Statistics reveal that globally, governments and the health-care industry are unprepared for the huge rise in neurological disorders (including paralysis) projected over the next few decades. Life expectancy has been extended and aging populations all over the world are on the rise. However, most instances of paralysis are directly caused by traumatic or catastrophic accidents. This feature also means that there is a massive burden put on the legal and law enforcement systems due to the higher number of lawsuits filed for compensation.

Paralysis is almost always incurable and can even worsen over time. It creates huge challenges for the victim and for the community at large, putting a large financial and social burden on the family, employers and social circle of the paralyzed individual. 

What is Paralysis?

The inability to move one or more muscles unaided, loss of sensation and control and loss of certain bodily functions is known as paralysis. The disability is not caused by the muscles but by damage to the nerves which fail to relay the appropriate signals to the brain. There are two main types of paralysis: General and Localized.

Medical professionals may also classify paralysis in terms of the specific body parts that are affected:

• Monoplegia: Paralysis of a single limb
• Hemiplegia: Paralysis of an arm and leg on the same side
• Paraplegia: Chiefly affects the lower part of the body, hips and legs
• Quadriplegia/Tetraplegia: Inability to move upper torso, arms and legs

Causes

The symptoms of paralysis may happen abruptly in a single event or they may develop over a longer period of time. There are several causes for paralysis, including:

• Stroke
• Head injury
• Spinal cord injury
• Multiple sclerosis
• Cancer
• Cerebral palsy
• Motor neuron disease

Head injury and spinal cord injuries occur due to traumatic or catastrophic accidents and these are a major cause of paralysis.

Costs of Paralysis

While calculating costs of paralysis, health-care professionals and government agencies take into account the direct and indirect costs. Most individuals are discharged from hospitals after a lengthy treatment and are released to their homes.

Direct costs are borne by both public and private sector undertakings. Government-agencies and government-run facilities may incur certain expenditures, while private individuals, families, insurance agencies, employers, etc have to bear the burden of direct costs through their out of pocket expenses too. These include:

• Hospital care expenses
• Staffing expenses
• Physician and specialist expenses
• Cost of medications
• Physicians’ insurance plans
• Physicians’ professional fees
• Services rendered by hospitals
• Long-term care expenses
• Health-care professional expenses
• Research expenses
• Rehabilitation
• Medical equipment
• Home and vehicle modifications
• Psychiatric care
• Supplies
• Taxes on all these

Estimates put the direct costs of paralysis in the range of $300,000- $1million. With yearly escalation, the lifetime costs can touch the $4 million mark. These costs are contingent on the severity of the injury and also the person’s age at the time of injury.

Typically, hospitalization involves at least 12 days in the intensive care unit, 40 days in the rehabilitation unit and depending on rate of recovery and other circumstances, the patient may have to stay for a few more weeks of physiotherapy, psychiatric counseling etc. Getting the right type of assistive technology like wheelchairs and electronics may also take more time. Many people may have to spend a life-time in a nursing home if they are severely disabled and there is no one to care for them at home.

Indirect costs:  These are often reputed to be even higher than direct costs and much less easy to calculate. They include:

• Loss of wages
• Loss of guidance, care and companionship given by the victim prior to the accident
• Fringe benefits and perks
• Loss of career
• Productivity
• Unemployment/under-employment
• Pain and suffering

How We Can Assist

If your paralysis has been caused by an accident, you are entitled to statutory benefits. Additionally, if the accident was due to the fault of another person, you or your next of kin are entitled to file a suit claiming compensation under the law of torts. Our traumatic brain injury lawyers can put together a valid case for compensation that can help to ease the financial burden on the victim and the victim’s family in the years to come.

Our catastrophic injury lawyers can ensure that victim’s rights are safeguarded and that the lifetime costs of paralysis are correctly calculated to ensure that there is no suffering later on due to lack of money. Medical costs may escalate along with the patient’s deteriorating condition and these costs will also be taken into account by our no win no fee lawyers.

If you, your family or a friend has been injured in an accident, please feel free to speak to one of our injury lawyers for a free consultation about how we are able to assist in making a personal injury claim. We consult in all cities across Ontario with a no win no fee guarantee. Our personal injury lawyers have helped victims secure millions of dollars in personal injury cases. Call us Toll Free On our 24/7 Injury Hotline: 1 – 844 495 7333.