Paralysis After Surgery – Medical Negligence Claims

This guide will discuss medical negligence claims for paralysis after surgery, first focusing on when you are eligible to claim compensation.

Medical professionals owe patients a duty of care and must provide the right standard of care. A failure to do so could provide the grounds for a medical negligence claim if harm is caused. We will explain how long you have after an operation has gone wrong to begin a claim, before sharing examples of negligence that can occur in a surgical setting.

Through this guide, you will learn of evidence that can support a claim and see guideline examples of compensation that can be awarded in a claim for paralysis.

You can also get insight into the No Win No Fee contract our solicitors could offer when they take on a medical negligence compensation claim.

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Paralysis After Surgery Claims Guide

Our advisors are on hand to give all the details and relevant guidance you are looking for. To get more information about medical negligence claims and a free assessment of your prospective case, please:

Select A Section

  1. When Could You Claim For Paralysis After Surgery?
  2. When Could Surgical Negligence Cause Paralysis?
  3. How Do You Prove A Claim For Surgical Negligence?
  4. Valuing Claims For Paralysis After Surgery
  5. Can You Claim For Surgical Negligence On A No Win No Fee Basis?
  6. Learn More About Suing For Surgical Negligence

When Could You Claim For Paralysis After Surgery?

A claim for paralysis after surgery, like any medical negligence claim, must satisfy the following conditions:

  • A medical professional owed a duty of care to their patient.
  • They did not provide care meeting the correct standard, breaching their duty.
  • This then resulted in avoidable harm.

These factors combine to form the definition of negligence in a legal framework.

After establishing these facts, you must then ensure that your claim begins in time, which we will touch on shortly.

It is important to note that if you have suffered paralysis after a surgical procedure, this does not always indicate medical negligence. Before a surgical operation takes place, the medical professional will inform you of the risks of the surgery. If this is a risk of surgery and the medical professional did not breach their duty of care, then a claim may not be viable.

Our advisors can provide more information about the medical negligence claim eligibility criteria, and you can call or send a message to an advisor now to discuss the facts of your case.

Surgical Negligence Claim Time Limits

The Limitation Act 1980 sets out a time limit of three years for starting a medical negligence case. A surgery-related claim’s time limit could commence from the surgery itself or from the date of knowledge.

With that being said, there are certain exceptions that could change the time limit for a case. Examples of this are where the person impacted by medical negligence is under 18 or lacks the mental capacity to claim.

You can learn more about these exceptions while talking to our advisors, so please call the number at the top of this guide if you want to discuss potential case time limits.

When Could Surgical Negligence Cause Paralysis?

Surgical Never Events could give rise to paralysis injuries which could affect anything from a small area to the entire body. Not all cases of paralysis after surgery will result from a never event. If you have suffered paralysis after surgery, you may wonder whether this was caused by negligence. Therefore we have provided some examples of surgical negligence leading to paralysis:

  • An anaesthetist overdoses a patient, causing brain damage. This damage results in quadriplegia: paralysis of the upper and lower body.
  • An anaesthetist puts an epidural in the wrong place, causing the patient to lose the use of their lower limbs.
  • A surgeon is repairing a herniated disc and accidentally causes damage to the spinal cord, leaving the patient paralysed.

If you have suffered paralysis after surgery, you can discuss your experience with our advisors today to see if you have grounds to claim compensation.

How Do You Prove A Claim For Surgical Negligence?

A medical negligence claim is dependent on the support of relevant evidence, so it is worth having as much of the following as possible:

  • Medical records
  • Medical reports of your pre and post-surgery afflictions.
  • X-rays, scans or other test results that highlight damage.
  • Witness information.

The Bolam Test, where medical professionals assess whether the medical care you received was of the correct standard, can be requested. This is not something you will need to do yourself, but the findings from it can be used as evidence. 

Our medical negligence solicitors could help with all of this if they work with you on your claim. Our advisors are available online and over the phone to discuss this further.

Valuing Claims For Paralysis After Surgery

Medical negligence compensation can consist of one or two heads of claim. General damages cover harm caused by negligence, either physical or mental. Meanwhile, special damages seek to redress the financial loss the harm led to.

Special damages can only be awarded alongside general damages and with supporting evidence like payslips, receipts or bank statements. The life-changing aspects of paralysis and the likely need for dedicated care mean that special damages could be worth a significant sum.

Someone claiming for paralysis after surgery could seek compensation for the likes of:

  • A loss of earnings if they are unable to work 
  • Travel costs.
  • Prescription fees.
  • Home or vehicle adaptation charges.

Meanwhile, general damages will focus on the injuries sustained, and legal professionals tend to lean on medical evidence to value the physical and mental pain suffered. They can also use the Judicial College Guidelines, which we have used to put together the table of guideline brackets below.

However, these brackets are only intended as a guide. 

Compensation table

PARALYSIS INJURYCOMPENSATIONNOTES
Tetraplegia£324,600 to £403,990Tetraplegia may also be referred to as quadriplegia.
Paraplegia£219,070 to £284,260Pain, life expectancy and other factors will determine how much is awarded.
Shorter Durations£49,340Cases where a young person suffers paraplegia but dies within around two years.
Moderately Severe Brain Damage£219,070 to £282,010The injured person will be very seriously disabled including limb paralysis.
Severe Back Injury (i)£91,090 to £160,980Back injuries with most serious consequences, including incomplete paralysis.
Severe Neck Injury (i)In the region of £148,330This level of award recognises the possible presence of incomplete paraplegia due to the injury.

Can You Claim For Surgical Negligence On A No Win No Fee Basis?

Our solicitors could provide legal support when seeking compensation for paralysis after surgery. As long as you have a valid claim, a solicitor could lend their expert guidance under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA.)

A CFA is a type of No Win No Fee contract where you would not pay a solicitor’s fee if the claim fails. You would not pay for the solicitor’s services upfront or as the case goes on.

However, you would pay a percentage of the compensation awarded from a successful claim to your solicitor. This is a success fee that would be agreed with you before the claim starts.

The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 means there is a cap on the percentage that a solicitor can take.

Contact An Advisor

Our advisors are on hand to provide free, 24/7 support and discuss how to start a claim for paralysis after surgery. You can provide information for an advisor to assess your case, and, if there are valid grounds to take action, the details could be forwarded to a solicitor. Choose any of the below contact routes to get started:

Learn More About Suing For Surgical Negligence

We have a series of guides featuring useful advice on medical negligence claims. Here is a small sample of them:

These external resources could be of use before or during a claim:

Thank you for taking the time to read our article discussing claims for paralysis after surgery.