We are experienced in representing those with spinal cord injuries as well as their families. These injuries can arise because of a work injury, car accident, medical malpractice and other causes. We have represented those with mild sprain/strain type injuries to the back to the very severe injuries including paralysis. Call us at 314 542-9999 if we can help you.
In order to successfully recover the full amount of your damages, an injury victim needs competent representation. At Cantor and Associate we have the knowledge, experience and financial resources to aggressively pursue your spinal injury case. We have represented thousands of Plaintiff’s in civil lawsuits and workers’ compensation claims as a result of spinal injuries. This year alone, we have represented clients with significant injuries to their spine. Unfortunately, I have also represented a child with spinal injuries including a one year old paralyzed in a car vs. truck accident. In that case, both parents were in the front seat and killed, leaving a quadriplegic child to be raised by others. It was an extremely sad set of facts. The case settled confidentially before trial in the city of St. Louis.
Any damage to the spinal cord – whether it be a ruptured disc, stenosis, or “pinched nerve” – will have serious and long term effects. The spinal cord extends from the base of the brain down the neck and through the back and carries the neurons, which are basically the “phone lines” that gives information to the body to function. The medical term for this is motor neurons. When the spinal cord is injured, these neurons do not function as well and create significant pain. The spinal cord is surrounded by bone which is called vertebrae. At Cantor and Associate, we frequently see fractured vertebrae that cause damage to both the bone as well as to the spinal cord. As a general rule, the higher the spinal injury the more dysfunction a person will have because more neurons are affected. This is why when someone fractures their neck they may be paralyzed from the neck down as opposed to the mid-back which usually will not affect the arms, but is the lower body.
The spine is composed of four main components. The cervical spine is the neck which is C1- C8. Injuries to the cervical spine where the spine is severed result in quadriplegia. If the injury is above the C-4 level (which is the cervical fourth disc) it usually results in a ventilator for the person to breathe. At C-5 the injury severed spinal cord results in some shoulder and bicep control, but no control at the wrist or hand and C-6 the person will usually have wrist control, but not hand function. As you can see the injuries progressively become less severe the further down the spine the injury occurs.
The next level after the cervical spine is the thoracic spine which is T1- T12. The thoracic nerves generally control the chest muscles and the abdominal muscles. Next, is a lumbar vertebrae which is L1 – L5. The lumbar spine controls the leg muscles. Lastly, there is the sacral, the lowest part of the back and is commonly referred to as the tail bone. The sacral portion of the spine controls the valve of the bladder and sexual function. There are generally five levels of the sacral which are S1 – S5. (Although I recently represented a person who has a sixth level. In that case, the defense argued that the fall at work did not cause the injury, but it was a congenital meaning birth defect. I won the case.)
Gary and I have been practicing law now for a very long time. As a result of limiting our practice to significant injuries we have handled many, many spine cases. We have recovered literally millions of dollars for people with spinal injuries and we know the anatomy well. There are a lot of areas of law out in our society and there are a lot of things to know, but Cantor and Associate knows how to handle injury cases and we can win your case. In order to win these cases, you must be educated medically. We surround ourselves with smart people to assist us in the case and retain the best experts in the world. We have attended medical seminars and I even went to one where we performed a surgery on a cadaver. (Think about that, a medical doctor teaching a lawyer how to do a surgery on a cadaver so that we would know the medical science better.) We also share an office with a neurologist, my father, who is available regularly to consult with us for free on our cases.
If you have a serious spinal injury from a car accident, a work injury, medical malpractice, or other cause, please call us at and we can help.