Spinal Cord Injury Statistics from Your Tampa Personal Injury Attorney

Each year in the United States, there are approximately 11,000 new cases of spinal cord injuries (SCI). There are a total of about 250,000 people in the United States alive today who have spinal cord injury according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center.

Auto accidents are a leading cause of spinal cord injury, and these accidents typically lead to significant nerve damage, paralysis, and loss of feeling. Bearing in mind the medical costs and disability that follow a spinal cord injury, it’s imperative for spinal cord injury victims to contact a Tampa personal injury attorney as soon as possible after the accident or negligence that caused the injury.

To illustrate this point, here are some more spinal cord injury statistics gathered by the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center:

• Since 2000, the average age at the time of injury is 38 years.
• Males are more likely to sustain a spinal cord injury (77.8 percent of spinal cord injuries have occurred among males).
• About 64 percent of people with a spinal cord injury were employed at the time of their injury.
• About half (51.6 percent) of spinal cord injury victims were married at the time of their injury.
• The expense of a spinal cord injury varies depending on the severity of the injury, but SCI can result in up to $750,000 in expenses during the first year of injury.
• After the first year, each subsequent year can result in up to $150,000 in expenses.
• If the injury occurs at age 25, the average lifetime cost of SCI is up to $3 million.

Remarkably, the above spinal cord injury statistics do not include non-medical costs such as lost wages and benefits. Even more importantly, SCI patients often face a shortened lifespan because of their injuries.

No one can put a price on the pain, suffering, and shortened lifespan of a spinal cord injury patient, but the victims of these extensive injuries deserve compensation if their injury resulted from an auto accident, medical malpractice, or other negligence. Please call Clark and Martino, P.A., about hiring a Tampa personal injury attorney for your spinal cord injury case. We have many decades of experience in spinal cord injury cases, and we’d be glad to set up an appointment to discuss the merits of your case.