Raul "Rudy" Rodriguez, P.C. Blog

Spinal cord injuries can result from sudden, severe trauma to the spine where the vertebrae are fractured or compressed.  Injured vertebrae can affect nerve fibers and disrupt the sensations passing through the injured area, thereby impairing your corresponding muscles and nerves. A prime example is how a severe neck injury can affect your ability to move your arms and, possibly impair your ability to breathe.  Severe injuries to vertebrae may also result in permanent paralysis.

Nearly 500,000 people live with permanent spinal cord injuries in the United States. About 10,000 new injuries occur each year, with a large majority involving men between the ages of 16-30. While much has been made about football collisions leading to spinal cord trauma, spinal cord injuries stem primarily from motor vehicle accidents.

Without ever having looked at the settlement for a multi-million dollar personal injury claim, most people could tell you that suffering a brain injury is not only incredibly serious, but costly as well. From lengthy hospital stays, multiple surgeries, prescriptions to long-term rehabilitation, brain injuries can end up costing someone hundreds of thousands of dollars -- even millions -- over the course of their lifetime.

Beyond the dollar signs of these expenses, however, lies the hidden costs of a brain injury. While these costs cannot be easily quantified, their impact on a person's life can be just as great as the financial costs. A look at these four costs can help us understand the true cost of suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in an accident.