Derivative claims may allow dependents to recover losses tied to the deceased’s premature death.
The structure of such claims differs from standard SCI claims, but many damage types (economic, non-economic) still apply in adjusted form. It’s crucial to engage counsel experienced in both spinal injury and wrongful death litigation.
Proving Damages in SCI Claims
To succeed, claimants must present credible evidence: medical records, expert testimony, life care plans, economic models, and vocational analyses. Your legal team must connect negligence to injury and damages and guard against defense efforts to minimize or dispute valuation.
Negotiations and trials often hinge on persuasive expert reports and clear presentation of injury impacts, both present and future. Lawyers experienced in SCI litigation know how to structure and present that evidence.
Key Takeaways
- Spinal cord injury (SCI) claims may include economic, non-economic, future care, lost earnings, special, punitive, and wrongful death damages.
- Accurate valuation often depends on expert reports, life care plans, and detailed documentation.
- Personal injury lawyers at MNH Injury Lawyers bring experience in complex SCI claims and help ensure you don’t undervalue damage categories.
- Demonstrating the causal link between negligence and injury is essential to recovering full compensation.
- In rare but compelling cases, punitive damages may punish especially egregious conduct.
