What Is The Average Settlement For Nerve Damage?

Nerve damage can result from multiple things. When it results from an auto accident, medical malpractice, workplace accident, dog bites, slips, and falls, then you can sue for compensation. 

A common question clients ask us is what their lawsuits for nerve damage would be worth. And this is perfectly understandable.

Understanding Nerve Damage

Nerves can be described much like an underground network that remains unseen and unthought of until something goes wrong. Everything in the body is connected to the nerves, and impulses move to the peripheral nerves and brain to bring function. These tubes stop sending signals to the brain whenever they are severed, which hampers movement and feeling. Much like a disruption in the underground tube can stop travel.

Nerves function like cables to the muscles that bring electricity to the muscles. This enables them to move, and it brings sensation to the skin. 

One of the primary headaches in a nerve damage settlement is that these injuries can be more complex to prove compared to others, like broken limbs, burns, paralysis, and so on. 

This also makes it slightly hard to place a monetary value on nerve damage claims. 

This doesn’t mean you can’t pursue a claim and win a settlement. Still, you need an experienced personal injury attorney to help prove your case and negotiate the highest settlement possible. 

Similarly, a doctor will have to do a thorough neurological and physical exam to determine the degree of the nerve damage. There are three degrees of nerve damage as below:

Neurapraxia

This is the mildest form of nerve damage. The nerve structure in neurapraxia is still intact, making full recovery possible. This type of nerve damage can come about after a car accident, sports injury, or a fall.

Axonotmesis

These nerve damage injuries are more severe than neurapraxia. An individual whose nerve damage is classified as an axonotmesis has a compromised nerve structure. As a result, the patient is likely to suffer from long-term and, at times, permanent paralysis.

Neurotmesis

Neurotmesis is the most severe of the three types of nerve damage. With neurotmesis, the nerve is completely severed, leaving the patient with permanent damage.

Besides the degree of nerve damage, your doctor will identify symptoms of nerve damage. 

The common ones include:

• Nerve damage pain is very distinct and can feel like a burning or an electrical pulse running through the damaged area

• Gradual numbness and tingling

• Loss of movement

• Extreme sensitivity 

• Bladder dysfunction

• Sexual dysfunction

• Pain and sensitivity

• Twitching

• Muscle weakness or paralysis

Nerve Damage Lawsuits

The law provides that people can sue and get compensated after specific injuries. These types of injuries are classified under personal injury. 

Personal injury lawsuits are injuries that result from the negligent actions of others. 

For example, you are in a car accident with a distracted driver, and you suffer nerve damage. The errant driver, through their insurer, can be liable to offer you some compensation. 

The same can happen if you undergo surgery or other health treatment and suffer from nerve damage. This can be from a surgical error, misdiagnosis, or wrong treatment. In this case, you can sue the health practitioner or the hospital for damages.

Another example is if you suffer from a slip and fall or get injured at work. If either of these incidents leaves you with nerve damage, then you can seek compensation. 

The laws behind personal injury lawsuits recognize that the person with the injury suffers some monetary and monetary damages. As such, these lawsuits seek to compensate the person to recover some of the damages incurred. The goal here is to ”make whole”. 

This essentially means attempting to help the person recover what they have lost as a result of the negligent actions of another party. 

Damages That Can Be Recovered In a Nerve Damage Lawsuit

We have seen that compensation in personal injury lawsuits seeks to compensate an individual for monetary and non-monetary losses suffered. 

What are some of these?

Treatment Costs

Treatment costs fall under the economic or monetary damages an individual suffers after a nerve injury. 

These types of damages cover losses such as:

• Emergency transportation and treatment

• Cost of prescription medication

• Diagnostic imaging and other medical evaluations

• Assistive medical equipment

• Cost of surgery (s)

• Expenses accruing after hospitalization and inpatient care

• Costs for rehabilitative therapy and care, such as physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, and so on

• Doctors’ consultations, follow-up treatments, and medical  reviews 

• Costs of in-home care

• Cost of home renovations to ease access after nerve damage

Loss of Income

This includes loss of income and wages and future earnings due to injury.

This is necessary when you spend time in the hospital, lose your business, or become unable to work temporarily or permanently. 

This diminishes your earning capacity, resulting in economic losses for which you can seek compensation. For this to happen, your pay stubs are evaluated to estimate how much you have lost. Vocational experts can also be called in to evaluate lost future earnings and income reduction.

Pain and Suffering

These damages are offered to the pain and suffering someone experiences from nerve damage. These include pain, physical discomfort, loss of sexual function, compromised bladder control, and so on.

Typically, what you get for pain and suffering is calculated by multiplying the severity of the injury by the cost of one’s medical expenses. 

To do this, a jury is supposed to assign a degree of severity to the injury. In Georgia, this is assigned by the numerals 1 to 5. The more severe the injury, the higher the multiplier.

So if a jury pegs the value of pain and suffering at 5, and the court establishes you spend $20,000 on medical costs, then: 5 × $ 20,000 = $100,000. 

Punitive Damages

When the court deems the defendant to have acted intentionally to cause harm to the plaintiff, it can also offer punitive damages. 

Punitive damages are imposed to punish the at-fault party so that they refrain from future misconduct that can harm others. These should not exceed ten times of the value of the actual damages. 

Other Damages

Other damages can include mental anguish, disfigurement, inconvenience, and loss of enjoyment of life.

So How Much Can You Get For Nerve Damage?

You can’t tell how much you can get from nerve damage out rightly.

The most straightforward calculation in a nerve damage settlement is the treatment costs. You only need to furnish your attorney with all medical, prescription, and other healthcare bills and receipts. These can be tallied and added to additional costs like pain, suffering, and punitive damages. 

If you suffer from nerve damage after a motor accident, you file a claim against the at-fault party insurance company. With a good attorney, you can get the insurance company to pay for medical costs, property damage, and, under special circumstances, loss of income. 

However, insurance companies rarely compensate for non-economic damages. Fortunately, when insurance coverage is insufficient, you can take your accident claim to court and seek restitution. 

If a nerve injury occurs at work, you can seek compensation through the workman’s compensation. The average recovery is $20,000, but this amount can go much higher depending on the case’s specifics, the injury’s severity, and how well you are represented in court. 

So, when considering possible settlements, you need to account for multiple variables. These include:

• The severity of the injury

• How well you can prove your case

• Your medical costs

• Your earning power and how long you are out of work

• The degree of emotional and mental trauma and how well you can showcase these to a jury

• The at-fault party’s insurance limits if the nerve damage results from a motor accident

• Contributory negligence, where if the plaintiff is seen to have contributed to their injury, then they get a lower settlement

• How well does your attorney represent you in court, and how good is he at negotiating out-of-court settlements

How Do You Protect Your Interests?

Like any other suit you take to court, evidence is crucial. You need to show that you suffered an injury and that it originated from the defendant. 

As such, you need to document everything from the accident. Take photos if you can, and note any witnesses who can testify. 

The next step is to seek medical help immediately. This helps document your injuries and ensures you begin getting treatment so the nerve damage doesn’t worsen. 

Besides this, it helps to keep a journal where you can monitor your progress, as well as how the injury affects you on the day-to-day. Because lawsuits can take months and even years, journaling should help keep your memory fresh throughout the litigation process. 

Let Us Protect Your Interests

You would hope that the offending party would acknowledge the damage caused to you and offer a fair settlement. Unfortunately, this is rarely ever the case. 

This is why you need a competent, skilled, empathetic legal team to fight your case and win you the best settlement. And that’s the language we speak at the Cumberland Law Group. Not only that, but we won’t bill you a single dollar until we win a settlement for you. If this is helpful, contact us for a free consultation, and let us get you the justice you deserve.