What do Spinal Cord Injuries Cost?
Approximately 11,000 people each year suffer a spinal cord injury. Over 40 percent of those injuries happen in a motor vehicle accident. Violent crimes and sports are also major causes of spinal cord injury, but car crashes remain the leading cause of this type of trauma.
Although minor spinal cord injuries from bruising or swelling can sometimes heal, damaged nerve tissue does not. Usually, if a spinal cord injury heals, it will take around 12-18 months. Only in rare cases will a patient see improvement after 18-24 months.
Average Expenses of a Spinal Cord Injury
According to the University of Alabama National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, here are some average figures relating to spinal cord injury. The study encompassedall types of permanent spinal cord injuries.
- Average length of hospital acute care stay following the initial injury: 15 days
- Average stay in in-patient rehabilitation: 44 days
- Initial hospital costs following the injury: $140,000
- Average first year medical costs for paraplegics: $152,000
- Average first year medical costs for quadriplegics: $417,000
- Average first year medical costs (all types of spinal cord injury) $198,000
- Average lifetime medical expenses for paraplegics (age 25 at time of injury): $428,000
- Average lifetime medical expenses for quadriplegics (age 25 at time of injury): $1.35 million
Eight years after their injury, 63% of spinal cord injury patients are unemployed. A significant percentage of those who are employed earn less than they did before their injuries.
Due to the difficulty in quantifying average lifetime earning potential, the study has no data regarding the average lifetime lost wages for victims of spinal cord injury. Adding lost earning potential, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life to some of the above costs can leave spinal injury victims with staggering losses.
In most cases, insurance will only cover a small portion of those losses. Bringing a lawsuit against the party whose negligence caused the initial injury is often the only way a victim of spinal cord injury can hope to be compensated for his or her losses.