Lower back pain is a condition in which the lower back (lumbar) portion of the body experiences pain, discomfort, inflammation, or loss of movement. It may have a variety of causes, such as muscular inflammation, injured tendons and nerves, or compressed spinal discs.
Lower back discomfort may be brought on by:
- Too much standing/sitting
- Repeated stress (for instance, bending or repeatedly twisting on a daily basis)
- Overexertion
- Lifting very heavy objects
- Surgical error during back surgery
- Trauma directly to the back
- Car accidents and other occurrences involving motor vehicles
Other factors may also cause lower back injuries and discomfort. Toxins, for example, may induce nerve injury, resulting in low back or spinal discomfort.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Lower Back Pain?
Lower back discomfort is often an issue in a variety of legal disputes, including:
- Workplace accidents
- Claims for negligence
- Slip and fall accidents
- Car crashes
- Sports-related injuries
As a result, lower back discomfort may affect many people.
A person’s job or workplace could contribute to lower back discomfort. In such circumstances, an employer or supervisor may be held accountable, particularly if they were aware of the working conditions but did nothing to improve them.
Other parties that may be held accountable for severe back pain injuries include:
- Employers;
- Private persons;
- Subcontractors or supervisors;
- Property or business owners;
- Local governments;
- Faulty product manufacturers or distributors;
- Professionals (e.g., doctors, nurses, hospital organizations, etc.).
What Constitutes Negligence in a Back Injury Lawsuit?
Many back injury claims are founded on a negligence allegation.
To establish that a defendant was negligent, the plaintiff must show the four components listed below:
- Duty: Duty is an obligation owed by one party to the other. This is referred to as the “duty of care” and is assessed using the reasonable person criterion. In other words, how would a reasonable and discerning individual react in the same situation? As a result, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant owes them a duty of care.
- Breach: After proving that the defendant owed them a duty of care, the plaintiff must show that the defendant broke that obligation by behaving in a way that fell below the reasonable or professional level of care.
- Causation: The defendant’s breach must be both the real and proximate cause of the plaintiff’s back injury under the causation factor. In other words, did the defendant cause the back injury (actual), and was the incident foreseeable (proximate) as a result of the defendant’s negligent or reckless behavior? It should be noted that the defendant’s responsibility may be lessened if other causes contributed to the plaintiff’s injuries.
- Losses: The plaintiff must be able to quantify the damages they experienced, which means they must be able to measure them. For example, if the plaintiff is wounded in a car accident, they must be able to demonstrate the amount of damages required to repair any injuries sustained as a result of the event.
Using the four characteristics listed above, a plaintiff may demonstrate that a defendant was negligent in severe back pain litigation.
Assume a person has a back injury after slipping and falling on a damp floor at a grocery store. As a public company, a food store owes its customers the responsibility to examine the premises for unsafe hazards.
What Are the Legal Remedies for Lower Back Pain Lawsuits?
Lower back pain claims often result in monetary damages being awarded.
These may include expenses such as:
- Medication
- Hospital visits
- Ongoing rehabilitation/therapy
- Wages lost
- Earning capability loss
Other remedies, such as a change in work practices or a modification in safety standards in a retail establishment, may be included in certain circumstances.
What is an Average Settlement for Lower Back Pain?
The amount of the settlement in every personal injury lawsuit is determined by a number of criteria. Some examples are:
- The extent of your injuries
- The total amount of your medical expenses
- The amount of earnings lost
- The effect of your injuries on your life
- The at-fault driver’s insurance policy limitations
- The assets of the at-fault driver
- The strength of your argument
- Your lawyer’s expertise
Back injury accident compensation often runs from $10,000 to $100,000. Settlements may also be less or more than these averages, sometimes settling for millions of dollars. Back trauma is a complicated injury with a wide range of severity, which accounts for the vast value range.
Do the Remedies Cover Medical Expenses in a Personal Injury Claim?
If your back is injured in an accident, you will almost certainly seek medical attention. If you bring a personal injury case, you may claim the medical expenses you received as a consequence of the event as damages.
This generally covers all required and reasonable expenditures spent as a result of the accident. In most cases, you may recover full medical expenditures, even if your insurance or the defendant’s insurance covered a part of the treatment.
What Are Some Common Medical Expenses Claimable in a Back Injury Lawsuit?
Medical bills are often categorized as compensatory damages, which are meant to repay the injured person for their losses. In general, you may seek reimbursement for any medical expenses incurred as a consequence of your injury.
This might be pricey if your medical concerns are continuous and need a lot of therapy. As a result, it is critical to be careful when documenting injuries for the purposes of bringing a lawsuit so that damages may be calculated and expenditures are not overlooked.
Medical expenditures that are often claimed in a back injury case include:
- Hospital bills
- Physical therapy expenses
- Family physician bills
- Other doctor bills
- Laboratory fees
- Surgery costs
- Pain management treatment costs
- Prescription drug expenditures
Also, future medical expenditures might be claimed in a back injury case.
Any subsequent medical expenditures that you claim must be related to your initial back injury.
Assume you were in a vehicle accident and hurt your spine. If you haven’t undergone surgery yet but expect to in the future, you may claim it as a future medical cost at the time of trial.
At Trial, How are Medical Expenses Proven?
You must show all of your medical invoices supporting the amount you seek at trial to establish medical expenditures.
A treating physician or an expert witness may also be required to testify about the appropriateness of your medical bills.
You may also need medical witnesses to testify that your alleged medical treatment was relevant to the accident at hand.
Are there any Defenses?
The following are some probable defenses to a claim for severe back pain injury:
- Assumption of risk;
- Comparative or contributory negligence;
- The statute of limitations has expired; and/or
- There is a lack of evidence or blame.
Should I Hire a Lawyer for a Lower Back Pain Lawsuit?
A variety of factors may cause lower back discomfort. If you need assistance filing a claim for lower back discomfort, consider hiring a personal injury lawyer.
Your lawyer can advise you on the many alternatives accessible to you. In addition, if you need to attend a court hearing, your lawyer may defend you and help you through the proceedings.
Use LegalMatch to find the right lawyer for your lower back pain claim today.
