Cervical herniations are common and potentially serious injuries that result from accidents. The personal injury attorneys at Console & Associates have decades of experience securing settlements for accident victims who have sustained cervical disc herniations, including those who have undergone cervical fusion surgery.
Many factors, like the insurance coverage available, the extent of your injuries and medical treatment, and the physical and financial impact on your life, affect how much money you can expect to receive for a personal injury lawsuit involving cervical herniations.
Although it’s difficult to come up with an “average” settlement for claims involving cervical herniations, settlements for clients who suffered considerable physical harm and financial losses often reach the six-figure range. In the examples listed below of cervical herniation and cervical fusion surgery settlements achieved by the law firm Console & Associates, payouts range from $100,000 to $550,000.
Cervical herniations are herniated discs that develop in any of the spinal discs located in the neck, also known as the cervical spine.
Spinal discs are rubbery, gel-filled pads located between the bones that make up the spine. These cushions act as natural shock absorbers, but when they get damaged, they can develop a herniation, in which the gel inside the disc leaks out through tears that form in the disc’s outer covering.
Cervical fusion surgery is a surgical procedure performed on the vertebrae that make up the neck. In a fusion surgery, doctors connect or “fuse” together separate bones of the spine to prevent movement from occurring between them. To fuse vertebrae together, surgeons may use bone grafts and/or hardware like screws and rods.
Often, the procedure performed when a person has suffered herniated discs in the cervical region of the spine is a discectomy and fusion surgery. In a discectomy and fusion surgery, the damaged or abnormal disc material from the herniated disc is removed to ease the pressure or irritation this material has caused to the adjacent nerves, and the bones are surgically fused together.
Cervical fusion surgery is a major surgery that permanently changes the spine, and recovery can take several weeks. Patients typically only undergo fusion surgery if more conservative treatments, like physical therapy and cortisone injections, have failed to treat the damage effectively.
Our client, a maintenance worker by profession, was injured when he was struck by the lid of a defectively designed dumpster while putting trash into the dumpster on the job. Despite undergoing both epidural and facet joint injections, the cervical herniations that occurred when the dumpster lid slammed shut on his neck and head continued to cause symptoms severe enough to seriously affect his life. He had to have a cervical discectomy and fusion surgery.
Proving that the design of the dumpster was to blame was a difficult and lengthy undertaking. After six years, during which we secured the opinions of expert witnesses in both mechanical engineering and neurosurgery, we succeeded in getting our client a settlement of $550,000.
Our client’s car accident wasn’t typical. He was on the shoulder of the highway changing a flat tire when a tractor-trailer veered off the road. The truck didn’t hit him directly, but it did strike his vehicle, pushing into our client, who fell backward onto the pavement.
Over the course of his treatment, our client learned that he had sustained multiple disc herniations in both the cervical and lumbar (lower back) regions of his spine. He didn’t end up going through fusion surgery, but he did undergo epidural injections—one in his neck and one in his back. Our experienced attorneys recovered $114,000 on this client’s behalf.
A husband and wife both suffered spinal injuries when they were rear-ended.
The crash not only aggravated the existing lower back herniations for which the husband had previously undergone lumbar fusion surgery but also left him with new herniations in his neck. After undergoing two epidural injections in both regions of his spine, he needed a cervical discectomy surgery.
His wife didn’t have the history of back surgery he had, but the collision had left her with several herniated discs in both the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine. She underwent both epidural and bilateral facet joint injections but eventually needed to undergo an anterior/posterior lumbar fusion surgery.
For both clients, our attorneys were able to secure settlements of $100,000—the full limits of the insurance coverage available. For the husband, we settled the case for $100,000 within a year of the accident without even having to file a lawsuit. Despite undergoing five injections during the first year after the collision, the insurance company’s highest offer for the wife’s claim was still just $20,000, so we filed a lawsuit on her behalf and succeeded in getting her a $100,000 settlement.
Motor vehicle collisions, falls, and workplace accidents are some of the most common types of accidents that leave victims with cervical herniations.
Documenting the severity of injuries like cervical herniations can be challenging, yet they can be very serious injuries, especially when they require a major surgery like cervical fusion surgery. An attorney can make sure that all of your damages are documented and fight to get you the full amount of money you deserve after suffering cervical herniations in an accident that resulted from someone else’s negligence. If you are interested in a free consultation, our team of experienced personal injury attorneys are here to help guide you after you have been in an accident. Contact us at one of our offices in New Jersey or Pennsylvania.
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“I was very impressed with Console & Associates law firm. All whole staff is very professional from the first call to settlement. It’s hard to find genuine and knowledgeable attorneys these days. I recommend this law firm to anyone in need of an injury attorney. Thank you so much!”
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