Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal Cord Injury And Workers Compensation

It is impossible to make generalizations on worker’s compensation payouts resulting from spinal cord injury. The amount of the final settlement is dependent on various factors that include the injured employee’s pre-injury earnings, her current post-injury earnings, her post-injury potential earnings, and the circumstances that surround the initial injury.

Some worker’s compensation cases are straightforward, producing settlements that all parties accept. However, there are some that get held up in negotiations for many years. It is important for people who have suffered a spinal cord injury to know that their worker’s compensation settlements will not be their only post-injury income source. Those determined as permanently unable to work receive Social Security disability benefits that are offered for an indefinite period. Apart from the worker’s compensation claim, the injured can also receive substantial ongoing payouts from their former employer. When an injury involves misconduct or gross negligence on the employer’s part, it is highly likely that the payout will be much higher.

Other additional factors determine not only the size but also the payout structure of a worker’s compensation settlement. Immediately after the injury, the injured has to submit to some physical examinations that determine the extent of the initial injuries and also provide an initial framework for the employee’s recovery. The physician conducting the first examination makes an educated judgment to the individual’s recovery prospects.

A cracked vertebra or slipped disc may be treatable. However, a spinal cord injury or a combination of a number of vertebral injuries may lead to long-term medical conditions. Regardless of whether a person’s prospects for recovery are poor, fair or good, part of his worker’s compensation settlement must cover the costs of his initial medical care. When a person is judged not to be at fault, he will most probably have little trouble to secure these benefits.

Spinal Cord Injury Recovery

In the future, after the treatments have had adequate time to take effect, the injured will once again be re-assessed by a physician. This exam occurs at the “maximum physical recovery” point. In a lay man’s language, this is the time when no measurable improvement is expected to occur after the exam.

Those who will be found to have sustained permanent damage to their backs receive partial disability settlements that are equivalent to the damage done. Otherwise, those who are found to have sustained severe injuries and are unlikely ever to work again receive permanent disability settlements that cover a portion of their expected future earnings.

Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal Cord Injury