The Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center (KSCIRC), in collaboration with clinical colleagues in the Department of Neurological Surgery, has a mission to develop effective treatments for spinal cord injury (SCI).  SCI is a heartbreaking condition usually caused by car accidents, slips and falls, or workplace injuries when there is a sudden, traumatic blow to the spine that fractures or dislocates vertebrae.  Each injury attorney at our law firm offers confident representation when it comes to handling SCI cases.

The KSCIRC initially focused its research on the central nervous system (CNS)area. In 1994, the Kentucky Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research Trust (KSCHIRT) was established by surcharges on Kentucky traffic tickets. Since its inception, the KSCIRC has engaged many scientists and professors in the field of CNS injury and repair.

Hopefully with further research on SCI treatment, life enjoyment after a SCI from a car accident, slip and fall, or other personal injury may be limited only by a person’s mental will to get back in the game of life, but medical costs associated with a SCI can be financially distressing. For instance, a paraplegic SCI who requires long-term treatment can exceed $425,000.

Life-long care for a SCI may include:

• Pain medication;
• Bladder medication;
• Bowel medication;
• Surgeries;
• Physical therapies;
• Home renovations for wheelchair mobility;
• Care providers.

An accident victim may no longer be able to walk or have independence to do things alone.  The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the brain.  The spinal cord helps control movement, sensation, and other body components.  SCI from an auto wreck or other personal injury may damage nerve roots or fiber tracts that carry signals to and from the brain.  This disrupts communication between the brain and body, causing loss of motor functions or paralysis.

When an injury accident damages the nerves, a SCI victim becomes limited in move mentor feeling in the limbs. A cervical or neck injury often results in quadriplegia. A thoracic, or chest-level injury may result in loss of control in the hips or legs.

Meinhart, Smith & Manning understand the devastating lifestyle and financial difficulties SCI leaves an accident victim after a car crash, slip and fall, workplace injury, or other personal injury.  Contact our dedicated attorneys if you have suffered an spinal cord injury that was another person or businesses fault.