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In this issue: September is Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month
Why we care so much for spinal cord injury patients
Cool Technology Alert
Ask Jim
Why does the firm care so much for spinal cord injury patients?
"When I was a freshman in college, I suffered a severe spinal cord injury in a car crash. I spent months in rehabilitation at TIRR in Houston after a T-45 decompression and fusion with Harrington instrumentation. While I was ultimately able to leave my wheelchair behind by the end of the rehabilitation process, the experience taught me that spinal cord injuries are some of the most life-disrupting injuries that one can experience and they carry a long list of potential complications even under the best of circumstances. For one who remains a paraplegic or quadriplegic after such an injury, the life care needs can be staggering, with some of our clients incurring $100,000 to $200,000 in medical expenses every year. When the stakes are that high, it is important for the spinal cord injury patient to be represented by someone who has the insight and experience necessary to thoroughly develop all of the issues and bring them to a judge and j ury, who have never suffered such an ordeal, in a way that assures they fully understand what this kind of injury really means. My personal experience left me feeling a special burden for those who suffer from a spinal cord injury."
Jim Girards
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September is Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month.
Did you know there are approximately 200,000 people living with spinal cord injuries (SCI) in the United States?
A majority of those injuries occurred from car and trucking crashes, falls, work-related accidents, and sports injuries.
In honor of our spinal cord injury clients, The Girards Law Firm has made contributions this month to -
a. the United Spinal Association,
b. The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research [TIRR] at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston TX, and
c. Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Hospital in Tulsa OK.
We've made these contributions in order to support research to find better treatments, therapies, and ultimately a cure for SCI. We commend the efforts of the entire SCI community in raising awareness this month, and throughout the year!
Spinal Cord Injury Case Spotlight:
This month, The Girards Law Firm is finalizing its most recent case settlement involving a spinal cord injury.
This case involves a Registered Nurse in Arkansas who underwent what was supposed to be an uneventful decompression surgery of a spinal disc. But, the surgeon operated on the wrong level because he and the hospital staff failed to use one of the standard methods of identifying the correct level with certainty.
Days later, the surgeon went back in to do the correct level - only this time the spinal monitoring staff failed to make sure the spinal cord monitoring equipment was working correctly (it wasn't). When the patient began to show signs of spinal cord dysfunction post-op there was no meaningful response by the surgeon or hospital staff to address the problem.
Weeks later, an MRI showed that the surgeon never removed the disc compression at all. These failures left the patient with a complete T8-9 paraplegia with spasticity.
The Girards Law Firm pursued the case and arranged for a score of highly qualified experts in spinal surgery, neuromonitoring, nursing, hospital administration, rehabilitation, Life Care Planning, and economics. We found that the Life Care expenses, alone, for this patient exceed $6,000,000 over her remaining lifetime.
The case was filed in Arkansas and after a long hard-fought battle with a slate of insurance companies and their experts a settlement was achieved at a court ordered mediation. We are pleased to report that this patient will be well-taken care of for the rest of her life as a result of our hard work.
For more information about how we can help you with a spinal cord injury case, contact the firm by clicking here.
Cool Technology Alert:
On the cutting edge of technology for spinal cord injury patients is the Ekso Bionics exoskeleton suit. This is a device that was originally developed with the idea that it could to help soldiers in the field carry large loads that would be impossible to carry without such a device. It was quickly recognized that the technology could be useful for spinal cord injury patients.We were invited by the Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Center to watch a patient use the device as part of her rehab session. Clicking here will take you to a video of part of that therapy session, involving a courageous teenager who was paralyzed three weeks earlier in a crash in Oklahoma. The therapy is thought to help keep the nerve signal pathways working while she recovers from her injuries. In a few years, expect to see paraplegics walking around in public with these suits. We include funds for this equipment as part of our damages model in each spinal cord injury case. Many thanks to the staff of Jim Thorpe for allowing us to observe.
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Girards Law Firm
Texas office:
10000 N. Central, Suite 400
Dallas, TX 75231 Phone: 214-346-9529
Arkansas office:
609 SW 8th Street, Suite 600
Bentonville, AR 72712
Phone: (501) 288-9529
Oklahoma office: 1831 E 71st Street Tulsa, OK 74136 Phone: 405-598-7825 T: 1-888-333-9709 E: [email protected] W: www.GirardsLaw.com |